Warning: Spoiler Alert
Monday night we watched Theo Galavan apparently going out with a whimper instead of a bang while Barbara Kean took a licking but keeps on kicking in the latest episode of “Gotham.” After spending his entire life dedicated to restoring respect for his family in Gotham City, has one sloppy loose end led to all of Galavan’s plans and schemes fall apart like a castle made of ashes? Or will Theo emulate the Phoenix and rise from the ashes and become an even bigger threat to the city his ancestors got hounded out of?
If this episode truly marked the end to the Theo Galavan story-arc, it looks from this vantage point that he turned out to be far more sizzle than steak. Galavan may fancy himself a criminal-mastermind however the crimes he engineered were filled with showmanship, however except for the massive slaughter at Sarah Essen’s precinct Gotham City was left relatively unscathed. Besides the attack which took the life of the newly installed Commissioner Essen and many of her officers, those broken out of Arkham Asylum by Galavan and his sister Tabitha suffered the most. All of the seven are either dead or badly injured except for Aaron Helzinger, who seems to have disappeared or gotten forgotten about.
However, I’m not quite certain we’ve had our last visit with the Galavan siblings this season, Gotham’s shown us that fans need to expect the unexpected. Tabitha got winged by Gordon late in the episode, but shouldn’t keep her out of action for long and we likely can look forward to Tabby try to break Theo out sooner rather later.
The episode begins with a nightmare that Barbara Kean’s having, starting out wonderfully as she walks down the aisle of Gotham Cathedral as Jim Gordon stands waiting for her at the altar. However like most nightmares the situation quickly morphs beginning with their Priest Father Callahan turning into the Penguin. She glances back into the pews and where seconds before sat her wedding guests, inmates from Arkham are now in their seats.
Kean sounds like something’s stuck in her throat and a bird flies out of her mouth. Then she’s in the pews bound and gagged with Lee Thompkins now wearing a bridal gown. She wakes up and realizes it’s a bad dream, but then looks in front of her and she sees a present’s wrapped on the table complete with a bow and a card. The card reads simply Today, G.
Galavan’s looking at his city in the rain through the window in his office when Tabitha walks in and asks doesn’t the mayor get to sleep-in. Theo says that Jim Gordon’s speeded up his time-table and he hopes to meet with Bruce Wayne later and have control of Wayne Enterprises by the end of the day. Barbara enters the room and tells Theo she loves her present and she hopes it means what she thinks it does. He smiles back at her and says today’s the day you get to kill Jim Gordon.
Detectives Gordon and Bullock are having a meeting with GCPD Captain Nathaniel Barnes as Gordon presents his case against Theo Galavan lacking a shred of solid evidence to back his claims up. Barnes tells Gordon he’s relying on hearsay and innuendo and they can’t issue a warrant based on that. The Captain tells his detectives they need to do some old-fashioned police work and get proof that verifies what they suspect and what Butch Gilzean and Penguin told Jim.
Gordon and Bullock leave the office and go back to the main precinct room when suddenly a couple of uniforms take out their service-revolvers and tell someone not to take another step. Barbara’s standing there with a big grin on her face and asking Gordon what’s new? She tells the GCPD she’ll only agree to questioning by her former fiancée alone in the interrogation room. She then proceeds to play him like a concert violinist. She tells him to hurt her that she’s been a bad girl, he tells her she’s a good woman but she’s sick. Her face contorts about a thousand different ways in a second and then she bursts into tears.
Gordon rushes over from the opposite end of the room, puts hands around her faces and kisses her gently on the lips. Even Kean’s a bit rocked by that, suddenly smiling and saying I knew you still had feelings for me, he replies of course he still has feelings for her. He asks her to tell him about Galavan and how he engineered the situation and Barbara says she needs to show him something first and it’s not far away. Then she’ll tell him all about the man he hates.
Everybody realizes this is a trap, but Gordon suggests they play along. Another example in Jim’s mind what Bruce Wayne said to him early this season, doing the right thing isn’t always pretty. Does Gordon head into these situations believing he’s John Wayne and that good always triumphs over evil and he’ll come out victorious? Or is there a part of Jim Gordon that longs to go out with his boots on, believing he’d be far more powerful as a martyred symbol than carrying on the fight? Does he forget that he lost his colleague, friend and commander Sarah Essen and that the GCPD’s just as corrupt as it was before she got murdered?
An older car still in good condition’s driving along a road in the countryside, Ed Nygma’s at the wheel with Kristen Kringle’s corpse in a steamer-trunk in the trunk of his car. Nygma removes the steamer-trunk and a long-handled spade and scouts around for a spot to bury the trunk.
Silver St. Cloud greets Bruce with a kiss on his cheek when he arrives at the Galavan estate. She says that her uncle should be right along and Wayne asks her if she knows what Theo wants to discuss with Bruce? She says she doesn’t but he seemed awfully excited. Galavan arrives right then apologizing to Bruce that he’s tardy and says he’s looking forward to discussing some matters.
Barnes introduces Gordon and Bullock to the new members of the Strike-Force who’ll soon have their baptism-by-fire as they’ll be tailing the two detectives and Kean in a fully equipped SUV. Barnes tells them if he feels anything’s going hinky he’s pulling the plug and ordering them to turn around. Jim walks over to Lee and starts to give her his usual speech about he needs to do this, but she refuses to accept the excuse this time. She says this is all on him that Kean sucked him right back in that his sickness feeds off Barbara’s sickness. He says he’s not sick, Lee responds that seeing an abyss and being drawn to it is far from healthy.
Theo asks Bruce what’s his dream what would make his greatest wish a reality and Wayne responds finding out the identity of the man who killed his parents. Galavan asks him what he’s do with that information and the boy responds he’d kill the man.
