On this week’s episode of Gotham , some of the greatest villains in the history of DC Comics show that it is their destiny to terrorize Gotham City side-by-side as Bruce Wayne grows into the character that stars in Batman v Superman . The list of young villains continues to grow, as the Fox Network’s sample of DCTV introduced a young Firefly during the same episode in which a major villain is killed — for at least the second time.
As viewers left Gotham City last week, Azrael/Theo Galavant had just left Police Captain Nathaniel Barnes in the hospital after stabbing him with a sword. Edward Nygma/Riddler was close to finding an escape from the Arkham Asylum. And little Bruce Wayne was left unsatisfied with the work of the GCPD.
NOTE: The following includes spoilers for Season 2, Episode 20 of Gotham , “Wrath of the Villains: Unleashed,” which originally aired on Fox on May 9. It is two episodes prior to the season finale.
Penguin & Butch Gilzean
“Rise of the Villains” is the perfect subtitle for the second season of Gotham . As the season finale approaches, we begin to see how Penguin manages to align himself with his enemies, creating a very fragile shield of immunity for himself.
New #Gotham review as Azrael locked onto a new target https://t.co/AOnS0DT9Wb pic.twitter.com/LBBShQSdFj
— IGN (@IGN) May 10, 2016
In “Unleashed,” Penguin aligns himself with former cohort and current enemy Butch Gilzean to help take out Theo Galavan, who has been brainwashed by Dr. Strange to believe he is the mythical Azrael. In doing so, Penguin saves the lives of Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, and James Gordon, assuring himself that they’ll all owe him another favor down the road.
Catwoman & Riddler
In what would serve as the perfect flashback scene when Catwoman and the Riddler are causing trouble in Gotham City, Selina Kyle and Edward Nygma cross paths sneaking in and out of Arkham.
This is the strangest meet-cute ever. #Gotham https://t.co/7RoQpeNg08
— Gotham (@Gotham) May 10, 2016
The future Catwoman is breaking into Arkham to save her friend Bridgit from Dr. Strange’s experiments. As Gotham goes off the air, we discover she’s too late. Bridgit has been transformed into Firefly, and she’s convinced she’s supposed to kill Selina.
And while Edward “Riddler” Nygma did manage to escape Arkham, he was immediately apprehended by security.
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Azrael & Dr. Strange
Having already put GCPD’s Captain Barnes in the hospital, Theo Galavan (d.b.a. Azrael) has an encounter with sister Tabitha which reminds him that as Theo, his last mission was to kill Bruce “Son of Gotham” Wayne. Tabitha was wounded — but not killed — as Azrael went after the young Batman.
Strange sends the resurrected Azrael after Gordon! Stream the latest episode of #GOTHAM : https://t.co/Z9zJg4yB0n pic.twitter.com/X5SmwRQyGZ
— DC (@DCOfficial) May 7, 2016
While sneaking through Arkham, Selina overhears Dr. Strange explaining to his head nurse that if the GCPD go after Azrael — even if Galavan decides to go rogue — they will have to kill him to stop him, which will prevent them from finding out what they have done to him. As is made clear by the trailer for next week’s episode, Dr. Strange’s experiments won’t be ending right away.
In the end, just as Dr. Strange had hoped, Theo “Azrael” Galavan is killed (by Penguin and Butch) before the police can get any useful information out of him.
Bruce Wayne, Alfred & Jim Gordan
The future relationship between James Gordan and Bruce Wayne/Batman is clearly acknowledged as Bruce explains to Alfred why he must return to the streets of Gotham instead of waiting for Gordan to save the day.
“I’m tired of trusting Jim Gordan. Aren’t you?”
“Is it your job to watch me sit on my hands and do nothing?”
Per usual, Master Bruce gets his way, and he leaves the safety of Alfred behind to ask Selina for help.
Crowbars are ?. #Gotham https://t.co/hPFxmDQHX3
— Gotham (@Gotham) May 10, 2016
As the episode nears its conclusion, Gordon saves Wayne from being killed by Azrael, which one assumes will help rekindle their friendship. However, by that same logic, both Bruce and Jim would also have to cozy-up with Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot.
Next week on Gotham
As always, a preview/trailer for next week’s episode has already been released. The major takeaway is that Fish Mooney will be the next villain to return from the dead to wreak havoc on Gotham City.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6kbfmeZ2SE
Where to Watch
Fox airs Gotham on Monday evenings at 8/7c. Replays of the most recent episode of Gotham can be streamed on-demand at Fox’s website beginning Tuesday. Season 1 of Gotham can be streamed via Netflix.
#Gotham and @HoudiniandDoyle go back-to-back at 8/7c on @FOXTV . https://t.co/rZD8pTXSnU
— Gotham (@Gotham) May 9, 2016
Current episodes of Gotham (including “Rise of the Villains: Unleashed”) can also be streamed with a Hulu Plus subscription the day after it airs on Fox.
[Image via FOX ]
