Do we want Kitty to be a killer? The writers can't do it, of course, because that would dehumanize her. But the way she wimps out in this episode didn't sit right with me, either.
"Wimps out?!" I hear you cry. "She poured acid on a guy's face!" Yeah, but . . . I don't know. Kitty has been built up as a tough girl type. Sure, we all know it's an act she puts on. But someone who wants vengeance that badly isn't easily swayed into not killing the person she's wanted to kill. Unless she never really wanted to kill him?
It's complex, which is probably a good thing. Characters should be. But something still felt "off" to me about this particular turn. Maybe it was rushed. Her change of heart, the "I love you" to Holmes at the end . . .
As for the story, it was relatively straight forward. After Kitty fingers Watson's boss Gruner, Gruner fires Watson, then he gets pulled into the police station for questioning. Of course there isn't any evidence, so they can't hold him. Watson and Holmes begin a search for other potential victims (in New York, but why not London? was Gruner just in London for a trip when he grabbed Kitty?). Meanwhile, Kitty says she's going back to London, but we all know that's a lie. She's off to grab Gruner, torture, and kill him.
One wonders what she would have done if Holmes hadn't intervened. He didn't stop her, but he did give her a minor lecture. Even before that, Kitty was showing signs of weakness, which again seems odd given the build up of hate in her. She had enough anger and adrenaline to mix up a body dissolvent, and to apparently kidnap a guy bigger than her who has hurt her before (and who, one figures, she's at least a little bit afraid of), tie him up and such. So . . . Is her anger wearing off after all that? Not entirely, since she still pours acid on his face, but . . . Something about it just doesn't jive. It bothers me.
Holmes and Watson have a lead: a boy from an orphanage that Gruner supports is really the son of Gruner and one of his victims. At first they'd discounted the idea this woman could be a victim since she was kept almost a year. But then, realizing Gruner's interest in the boy, and taking into account the boy's age and such, they realize the victim became pregnant and Gruner kept her alive until she could have the baby. Then he put the boy in the system where he could keep an eye on him. DNA tests prove the boy is the victim's and Gruner's son, so the police now have the link they need to bring charges.
And Kitty is forced to flee in the face of her assault on Gruner, which is still illegal no matter how good her reasons were. "At least you don't have the taint of murder," Holmes tells her in a goodbye phone call. And Kitty tells him she loves him and hangs up.
I almost hope she joins Lestrade in South America. That's a whole other TV series waiting to happen. Maybe if Gotham doesn't work out . . .
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