Theo then says that his fondest wish is to clean up Gotham City and make it corruption free, but to accomplish that he needs Bruce’s help. He then tells Wayne that his family’s company’s involved in all sorts of criminal and corrupt activities and conducting barbaric experiments. Bruce looks a bit confused by thanks Theo for the information and tells the new mayor he’ll rectify the situation but Galavan smiles at him sadly and he says can’t.
He then tells the boy that if Wayne sells Theo his controlling shares of Wayne Enterprises he’ll root out all the corruption and clean up the corporation. Even though Bruce’s young this should tell him to start pumping the brakes, but what follows should cause Wayne to realize Galavan’s a snake. He holds up a manila envelope filled with what he claims is documented proof of who killed Bruce’s parents, including accomplices and photographs. He calls it a deal-sweetener and tells Bruce he has until the end of business that day to give Galavan his decision.
Nygma finishes digging the hole and has the steamer-trunk inside it when he raises a glass of wine and makes a toast to Kringle before he covers her with dirt. He thanks her for she took a man that was two warring halves and finally made him whole. An older hunter comes upon the scene and Nygma kills him with shovel as he’s trying to determine what Ed’s got in the trunk. Nygma says he’s going to have to improvise and tells the stiff not to go anywhere.
Of course Kean’s led them into a trap as the cruiser they’re driving gets T-boned by a tractor-trailer. A shoot-out between the Strike-Force and Galavan’s guys take place, but Kean escapes and Tabitha knocks Gordon out with a hypodermic filled with sedatives she sticks in his neck. When Harvey comes back to the precinct all bandaged up Barnes tells the detective to get home and get rested. Harvey instead goes into the basement and listens to audiotape of Kean’s earlier conversation with Gordon.
Nygma returns to the grave with some hacksaws to cut up the hunter’s corpse when he notices the finger-sandwiches he laid out were eaten by somebody. So not wanting to leave any witnesses behind he follows the tracks of the sandwich thief.
Alfred finds a deeply troubled Bruce in the cave and asks him if he wants something to eat. Bruce then asks his guardian what’s a realistic time-table for him to become the man who can clean-up Wayne Enterprises. Alfred responds that the process could take years, but that Wayne will become that man. Bruce then asks how many innocent people will die at the hands of Wayne Enterprises until he’s ready?
He tells Alfred about Galavan’s offer to purchase Bruce’s controlling shares of the corporation and that if he makes the deal Theo will provide the name of the man that killed his parents. Alfred says that’s extortion and Bruce responds there’s a thin line between extorting and negotiating. Alfred replies that the line still exists and Bruce asks if it’s wrong of him to want to give up and just get closure. His guardian hugs him tightly as he tells the boy it isn’t wrong at all.
Gordon regains consciousness to find he’s tied to a wheelchair, with his hands bound behind the chair by rope. (Don’t these villains ever watch TV or go to a movie? Galavan’s got BILLIONS, spring for a lousy pair of handcuffs!) He looks around and realizes he’s in a church along with a gagged and bound Father Callahan and some stragglers Barbara’s henchmen rounded up and tied up who are now seated in the pews as witnesses.
Harvey after listening to the conversation over and over suddenly realizes that Kean’s got Jim imprisoned in the church they were to get married in, Gotham Cathedral. Barnes and Bullock along with the Strike-Force head to the church.
Kean starts chiding Gordon that he realized that she was setting a trap to ensnare him but he still went ahead as he thinks he’ll always win, or perhaps die. He says he doesn’t want to die and she tells him that too bad as that’s the option that she’s chosen for him. He asks her if she’s going to give him anything on Galavan and she reveals that Mayor Aubrey James is stashed in a warehouse on the China Docks. She then asks what Lee must think about all this and then says lets ask her and she’s wheeled in on another chair. Now Gordon’s got a reason to cut those ropes binding his hands together.
She starts taunting Lee and asking if she knows how Gordon got reinstated to the GCPD and Lee replies that he killed a guy for Penguin. Barbara clasps her hands in glee and says she never thought Gordon would have told her. She then asks Lee if she thinks she knows Jim better than her? She pulls out a long knife and says she loves her more than Thompkins and places it against Lee’ chin. Lee distracts her by saying she loves her wedding gown and asks where she got it? Gordon breaks free of his bonds and grabs Kean’s sawed-off shotgun and kills the two henchmen, she scatters into the upper pews in the church.
Jim tells her to put down the blade and she tries slashing him. He defends himself and knocks the blade out of her hands with the rifle-butt. They struggle and she crashes through the stained glass window, Gordon grabs her hand tells her to hold on. She tells him she loves him and lets go. She survives the fall ending up with numerous broken-bones, a concussion and heads into the ambulance in critical condition.
They find Mayor James in a warehouse with the wooden box still encasing his head. Barnes asks the Mayor who did this to him and James bellows whom do you think. Bruce’s about to sign over his shares to Galavan when he suddenly announces he’s changed his mind. Just then Gordon, Bullock and Barnes walk in and Jim tells Alfred to keep the boy away from Theo. He then hits Galavan in the jaw and tells him he’s under arrest. when Theo asks on what charge Gordon spits back kidnapping and torturing Mayor James.
Back in the country Nygma’s followed the tracks back a to a motor home, darkness has fallen and the lights are on inside. He hesitantly starts touching the camper when a man stumbles out the door causing Ed to fall and lose his glasses momentarily. Ed puts on his glasses just the man drops the pipe he held above his head and sinks to his knees. Ed whispers out Mr. Penguin and a badly injured Oswald Cobblepot pleads for help.
The Story Continues Next Monday Night at 8:00 pm on FOX.
