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GOTHAM Recap: The Riddler Gets His Revenge In ‘Mad Grey Dawn’

Attention, fans of Gotham! This is a recap—which means it contains major spoilers for Monday night’s newest episode. So don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Well, that certainly escalated quickly! Just one week after Edward Nygma—a.k.a. the Riddler—vowed to outsmart Gordon on Gotham, Gordon’s found himself facing a 40-year prison sentence for a murder he didn’t commit. And it’s all thanks to Nygma. This fledgling supervillain isn’t such a newbie anymore! Let’s recap just how things got off the rails so quickly, shall we?

“Mad Grey Dawn” will forever be remembered as the episode where the Riddler got his revenge on Gordon. Since Gordon was starting to look into Kristen Kringle’s disappearance, Nygma realized he needed to distract his coworker. So, he made his first official move as the Riddler: robbing an art museum with a bomb that never actually went off. Nygma used this diversion tactic to then steal a painting, leaving behind his calling card with question marks spray painted on other pieces of art, leaving a message tipping the cops off to a train bombing.

But Gordon also had his hands full with another matter when Internal Affairs reopened Theo Galavan’s murder case (since they got an anonymous tip saying that Gordon was the one to kill Theo, not Penguin). He didn’t want to pay too much attention to it, but the tip came with confidential information that the police didn’t release to the public—that he ended up with an umbrella rammed down his throat. Gordon asked Bullock to look into it with his connections in I.A., so he could find out exactly what they have on him.

Gotham

And now that Penguin’s free from Arkham and “sane,” he stopped by Butch’s place to make amends and rebuild their friendship. Butch accepted his apologies but Tabitha wanted some kind of punishment for killing her brother, and that included tar and feathering him. On his way home, Penguin stopped by Nygma’s apartment to try and sway him to the good side, but Nygma politely declined and thanked him for all the info on Gordon. Now we know where that “anonymous” tip to I.A. came from!

While visiting his mother’s grave, Penguin was shocked to discover a man who looked a lot like him visiting the very same grave (hey there, Paul Reubens!) …and after a short conversation, the two men realized they were related. That’s right, Penguin found his father. Neither of them had known the other existed until this very moment, but now that they do, it’s a happy reunion. He took Penguin home and promised to introduce him to the rest of their family. But his other two siblings and new stepmother (hello, Melinda Clarke!) don’t seem as excited about it as he is…

Gotham

Meanwhile, Gordon followed up on a lead Bullock gave him about the train bombing, and that took him to a fellow GCPD officer’s home, Pinkney. But Nygma had already paid him a visit and killed Pinkney, framing Gordon right as Barnes showed up to see him standing over the dead officer’s body. Turns out “Pinkney” was the one tipping off I.A. about Gordon’s involvement with Galavan’s death, but it was really Nygma who set up the whole thing!

Barnes had Gordon arrested, and after a four week trial he was found guilty for both Galavan’s and Pinkney’s murders, earning himself a 40-year sentence in prison. He told Lee to move on and away from Gotham—and to never contact him again—and it seemed like he’d given up hope on finding justice for himself. Bullock vowed to find out who set him up, but what’s Gordon’s next play?!

While all that was going down, Bruce learned what it took to survive on the streets by helping Selina and Ivy steal money from a gang. They got caught, however, and Bruce got to deliver his very first beat down! But when he saw Gordon’s conviction on the news, it changed everything. Will Bruce go back home to Alfred to help Gordon?

Gotham

And Gotham ended on yet another shocker: Crazy Barbara opened her eyes in Arkham! What will Hugo Strange have in store for her now that she’s awake?! Probably nothing good.

What did you think of “Mad Grey Dawn,” Gotham fans? Tweet me your thoughts at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Images: Fox

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

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