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This weekend marks 20 years since the release of the epic action film, Romeo Must Die. Starring Jet Li and the late Aaliyah, the two star in this modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet as their mob leader fathers rival it out in an increasingly violent mob war in the San Francisco Bay Area. The […]

Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox and Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton -- Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW

Batwoman is shaping up to be a pretty fun addition to the CW-verse. It had a rough start, as it tried to be a direct Arrow-replacement. The first few episodes were filled with flashbacks and overwrought narration. In the past few weeks though, the show has embraced its comic book origins. We’ve seen Batwoman deal with the direct fallout from “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” and we just came off two fun villain-of-the-week episodes. The show’s in a strong place now and it can carry that momentum into the main season arc.

Batwoman is Gotham’s superhero now. We see her patrolling the streets at night, saving a woman from a real sketchy dude following her. The show even finds some humor in the scene when Batwoman shrugs off bullets, looking more annoyed than anything else. As soon as leaves him unconscious in the alley, the bat signal appears in the sky. It’s not official business, though. Alice turned it on, and left Dr. Cartwright for her, unconscious. She also left a note instructing Kate to ask about “Mommy Dearest.” Kate decides that Batwoman isn’t the best person to handle that. She ties him up in her bar and calls her dad in to help with the interrogation.

John Emmet Tracy as August Cartwright and Debra Mooney as Mabel Cartwright — Photo: Colin Bentley/The CW

He doesn’t give up that information right away though. Instead, he tells them what he’s done. You’ll remember last week that he hooked his son up to Scarecrow’s fear toxin. He tells them he did that to turn Alice into Mouse’s greatest fear. Mouse thinks she’s dead, so anyone who looks like her must be out to get him. It works, too. Alice shows up to rescue Mouse, but he attacks her and hooks her up to the fear toxin. As she breaths it in, her worst fear appears before her. As Cartwright boasts to Jacob and Kate, her worst fear is his mother. That’s what “Mommy Dearest” meant.

This episode gets back to the flashbacks, but they work much better than they did at the beginning of the season. In the first few episodes, the flashbacks dramatized information we already knew. They were boring, soap opera-y exposition. Here, we’re learning new information about Alice. And it’s a real rough watch. It turns out “Mommy Dearest” is the person Mouse and Alice referred to as the Queen of Hearts as children. She came to live with Cartwright, and acted sweet enough at first. Soon, the abuse started. She would beat Alice and poor scalding tea on her hands if it was made wrong. The show has tried to make us feel bad for Alice before, and this is the most successful it’s been. It’s actually horrifying seeing what she did to Alice, and how scared of her Alice still is. We’re just as scared as she is when the old woman appears in front of her, without a face, berating her about her hair. It’s almost worse when another fear takes over. The fear that her father and sister will decide she’s not worth saving and abandon her.

Ava Sleeth as Young Alice Nicholas Holmes as Young Johnny — Photo: Colin Bentley/The CW

Back at Kate’s bar, Jacob left to try and find Alice. Cartwright gets one had free and uses a glass to cut his own throat rather than give up the location. He thinks Kate is going to kill him anyway, given what he did to her sister. In a surprisingly gruesome scene, Kate calls Mary for instructions on how to close the wound. Without a needle and thread on hand, she staples it together. And they show it. I mean, the guy deserves all the pain he gets, but I didn’t expect this show to get that bloody. She cuts a deal with him, promising to let him go if he tells her where Alice is. He does and she calls Jacob, who saves Alice from the effects of the toxin just in time to stop her from killing herself with a shard of glass.

The show really makes you feel for Alice in this episode. Before, she was a complicated villain. Now that we’ve seen the extent of her abuse, it’s hard not to root for her a little bit. When her dad bursts into the room and saves her, acts like a father to her for the first time all season, I’ll admit the show got me. I started tearing up just a little. After all we saw, this was the reunion I wanted to see more than anything. Then we get the real story of Mommy dearest. Alice didn’t mean Cartwright’s mother. At the beginning of the episode, we saw a flashback where Beth and Kate’s mother gave them both necklaces to match her earrings. One day, Alice noticed Cartwright’s mother wearing those earrings. She checks the locked refrigerator she was never allowed to open, and finds her mother’s head. Cartwright had been saving it, as his mother demanded he give it to her. That’s when we see Alice’s first kill. She knocks off the top of Cartwright’s mother’s oxygen tank and uses it to burn her alive. It’s the only Alice kill I’ve been happy to see. Painful way to go, but she deserved every minute of it.

Rachel Skarsten as Alice and Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane — Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW

The episode ends in a real precarious place, though. Right as Alice was telling her dad about all that, Kate finds out too. She gets a call from Mary and Luke, who’ve been tracking the car Beth’s shooter drove. She figures out it was Cartwright. He mentions that Beth looked exactly like Alice, down to the necklace that matched the earrings. Kate demands to know how he knew about the earrings and starts choking him out. With all the trauma to his neck already, it’s enough to kill him. Jacob and Alice return and try resuscitate him, but it doesn’t work. Kate, like Alice, is now a murderer. Now they just have to bury the body. The same episode that Alice gets some small redemption, Kate gives into the darkness. Now, they’re in the same place, and that’s a super interesting, uncomfortable note to leave us on for a week.

This episode wasn’t a fun, light villain-of-the-week like we’ve grown accustomed to. It carried the season’s main story forward in a way that caught me completely off guard. It was an emotional, jaw-dropping episode and a good sign for where this show’s headed. It even had some good comic relief as Mary tried to get Luke to admit Kate was Batwoman. And lording her secrecy over him when Batwoman calls her for advice. A heavy episode like this needs those moments. This is my last week covering Batwoman. I’m sad I won’t be here to go over episodes anymore, but I’m glad to leave off on an episode like this. If these last few weeks are any indication, this show is only getting better.

