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- "Most people fight their dark side. Lately, you find ways to give in to it. That's a problem. For you and for us."
- —Leslie Thompkins to Jim Gordon
"Rise of the Villains: A Bitter Pill to Swallow" is the ninth episode of the second season of Gotham. It aired on November 16, 2015.
Synopsis[]
Gordon and Barnes continue cleaning up Gotham, and Gordon comes face-to-face with one of the city's most dangerous hitmen, Eduardo Flamingo. Meanwhile, Nygma and Penguin cross paths again, and Bruce pressures Galavan into handing over the name of his parents' murderer.[3]
Plot[]
With the news of the arrest of Theo Galavan's arrest on the front page of every newspaper, Tabitha goes to a secret club to hire a hitman from a woman known as The Lady, to kill Jim Gordon since she's still wounded after being shot at in the cathedral. At Gotham General Hospital, Gordon visits Barbara Kean, who is in a coma after the accident. Elsewhere, the Penguin wakes up in the home of Edward Nygma and begins to frantically move around, forcing Nygma to inject him with a sedative to calm him down and return him to sleep. At the GCPD, Leslie Thompkins intercepts Jim on his way to Galavan's penthouse, and given the recent events that occurred, it shows Leslie that Jim is finding ways to give in to his inner darkness, worrying her. Gordon acknowledges what she said, and asks to not talk about it at the moment, as he's late to meet Barnes at Galavan's penthouse.
At Wayne Manor, Silver St. Cloud visits at the request of Bruce Wayne, asking him if he believes what the media is saying about her uncle, Theo. Telling her that he doesn't, Bruce tries to ask her for help, as before Theo Galavan was arrested, he offered to reveal the identity of Bruce's parents' killer. However, his plan is thwarted when Alfred appears and makes it clear that, in light of recent events, Silver isn't welcome at the manor. Bruce and Alfred argue over whether Silver should stay, but Silver offers to leave, not wanting to cause any trouble. She leaves immediately after giving Bruce a key to her hotel room at the Kane Hotel, and after her departure, Bruce berates Alfred, as he didn't have a right to dismiss Silver. Alfred is confident in his actions, knowing that Bruce could be jeopardized if he attempts to get information out of Silver. Bruce refuses to listen to Alfred, causing him to become his jailer in order to prevent the latter from seeing Silver and pursuing Galavan's claims.
Meanwhile, Detective Gordon enters the elevator to Galavan's penthouse and is soon accompanied by a man sent there to repair a piano. Suddenly, the man tries to kill him with piano wire, and the two intertwine in a violent battle until finally, Jim emerges victorious.
After the fight, Gordon drags the man before Captain Barnes, showing him the piano wire and confirming that he was a professional killer. The man's phone began to ring, with The Lady telephoning her employee to check the status of the job, but after realizing that he had failed after hearing Gordon breathing over the phone, she chooses to send more people to finish the job.
Meanwhile, at Nygma's apartment, the Penguin wakes up and attempts to leave, but Nygma warns him that he can't go anywhere until his wounds heal. Ed informs him that the meeting between the two was fate, since he has embarked on a journey of killing, and needs Oswald to guide him. The Penguin, still devastated by the death of his mother and empire in ruins, decides to take this opportunity to drop everything and leave Gotham forever; after rising again, Penguin passes out due to his injuries.
At Galavan's penthouse, Gordon attempts to interrogate his assassin, but after doing so unsuccessfully, he places the killer on the edge outside of a window, threatening to drop him if he doesn't talk. Seeing Gordon do so, Barnes rebukes him for his actions and the disobedience that led to his kidnapping at the hands of Barbara. Suddenly, they stop talking and thanks to the video cameras on the building, they are alerted to several armed men entering the lobby to kill Gordon.
Having only the help of Cortez, a forensic scientist and a rookie, Officer Parks, Gordon and Barnes strategically position themselves to await the confrontation, while awaiting the arrival of more reinforcements. A few seconds later, one of the killers appears from behind, using the stairs, and kills Cortez. The others manage to blow up the door and enter the room shooting, but the three policemen quickly manage to repel the assault, and Jim kills his original assassin after he threatens the life of Officer Parks. Barnes immediately orders for them to evacuate for fear of a new wave of assassins, but Gordon refuses to leave, believing that the evidence against Galavan could be destroyed if they left. Seeing something in a hole behind a painting, Jim finds a white monk's cassock. Suddenly, one of the killers gets up and attempts to attack Gordon with a knife to kill him, but Barnes comes between them and kills the attacker. Barnes receives a stab wound to his left leg that punctures an artery, threatening to bleed out if he moves.
