Gotham - S3E19 - Heroes Rise: All Will Be Judged

Previously on Gotham, “Heroes Rise: Light the Wick”

Hate runs deep in the first scene of this episode as Oswald discovers he has been put in a cage with his favorite person he loves to hate, Nygma. And Nygma discovers that his former best friend is very much alive and wants to kill him. Nygma is the smartest person in the room, and he uses a stolen dart he took from the guards and uses it on Penguin so he cannot sound the alarm as he attempts to break out. Once they know they cannot get out without help, they decide to work together so that they can murder each other on the outside later. And yes they do get out. And promise to see each other again soon.

The next hate-filled couple would be Faux-Bruce and Selina. She did not like being pushed out the window much and now she wants to return the favor. Selina held her own for a bit, still Faux-Bruce wins in the end, but not before she tips Alfred off that he is not the real deal. Alfred and Faux-Bruce go at it and again Faux-Bruce wins! But he leaves the two alive allowing them to lick their wounds and fight again another day. Selina wants to cut and run, and Alfred is willing to let her go as long as she does not come back. Having nowhere else to turn, Alfred goes to Gordon for help, but he is busy trying to catch a homicidal judge. However, Gordon tells Alfred there may be a way to find Bruce if they could get their hands on the owl map of Gotham. Alfred knows just where to find one.

The Shaman brings the real Bruce home or at least right outside of the city. He still wants to take away Bruce’s pain of the night his parents were murdered, but he is having a hard time letting go. The Shaman tells Bruce that he will have to then tell him the truth. And the truth is that he wants Bruce’s help to take down the Court. Or at least that is what he tells him in an effort to manipulate him into doing what he wants. In this case, that would be to put away his feelings concerning his parents death and instead become a living weapon for the Court to use to cleanse Gotham to include the Court.

Gordon and Bullock are looking for the virus bomb the Court is hiding. They go looking at one of Kathryn’s abandoned buildings and Bullock stumbles onto the secret key latch that opens the secret door in the basement. I guess Lucius is not the only smart one. They find a crystal owl that has all of the Court’s secret locations, but before they have the chance to study it, Barnes breaks up the party. And look at his pretty new suit.

He is now going to be Gordon’s judge, jury, and executioner.  Before he gets to carry out his judgment, Bullock and the GCPD save the day. The GCPD is frustrated that Barnes is evading them and they are getting ready with all the toys. Gordon decides he needs something special to help take down Barnes, if necessary, and in this case special means an Arsenal AF2011-A1 Double Barrel .45ACP handgun. Yes, it is called Arsenal for a reason. I did some research and found that the gun would be as effective as any other semi-automatic pistol; it only looks cooler.

Gordon and Bullock bring in Kathryn for questioning, and Barnes follows and takes out the entire police department. When Gordon and Bullock attempt to get Kathryn out of the building, Barnes tries to stop them and takes Kathryn’s head off.  So, Gordon proceeds to take off Barnes’ axe hand and he didn’t even get the chance to use that ridiculous Arsenal handgun! But they do put together the broken crystal owl.

Thompkins is having nightmares about being a vampire and drinking her dead husband’s blood. Ick!  She goes to see Tetch to see why he infected Mario to get back at Gordon. Tetch lets her in on a little secret: she is to really blame for Mario, and even Gordon. Now she wants to pay for her crimes and to do that, she decides if you can’t beat them, join them.

Best Scene: Alfred is pissed off and he is not messing around. Kathryn says that “good cop, bad cop” is played. But Alfred is not playing… plus, he is not a cop; he’s a butler.

Most Ridiculous/Funny Scene:  “In shooting me, you gave me something to live for… revenge.”  “Unless…,” Nygma says and then hits Penguin in the head just to make sure he’s a real boy.

Honorable Mention: Barnes and his ridiculous axe-club-hand.

Best Line: “You are difficult to kill. More cockroach than penguin.”  - Nygma to Penguin as they assess the situation in their cages.

Honorable Mention: Bullock when Alfred gives him the broken crystal owl, “What happened to it… I can’t even do a jigsaw puzzle. I just smash the pieces together with my fist until they fit.”

This episode was both ridiculous to the nth degree, but it was entertaining as well. I liked the Faux-Bruce, and Penguin and Nygam scenes because they were fun. I did not like Barnes’ storyline, although Bullock had some choice lines that almost made the scenes bearable.  Barnes is a lumbering, working-too-hard-to be-a-villain, one-dimensional character, and Michael Chiklis is just chewing up the scenery.

And, man, can someone with a gun please shoot him in the police department? I did like the cutting off of Kathryn’s head.  Now I did promise to let a true Gotham fan (my sister-in-law) speak out and share what she really thinks about her favorite show on television.  But she is two episodes behind, which says it all.