Batwoman airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

Previously on Batwoman:

• Batwoman Season 1 Episode 14 recap
• Batwoman Season 1 Episode 13 recap
• Batwoman Season 1 Episode 12 recap

COVID-19 has been officially declared a pandemic (via Alexandra_Koch/Pixabay)

The World Health Organization on Sunday reported more than 164,830 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 146 countries.

But, due to limited testing, that number is likely much higher.

And while some folks are social distancing or even self isolating, others are actively bragging about packing bars, clubs, and restaurants.

If expert researchers and government officials can’t convince people to stay home, though, maybe a German software engineer can.

Florian Reifschneider last week launched a website with a simple message: Stay the fuck home.

The page—available in 17 different languages (plus SFW English)—contains a 12-point “Self-Quarantine Manifesto” encouraging best practices like regularly washing your hands, cancelling social gatherings, and avoiding public transportation.

“With no well-studied treatment and no viable vaccine available for at least another year, the only effective way to keep the coronavirus pandemic at bay is to give the virus fewer changes of spreading,” according to the site.

“Please keep in mind there is no right or wrong amount of actions to take. Only take the actions that you feel comfortable with and that do not endanger your livelihood,” Reifschneider said. “However, keep in mind that every action helps.”

More than 2 million people have visited the viral site, which spent Sunday morning atop Twitter’s list of trending topics.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC has updated its guidance regarding large group gatherings in the United States, recommending that for the next eight weeks, organizers cancel or postpone in-person events consisting of 50 or more people.

That includes conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, and weddings.

“Events of any size should only be continued if they can be carried out with adherence to guidelines for protecting vulnerable populations, hand hygiene, and social distancing,” the agency said. “When feasible, organizers could modify events to be virtual.”

The guidance does not apply to day-to-day operation of schools, universities, or businesses.

Airbnb

In response to travel disruptions caused by COVID-19, online rental service Airbnb has extended its policy to allow hosts and guests in every country and region* to cancel reservations with no charge or penalty.

The change applies to bookings made on or before March 14, 2020, with check-in dates between March 14 and April 14.

“We understand that this announcement will impact hosts around the world, many of whom depend on the economics they generate on Airbnb,” according to a platform announcement. “We will be working in the days and weeks ahead to identify tools and initiatives to support our hosts during these very challenging times.”

*With the exception of domestic travel to mainland China, which is scheduled to return to normal rules on April 1.

Starbucks

Part of social distancing is learning to live without certain creature comforts—like that daily Starbucks pick-me-up.

Fear not, caffeine addicts: The coffee chain has adopted a “to go” model in the US and Canada for at least two weeks.

Customers can still order in person, through the mobile app, or via the drive thru. Just don’t expect to sit down for a spot of work or a catch-up with friends. And you may see modified condiment bars and “order ahead” handoff areas.

Plus, stores located in high social-gathering locations (malls, university campuses) or in communities with high clusters of COVID-19 cases will be temporarily closed.

Instagram

Unlikely news source Instagram is distributing coronavirus prevention information through a new call-out at the top of users’ feeds featuring a link to the World Health Organization.

The notice is rolling out to countries that have seen “significant impact” from the virus, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.

AMC/Regal

AMC and Regal, two of the nation’s largest movie theater chains, are selling only 50 percent of seats for any given screening in hopes of keeping guests from having to sit too close to each other.

More on Geek.com:

• Verily Launches COVID-19 Screening Site for San Francisco Residents
• Apple: It’s OK to Clean Your Phone With Disinfectant Wipes
• WHO Joins TikTok to Curb Coronavirus Misinformation

As COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues circulating across the country, the myths surrounding it are beginning to shed.

No longer is it known as an illness for just elderly, immunocompromised people. More and more young, relatively healthy people are being diagnosed positive with no “flattening of the curve” in sight. The virus is moving through vulnerable Black communities and among incarcerated people from Rikers Island to Sing Sing, with no rational leadership from the Trump Administration.

As data begins to accumulate, forming a clearer picture of COVID-19’s impact, reports show that health professionals are concerned that Black communities may not have equitable access to tests and treatment, primarily because Black communities in the United States are more vulnerable due to racial, wealth, and healthcare discrimination.

In the above video, Health Equity Cypher, an organization combatting institutional racism and classism through public health equity, policy, clinical and leadership strategies, discusses what we should demand from our elected officials and ways to stay safe and connected during this pandemic.

“While we are physically distancing and staying socially connected, this Cypher conversation is critical and will continue to bring information Black folks need during this crisis,” Joia Crear Perry, MD, FACOG, principal of Health Equity Cypher, and founder and president of National Birth Equity, tells ESSENCE.

Other members of the Cypher featured in the above video include: Shavon Arline-Bradley, minister principal of Health Equity Cypher and president of REACH Beyond Solutions; Anton J Gunn, principal of Health Equity Cypher and Healthcare Consultant Collaborative; and L. Toni Lewis, MD, principal of Health Equity Cypher, president of Liberation Health Strategies.

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ESSENCE is committed to bringing our audience the latest facts about COVID-19 (coronavirus). Our content team is closely monitoring the developing details surrounding the virus via official sources and health care experts, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Please continue to refresh ESSENCE’s informational hub for updates on COVID-19, as well as for tips on taking care of yourselves, your families and your communities.

The post Health Equity Cypher Discusses COVID-19, Black Communities appeared first on Essence.