Warning: the following recap contains major spoilers from this week’s episode of Gotham, “Time Bomb.” It is a recap, after all! Don’t say we didn’t warn you …
No matter how hard you try, no one can seem to catch a break in Gotham. Whether you’re a good guy like Jim Gordon, an innocent bystander like Lee’s fiance Mario, or even a villain like Edward Nygma or Tabitha Galavan, you’re always ending up with the short end of the stick. In this week’s episode, everyone was brought down a few pegs, and the resulting anger is set to start a war that not everyone is going to survive intact. Someone already lost a hand! Let’s get to recapping the madness.
Well, Lee and Mario’s wedding is still on, despite everyone knowing that she belongs with Gordon. Let’s all take bets on when this shindig will get called off, eh? Before she puts on the dress? While she’s at the altar with Mario? Or maybe it started much sooner—like when, say, someone began targeting Carmine Falcone two days before the wedding, reminding her of the family she’s marrying into? Ding ding ding, we have a (potential) winner!
When the GCPD looked into a car bombing meant to kill Lee and Mario, Gordon and Bullock—who was acting as the Captain until Barnes was cured of his Tetch blood poisoning—figured out that Carmine wasn’t the target, innocent young Mario was. Gordon then saved Mario’s life from a drive-by shooting, confirming that someone was trying to kill him, and tried to advise Mario to postpone the wedding until they can figure out who. Obviously, that did not go over well with the groom-to-be, who was sick and tired of having his fiancée’s ex constantly saving him. That’s a blow to the ego for sure.
In order to take matters into his own hands, Mario tried to use himself as bait to draw out whoever was trying to kill him, and luckily Gordon found him just as the assassins made another move on his life. The GCPD captured one of the assassins, while Mario killed the other in “self-defense.” Sure, buddy. And like-son-like-father, Carmine tortured the captive one and dug out one of his Owl-stamped teeth, and told Gordon he worked for a former associate of his. Turns out the Court of Owls wanted to blackmail Falcone into doing work for them, but won’t tell him why or what it is they want him to do just yet.
And to no one’s surprise, on the eve of her rehearsal dinner, Lee ended up at Gordon’s apartment instead of with her future husband. That’s when Gordon finally confessed how he felt about her: he wanted her to have the best life possible, and he knew that he missed his chance to give that to her. She kissed him goodbye, claiming it was their final goodbye, but come on, you don’t just kiss your ex the night before your wedding! And unfortunately for everyone involved, Mario saw Lee leaving Gordon’s place … and since he was infected with Alice Tetch’s blood somehow, he’s now super angry and super strong. Uh oh.
Meanwhile, after Tabitha and Butch went missing, Babs took it upon herself to find her partner-in-crime. Little did she know that Edward Nygma had kidnapped them both out of revenge for what he thought they did—aka killing his new girlfriend—when it was really Penguin’s fault. Babs bribed Penguin’s maid for information about Tabitha and Butch’s whereabouts (including learning about Penguin’s romantic feelings for Nygma) and was able to figure out where the duo were being held.
While Nygma had been keeping Tabitha and Butch hostage, he was torturing both of them with the plan of breaking Butch’s heart before ending his life, an eye-for-an-eye revenge. He concocted a cruel scheme where either Tabitha would lose a hand or Butch would get a fatal jolt of electricity, killing him … and the choice of what happened landed in Tabitha’s lap. While everyone assumed she would save herself and let Butch die—Butch even confessed his love to her and tried to take the blame for Isabella’s death as a last middle finger gesture to Nygma—his words affected Tabitha so much she let her hand get chopped off to save his life.
But Butch’s words also tipped off Nygma that he wasn’t responsible for Isabella’s death since he thought she had died of a bullet to the brain, not a car crash. Babs found them all after the hand chopping happened, and helped Butch get Tabitha to the hospital while Nygma was left confused. If it wasn’t Butch who killed Isabella, who did? We all know it was Penguin …and now Butch and Babs do too, after she learned of Penguin’s feelings for Ed. And because of Nygma’s mistake, the two teamed up to start a war between Penguin and Nygma to get their own revenge. This is going to turn bloody and most likely deadly. Who is going to make it out of a Penguin vs. Nygma war alive?!
And while hiding out from their own would-be assassins, Selina and Bruce continued to argue about whether or not they’re in a relationship (cute) while trying to figure out what the key they found leads to (ominous). However, newly-grown Ivy was getting angry about being cooped up inside Wayne Manor so she used her plant perfume to take over Alfred’s mind and tell her how to turn off the alarm. She ended up getting caught by the assassins just as Bruce and Selina figured out the key belonged to the Court of Owls, so they agreed to make an exchange: the key for Ivy.
At the exchange, Bruce tried to barter with the assassins to make sure Catherine, the representative for the Court of Owls, knew he hadn’t violated their terms—and that’s when the assassins told him they don’t work for the Court of Owls. In fact, they’re the Whisper Gang, Gotham’s most notorious smugglers working to destroy the Court of Owls, because they knew the Court had no honor or morals. The key Bruce, Selina and Ivy found opened a safe in the Court of Owls’ headquarters, and it contained a device that could destroy the Court once and for all. So now Bruce had hope of destroying the organization that had his parents killed! But unfortunately for him, the Court sent their own assassin after Bruce’s new Whisper Gang friend, killing him and any hope Bruce had for revenge. At least he still has the key to this mysterious safe!
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
