Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Batwoman season 2, episode 15, "Armed and Dangerous"
The latest episode of Batwoman tackled the corruption and ineptitude of Crows Security, but it was too little, too late. While the episode ended with the private security firm closing its doors in response to the actions of its agents, it did little to address the systematic abuse that was commonplace through the first two seasons of Batwoman. Worse yet, the final scene of the episode made a joke out of the Crows' incompetence, undercutting the drama of the rest of the episode.
The action of the Batwoman episode "Armed and Dangerous" centered around the Bat Team's efforts to clear the name of their technician, Luke Fox, after he was framed for multiple crimes, including grand theft auto and armed robbery. The previous episode, "And Justice For All," ended with Fox attempting to talk a car thief out of going through with his crime, only to be shot by Crows Security Agent Russell Tavaroff, after the thief claimed that Fox was the real crook. Fox was shot while attempting to show Agent Tavaroff the photos he had taken of the thief in the act, but Tavaroff assumed he was going for a gun when Fox was reaching for his phone. Realizing his mistake after seeing his body cam footage, Tavaroff and his lackeys within the Crows altered the footage so that it looked like Fox was holding a gun rather than a phone. They also "discovered" that the unlicensed gun they claimed Fox was carrying was connected to a recent armed robbery and leaked this information to the press, while Fox was in a coma and unable to testify on his own behalf.
When former Crows Agent Sophie Moore informed Crows Commander Jacob Kane of what was going on and pointed out the absurdity of the Head of Security at Wayne Tower trying to pull a gun on a police officer and being an armed robber and car thief in secret, Kane launched his own investigation into Tavaroff and concluded that something fishy was going on. Tavaroff and his team retaliated by plotting to kill Kane with a lethal dose of the illegal drug Snakebite, making it look like the Commander had overdosed. Thankfully, Kane was saved by Batwoman, and, based on the overwhelming evidence that Tavaroff's actions within the past week were only the tip of the iceberg regarding the corruption within the agency, elected to shut down Crows Security, effective immediately. The episode ended with a clearly-shaken Jacob Kane leaving his office for the last time and heading out to his car, only to be greeted by a cheerful Alice, who commented that "the fact that I've broken into this parking structure more times than I can count says the Crows maybe weren't all that great at security anyway."
As accurate as Alice's assessment was, it did more than add insult to injury. Batwoman's efforts to examine the problems caused by police corruption were undermined by this final scene and Alice's metatextual commentary on how "Crows Security" was an oxymoron. While it might be fair play for a television critic to point out how frequently Crows Security personnel were attacked or abducted from their own parking garage (a feat both Alice and the False Face Society accomplished with shocking regularity), having Alice make this wisecrack when she did seriously subverted the drama of "Armed and Dangerous."
While it is unclear what the long-term effects of the disbandment of Crows Security will be, it seems that most of the Crows got off light. Certainly, Tavaroff and his flunkies were arrested by the GCPD for attempting to murder Jacob Kane, but there are still countless dirty cops whose only punishment for their actions will be losing their jobs. There's also little chance that anyone besides Batwoman might investigate the Crows' past crimes, given that the GCPD being overworked was what led to Crows Security being allowed to become a private police force for the richest neighborhoods in Gotham City in the first place.
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