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GOTHAM Recap: Gordon and Barnes Have Their Final Showdown in ‘Executioner’

GOTHAM Recap: Gordon and Barnes Have Their Final Showdown in ‘Executioner’

Warning: the following recap contains major spoilers from this week’s episode of Gotham, “Executioner.” It is a recap, after all! Don’t say we didn’t warn you…

Well, it’s official: the strict but moral Barnes that we know and love on Gotham is gone for good, and none other than his mentee Jim Gordon had to take him down. This week’s episode, “Executioner,” was especially hard for Gordon—but at least there was light at the end of the tunnel for him when it comes to his ex Lee! All hope is not lost for this wayward cop. Elsewhere in the episode, Penguin did something truly unforgivable, making a potential relationship with his BFF Edward Nygma impossible and Ivy finally revealed herself to Selina and Bruce. Let’s get to recapping!

So, we knew it was coming ever since he was infected with Alice Tetch’s blood, but it didn’t make watching Barnes going off the deep end actually happen any easier. After finally succumbing to his blood poisoning in last week’s episode, he gave in to his darkest urges of violence against criminals. Claiming he was the law, he took justice into his own hands and became judge, jury, and executioner to anyone he thought was guilty of crime (otherwise known as murdering a ton of people). When Gordon started to look into Barnes after one of his victims ID’ed him, Barnes took him out on a case and tried to pin everything on the mob.

Gotham

Barnes told Gordon the wrong address so he couldn’t tip off Bullock to their location, and even though the “suspect” was innocent of killing the man Barnes killed at Lee’s engagement party, Barnes still killed him anyway since he was a criminal. He just shot him right in front of Gordon! That’s when Gordon finally put it together and realized Barnes was infected with Alice Tetch’s blood. Barnes then gave him a choice: Gordon could either join him in his new crusade against the criminals of Gotham or he would be framed for the mobster’s murder. Gordon obviously made the right choice and didn’t agree to this killing spree, and he managed to get away without Barnes shooting him thanks to a lucky break.

Unfortunately, Barnes called in to the GCPD to frame Gordon for the murder after that, but Gordon was able to call Bullock to tell him the truth. Bullock went straight to Lee to get her help in clearing Gordon’s name, and she came through, so the rest of the GCPD suited up to arrest Barnes instead. During their fight, Gordon was able to get Barnes at gunpoint, but Barnes wouldn’t lower his gun, so he was forced to shoot his boss (Barnes survived, but was arrested immediately and sent to Arkham). Hopefully they can find a cure for his blood poisoning soon, because he was one of the good ones in this city, and they need all the help they can get.

Gotham

Back at the GCPD, Gordon thanked Lee after Bullock told him that Lee had fabricated a blood test to help prove to the rest of the GCPD that Barnes was lying about Gordon. Is this the first sign of hope for these two to get back together? Of course it is! She told him that she was glad she fabricated the evidence to save him, and the look they were giving each other spelled out “inevitable.” Finally! Sorry Mario.

As for the Edward Nygma/Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot/Isabella love triangle, Nygma was horrified to find out from the GCPD that Isabella was hit by a train while driving to her librarian conference and had died immediately. Penguin told him that she had probably fallen asleep at the wheel, but we all know the truth: he had her brake lines cut to get her out the picture. It seemed to work at first, since Nygma hugged him intimately. But after he wouldn’t snap out of his grieving, Penguin convinced him to move on by going to the place she died to finally say goodbye to her. And that was a big mistake.

While at the railroad crossing where Isabella had died, Nygma ran into a homeless man who heard the accident happen, and when he told Nygma he heard a woman screaming before the accident, Nygma realized she couldn’t have fallen asleep at the wheel. He personally examined her car at the GCPD and saw the cut brake lines, and guessed someone paid off the cops to ignore that fact. Who has that kind of money and influence? Nygma thought he knew immediately who it was: Butch. Penguin was more than happy to go along with that idea and promised to help him get justice for Isabella. Yikes. Once Nygma finds out it wasn’t Butch, Penguin is the next likely suspect, and their relationship will be forever ruined. You can’t come back from having your best friend/crush’s love killed.

Gotham

And this week, the newly grown-up Ivy made her return. She’s been busy while off screen, growing plants and making perfume out of them that can cause men to obey her every wish. She’s been using it to steal from men, but when one of them fought back after she stole a valuable necklace from his vault, she went to Selina for help and finally revealed her true identity to her old friend. The man she stole from sent masked assassins after her, and so Bruce offered to buy the necklace she stole so she would get paid and he could return the necklace and they’d all be safe.

But when they returned to the man’s house, they found him dead with an arrow through his eye—the same weapon the men who attacked them had used, so they realized that the necklace was more dangerous than they thought. When it accidentally broke open to reveal a key inside, Bruce realized they needed to get to a safe place so he opened up Wayne Manor to Selina and Ivy. But the masked assassins found something in Selina’s home that lead them straight to Bruce, so Wayne Manor isn’t as safe as they all think it is. Cue the ominous music now.

What did you think of this week’s Gotham? Tweet me your thoughts at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Images: Fox

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