Batwoman: Why Only [SPOILER] Figured Out Hush’s Secret

Warning: SPOILERS for Batwoman season 2 premiere.

The Batwoman season 2 premiere found Tommy Elliot (aka the villain Hush) attempting to pass himself off as Bruce Wayne, and while he was able to trick most of Batman’s allies and family into believing his impersonation, there was one person who wasn’t fooled – Julia Pennyworth. The Batwoman season 1 finale ended with Alice using her talents for crafting flesh masks and performing facial reconstruction surgery to give her accomplice, Tommy Elliot, the face of her cousin, Bruce Wayne. This was a dream come true for Elliot, who was obsessed with his childhood best friend and proving himself better than him, even before he learned that Bruce was Batman and responsible for thwarting his attempt to kill his parents so he could inherent their fortune. In return, Alice expected Hush to infiltrate Wayne Tower and secure the last piece of Kryptonite on Earth; the only substance capable of piercing the Bat-Suit.

As “What Happened To Kate Kane?” opened, Hush was making good on his end of the bargain, despite Kate Kane mysteriously disappearing and being presumed dead following a plane accident over Gotham City. As a frantic Luke Fox and Mary Hamilton were wondering how to best go about finding Kate, Hush was easily able to walk into “his” office and evade their questions regarding where Bruce Wayne had been for the last few years, saying he could tell them all the story once Kate was safe and sound. Hush was also able to trick a distraught Luke into opening the entrance to the Bat Cave for him, saying that Luke had been the “man of the castle” for long enough that he should lead the way. Hush also managed to fool the usually astute Jacob Kane, playing-up Bruce’s drunken playboy character to the hilt, as he tipped off “Uncle Jake” that Alice was using Wayne Manor as a hideout and asking him to please be careful about breaking his furniture in dealing with her.

Hush might have carried off his scheme to double-cross Alice and lay claim to the Wayne fortune undetected, had he not run into Julia Pennyworth on the way out of Jacob Kane’s office. Recognizing Julia from when he tortured her to convince Luke Fox to translate his father’s journal, Hush tried to bluff his way through the conversation. Unfortunately for Hush, Julia’s suspicions were aroused when Hush hesitated after she asked, “Did you ring the Eagle?” This was a reference to her father Alfred’s callsign (which Bruce Wayne had made up) when he ran communications while working as Batman’s butler.

To make matters worse, Hush didn’t blink when Julia made reference to the Eagle still living in Glasgow, in a cottage in the woods. She revealed later, when reporting what she had discovered to Luke and Mary, that her father was currently living in a flat in London. The final clue was that she smelled booze on Hush’s breath when he hugged her, as the real Bruce Wayne did not drink. All this inspired Julia to run the fingerprints she found on the glass in Jacob Kane’s office which Hush had drunk from, confirming that he was Tommy Elliot rather than Bruce Wayne.

While Julia is a brilliant spy who has probably known Bruce Wayne the longest and the best out of the ensemble of Batwoman, Hush still got incredibly lucky in his scheming. Luke Fox is usually the most paranoid member of the Batwoman support team and would probably have questioned Hush’s hesitation in going for the Bat Cave trigger in Bruce Wayne’s office if he hadn’t been distraught because of his guilt over asking Kate Kane to destroy the last piece of Kryptonite on Earth; something Kate said she would only agree to after asking Supergirl for permission in person. It’s also likely Jacob Kane would have noticed something strange about Hush’s behavior as Bruce, despite his clear distaste for his wastrel nephew, had he not been worried sick about his missing daughter.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1836 Articles Published)

Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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