At Nygma's apartment, Ed reveals that he kidnapped one of Galavan's employees, Leonard. He then reveals that Theo has been arrested by Detective Gordon for Mayor James' abduction, and tells Penguin to kill Leonard as retribution for the murder of his mother. Penguin refuses to do so, claiming he needs some rest before leaving Gotham forever. While taking Leonard out of the room, Ed recognizes a song Penguin is singing under the covers.
Because of the failure of her the killers she had sent, the Lady chooses to contact Eduardo Flamingo, one of her former employees who's membership had been revoked because of his tendency to eat his victims, asking him to kill Gordon.
At the penthouse, while awaiting the arrival of reinforcements and ambulance, Barnes asks Gordon what was happening to him. The Detective tells him that he was struggling to restrain his inner darkness, citing the case of the cathedral in which wanted to shoot Barbara when he had the chance. It then prompts Barnes tells a story about his past in the army in which he accidentally killed a young man. He tells Gordon that it tormented him for years until he made peace with the past, after understanding that there was a line between good and evil, and the law was what separated them from the animals.
At Wayne Manor, Bruce pretends to head for bed, saying goodnight to Alfred, but the butler reveals to having sent the taxi he called in secret away, and that he had also taken the key Silver had given him, without Bruce noticing. Despite that, Bruce decides not to give up to get the information Galavan had.
Back at Nygma's apartment, Penguin wakes up hearing Ed singing the song his mother used to sing to him as a child to encourage him when he was sad. When he tries to leave again, Ed faces him to make him see that for people like them love was a weakness and that they were better unattached. He then tells him that his mother was his weakness, and Oswald takes a knife to his throat, though Ed tells him that a man with nothing that he loved was a man who couldn't be bargained, betrayed, and answered to no one, with Penguin seeing the truth in his words.
Outside Galavan Towers, the GCPD reinforcements arrive, but within seconds they are all killed by Flamingo. Seeing Flamingo on the cameras, Gordon decides to face down Flamingo. Barnes tries to stop him, but reluctantly agrees to let him go in the end.
Arriving outside, Gordon finds several police cars with their officers killed. Flamingo immediately appears armed with a chain and initiates a series of attacks against him. Jim moves fast and despite sustaining several blows, he lands several of his own. Eventually, after a series of well-aimed punches, Jim throws Flamingo to the ground and continues to beat him. Seeing the villain laugh, the detective takes a gun and puts it in his mouth. But with a cry of frustration, Gordon overcomes his inner darkness and does not kill Flamingo. Later more police arrive on the scene, and Officer Parks offers to escort Flamingo personally to the GCPD.
At Nygma's apartment, Nygma and Penguin have a meal together while singing. Penguin asks what happened to Leonard, and Nygma proceeds to take Penguin to his location.
At Wayne Manor, Bruce tries to sneak out to see Silver. Suddenly, Selina Kyle appears to prevent him from doing so, as, unlike before, she has proof to back up her claims.
At the GCPD, Officer Parks arrives with Flamingo but the murderer falls to the ground, feigning sickness. Taking advantage of Park's carelessness, Flamingo lunges for Park's neck, biting her with his teeth while the rest of the policemen attempt to separate them.
Meanwhile, Leslie tends to Jim's wounds and asks him to always tell the truth. Gordon's phone then began to ring, and Leslie answers it, with Detective Alvarez informing her of the death of Officer Parks at the hands of Eduardo Flamingo.
At Blackgate Penitentiary, Theo rebukes Tabitha for hiring hitmen, knowing that it was motivated by her feelings towards Barbara. With the brother's arrival imminent, Bruce Wayne's death, and Gotham City finally theirs, he warns his sister if she endangers the prize like that again, he will not hesitate to cut her throat.
Meanwhile, at the docks, Father Creel welcomes the brothers of the order as they arrived in the city. When the group is confronted by a night watchman, the monks proceed to kill him.
Trivia[]
- Donal Logue (Harvey Bullock) does not appear in this episode, the first of three in which he is absent. The other episodes are A Dark Knight: The Demon's Head and A Dark Knight: Things That Go Boom. This leaves Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon) as the only cast member to appear in every episode.
Media[]
References[]
- ↑ Monday final ratings: ‘Jane the Virgin’ adjusts down but still hits season high, ‘Scorpion’ adjusts up - TV by the Numbers
- ↑ Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 9: ‘Big Bang Theory’ makes the biggest gains - TV by the Numbers
- ↑ FOX Upcoming Episode Press Releases - Various Shows - 27th October 2015 - SpoilerTV