Gotham Season 2, Episode 20 Recap And Review: “Wrath Of The Villains: Unleashed”

By Steve Lam | May 10, 2016

This week’s Gotham has Jim and Harvey racing to capture Theo Galavan, who still thinks he’s Azrael. Bruce gets Selina to help him in breaking into Arkham Asylum to collect evidence on Hugo Strange.

“Unleashed” saw Jim and Harvey trying to lure Theo out by using his sister, Tabitha. Bruce sought the help of Selina to get evidence against Hugo Strange. The episode seemed tonally consistent until the very end–where it became a humorous Tarantino flick.

Spoilerific Recap: Jim and Harvey enter Arkham with a warrant. They’re greeted by Strange who shows them to his office–filled with shredded files. Jim and Harvey, frustrated, will return with a new warrant that allows to search all of Arkham. However, Strange will be able to sway the judge and convince him that their police activities will be disruptive.

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Ed exits the secret elevator and runs into an orderly. The orderly has no clue what’s going on and just escorts Ed back to his cell. Ed is soon gleeful that he may be able to escape through an air vent in his cell.

Theo, still thinking that he’s Azrael, enters a church, asking a priest for a weapon. When the priest denies him one, Theo breaks the priest’s neck.

Barnes is in the hospital in critical condition and under guard.

Penguin watches the news as he gets dressed for the day.

At the GCPD, all the cops look towards Harvey for leadership. Not one for words, Harvey makes a quick rousing speech and gets the cops on their way. Jim tells Harvey that Tabitha could be the key to finding Theo.

Bruce has Alfred pull over near an alley. Bruce convinces Alfred to allow him to go alone and seek seek out Selina.

Tabitha haphazardly packs while Butch attempts to make her stay. Jim and Harvey enter, stopping Tabitha from leaving and asking her to help them find Theo. Since he’s Azrael now, she thinks that he’ll go after the real sword, which was owned by their antiques-collecting grandfather. However, the sword is buried with their grandfather at Gotham Cemetary.

Bruce goes to a building roof and finds Selina. She doesn’t care about his mission until he mentions that Bridget might also be one of Strange’s experiments. Selina agrees to help him, but she’ll have to sneak into Arkham alone. If she’s caught, they’ll just kick her out. If Bruce is caught, all of Arkham will be shut down, and the evidence will be destroyed.

Tabitha leads Jim and Harvey to the Dumas family crypt. Sliding off the lid to the tomb, Jim discovers the sword. Theo quickly enters and claims the sword for himself. Jim fights Theo, but is overpowered and thrown out the crypt. Tabitha closes the doors and confronts her brother. She’s able to jog his memory briefly and offers him the sword. His memory somewhat returns. However, he ends up critically stabbing her and taking her whip.

At a laundromat, Selina jumps into a bin about to be transported.

Back at the cemetery, Tabitha tells Jim that she may have helped Theo to remember–which has triggered him to go after Bruce. Jim quickly leaves.

At Wayne Manor, no one is present to pick up Jim’s frantic calls to warn them. Jim quickly commandeers a squad car and races to protect Bruce.

A laundromat truck arrives at Arkham Asylum, and Selina sneaks out and scales the walls. She makes her way to the roof, climbs into an air shaft, and through the ventilation ducts.

Exiting the cave, Alfred finally answers one of Jim’s calls. Jim warns Alfred that Theo may be going after Bruce. As Alfred hangs up, he detects someone behind him and spins around–revealing Bruce, who has returned from Gotham City.

In the ventilation ducts, Selina runs into Ed. Since he’s looking for a way out, she makes a deal with him: give her information on where to find Strange, and she’ll help him with directions to get out.

Butch visits a sedated Tabitha at the hospital. He let’s out his true feelings for her and cries. Penguin makes a surprise visit and tells Butch that Theo is the one responsible for Tabitha’s current situation. He convinces Butch to tell him where to find Theo.

Alfred calls Jim and gives him an update that Bruce is safe. Jim makes a quick direction change to Wayne Manor.

Alfred gears up for a fight and has Bruce handle securing the upstairs entry points. Bruce soon discovers that someone has already broken in through a window. Downstairs in the study, Theo surprises Alfred.

Selina picks a lock to a gate and quickly hides when two guards approach. The two guards walk past Ed’s cell and notice that he’s missing. They quickly sound the alarms. Selina finds her way into the secret elevator and makes her way down.

Alfred holds Theo at gunpoint. When Theo lunges at him, Alfred starts firing. Bruce enters and slides a saber to Alfred. A sword fight ensues, but Theo overpowers Alfred and throws him out the window. Theo quickly goes after Bruce.

Selina arrives at the lab. She moves through the halls and hides when Strange and Peabody approach. She overhears Strange telling Peabody about Theo and their plans in moving to a new location. Making her way out, she sees guards subduing and escorting one of Strange’s mutants (Killer Croc?).

Bruce makes his way into the estate’s garage. Theo enters and sees a silhouette of Bruce’s shoes, which soon turns out to be a trick. Bruce quickly starts up a car and runs him over.

Outside, Bruce exits the car to look for Theo’s body. Suddenly, Theo wraps the whip around Bruce’s neck and strangles him. When Theo is about to execute him with his sword, Jim arrives on the scene and shoots Theo multiple times.

Their victory is short-lived when Theo quickly comes back to life and stands. Jim attempts to shoot him again, but discovers that he’s run out of bullets.

Penguin makes a nick-of-time appearance with Butch, who fires a bazooka at Theo, blowing him up.

Ed finally exits the air shaft. After a brief moment of celebration, he’s caught by a passing guard.

Selina finds herself in Strange’s resurrection chamber. Bridget enters, wearing her suit and armed with a flamethrower. With no recollection of Selina, she asks if she’s here to test her. Selina pleads to her former friend, but Bridget ignores her and declares that her new name is “Firefly.” Firefly ignites her flamethrower as Strange and Peabody look on in the observation room.

Next: Catch up on Gotham with a Recap of 'Azrael'

Best Moment: The sword fight between Alfred and Theo.

Final Thoughts: First there was Azrael. Next, we find out that the guise of Firefly was also created by Strange. Now, it seems that Killer Croc could also be rooted in Strange’s experiments. Is this Gotham’s way of being lazy? Is the show consolidating all the super-villains’ origins into that of “created by Hugo Strange”?