In the battle of good vs. evil, Detective James Gordon might choose evil.
Okay, we know that’s not true, because we know Gordon is destined for greatness in the DC Comics universe, but right now on Gotham, he’s traveling down a dark path. “Rise of the Villains: A Bitter Pill to Swallow” saw the good detective making a conscious choice to be good, and then later regretting that very same choice. Will he choose darkness next? Let’s get right to recappin’, shall we?
With her brother behind bars, Tabitha made her way to a secret speakeasy to hire an assassin to kill Gordon. She’s in the mood for some revenge, because of course she is. Meanwhile, her target, Gordon, was at Gotham General Hospital visiting Barbara, who still hadn’t woken up from her surgeries. The doctor told Gordon she might never wake up, and advised him to send her to Arkham Asylum for further care.
At the GCPD, Lee is shocked to find out that Gordon visited Barbara, and they both realize they need to talk about his history with her, and how far he went to go along with her crazy plan. Remember, he did kiss her! Plus, Lee thinks Gordon is giving in to his dark side too much. And she’s probably right: when he went to Galavan’s place to find evidence to keep the ex-mayor behind bars, he got attacked in the elevator (by Tabitha’s assassin) and completely knocked the guy out, and then tried to threaten him by throwing him out the window for answers on who sent him. Captain Barnes’ reprimand on Gordon’s intense methods is cut short, however, since the assassin’s boss then sent the whole lot of the killers hanging out in the speakeasy after him. It’s protocol if the first killer doesn’t get the job done.
Gordon, Barnes and another rookie cop took out all the assassins, and in the wreckage, Gordon found a monk’s cassock, but one of the assassins wasn’t dead and managed to stab Barnes, completely distracting them from their find. While waiting for help, Barnes confessed his deep dark secret about why he’s such a stickler for following the law: he killed a kid hostage when he was in the army, and that made him realize there is no line between good and bad in men, there’s just the law that separates them. But did his pep talk work on Gordon? He decided to go and take on the final assassin, a cannibal, on his own. And in the final moment, when Gordon could have killed the cannibal, he chose not to, and chose a path of good over evil. Success! Right? Well, wrong.
Gordon later regretted his decision to let the cannibal live, because he killed a cop by biting her neck open right in the middle of the GCPD before they could get him into lockup. And you know Gordon is going to blame himself for that one. Uh oh. Looks like Lee had every right to be worried about her beau.
Meanwhile, at Edward Nygma’s place, the forensic scientist went full nurse helping Cobblepot heal from his wounds. And in return, he wanted Penguin’s advice in becoming a better killer. But after Penguin found out that Gordon arrested Galavan, he lost all motivation and decided to leave Gotham. But then, after a pep talk from Nygma about how a man without love is a man who cannot be bought or betrayed or weakened in any way, Penguin got a new lease on life. We smell a new bromance cooking! And murder is the only thing on the menu.
Now that Galavan’s in jail, Bruce invited Silver St. Cloud over to try and get the name of the man who killed his parents, but Alfred interrupted them and kicked out Silver. Alfred also blocked all of Bruce’s attempts to sneak out to see Silver at her hotel room. And his final try was intercepted by Selina, who promised to show him the truth about Silver. Finally!
But it was the final shot of the episode that was the most foreboding, as Father Kreel and his “brothers” arrived on the docks of Gotham, and ruthlessly killed the cop patrolling that area. Galavan’s plan is in full swing!
What did you think of this week’s episode, Gotham fans? Let us know in the comments below!
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Images: Fox
Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.
