Believe it or not, folks, Pennyworth is back! It’s been 18 months since the season two finale and Alfred has a five year time jump, a new network (streaming service), and a new subtitle to show for it. The origin of Batman’s butler. Warner Discovery must be expecting lots of new viewers or they know that people forget things in 18 months because we got a much longer than normal “previously on” segment. Alfred narrates us through the entire first two seasons — which incidentally are also now streaming on HBO Max. Let’s get right to our thoughts on “Well To Do”
1. The new status quo
Last season ended with the battle for London with our heroes joined by an enhanced Gully Troy against the Raven Society. That revelation is where we start this new season. Troy (now known as Captain Blighty) was the beginning of a new kind of problem: people with enhancements (PWE) or P-dubs as Martha calls them. Alfred confronts a man on the street with a giant mechanical arm holding a woman. After disarming the threat we learn he does this for the government as one of his side hustles. I assume we’ll see a lot of this over the season in addition to the standard kidnapping fare.
Other than this change, most of the characters (except one we’ll get to later) are in the same place they were five years ago. Alfred hasn’t even moved out of his parent’s house.
2. Sticking with the wild ideas
Over the course of this show we’ve been treated to wild ideas like season one’s satanists and cannibals or season two’s cyborg dad. Fans of the show will be happy to hear that season three continues in the grand tradition. In addition to the aforementioned PWEs we’ve got hippie drug cults and Manchurian style murders. There is even a brief television spot with Prime Minister Aziz telling viewers there must not be another nuclear war after what happened in Kyiv and Miami. I think a little too close to reality on that one.
Alfred’s A plot is to find a missing girl for a rich family. He starts his investigation at a local club seemingly known for its prostitution and convinces the proprietor to cough up the info he’s looking for. The girl is with Sister Susie, cult leader with major connections, who keeps her cult docile with drugs. Alfred and Daveboy rescue her in what I thought would be a big action set piece. Daveboy just shoots a hippie in the foot and they move on.
3. Samantha Wayne?
One of the twists last season was Martha giving birth to a girl. Five years later we are introduced to the young Samantha Wayne. I theorized this universe might be giving us a Batwoman instead of Batman, but the new subtitle squashes any notions of that. It’s a curious addition and I’m interested in seeing where they go with it.
Thomas is the only character who is in a different place this season. He’s settled into being a doctor at a children’s hospital and appears genuinely happy. He looks like he’s got a rewarding job and a happy family.
Martha starts the episode as Alfred’s government handler, a position she’s all too familiar with. She’s working directly for the Prime Minister in MI5. We learn later in the episode Thomas doesn’t know this. He thinks her cover story of being an administrator in the government is the truth. The happy family isn’t what it seems. She’s tasked with investigating the murder of an American CIA agent in England on a secret mission. We saw him get his throat slit by a Doctor Glubb we later learn was employed by Thomas’ father Patrick Wayne.
Patrick Wayne is in town not to spend time with his family and granddaughter but to recover the doctor and the Wayne Enterprises secrets he’s stolen away with. He thinks Martha will help, but when he approaches his son about it, Thomas is so shocked his wife has been lying to him he shuts him down. Martha can tell right away there is something suspicious about Patrick’s arrival and suspects it’s connected to the dead CIA agent. In an interesting twist, Patrick’s new girlfriend Virginia Deveraux looks to be the one calling the shots.
Continued below4. It’s all connected
The episode ends with our rescued hippie killing her parents, while seemingly unaware of her actions. I am betting whatever was used to get this girl to kill her parents is the same thing Patrick Wayne wants to get from Doctor Glubb. It’s something dangerous enough that Wayne Enterprises wouldn’t want it falling into the wrong hands.
5. Don’t worry the best character Bet is still here kicking ass
Where is Bet while all this is going down you ask? Bet has spent the last five years looking for revenge against Salt after last season. She runs into Miss Dixon formerly of Raven HQ and decides it’s time for a hostage situation. Dixon and her husband claim they aren’t connected to the Ravens anymore and have no information on Salt. When Bet puts down their baby and is briefly distracted we think Mr. Dixon is going to turn the tables on the situation. Not our Bet, she makes quick work of the two of them and discovers a Raven ledger book. She takes the baby back to the office to drop off with Alfred and Daveboy, but they aren’t interested. They try to convince her to give up her desire for revenge, but the Raven ledger has emboldened her. Alfred never gets better at convincing people to stop following self destructive paths of vengeance huh? I’m looking forward to seeing where this journey takes Bet. Getting some Lone Bet and Cub vibes. I’d watch that spin-off show.
That’s it for this episode. Let’s see where Pennyworth takes us this season, shall we?
