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Gotham season 3, episode 16 recap: “Heroes Rise: These Delicate and Dark Obsessions”

By Steve Lam

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Tonight on Gotham, the Court of Owls gives Frank Gordon an ultimatum involving Jim.

In Gotham‘s “Heroes Rise: These Delicate and Dark Obsessions” episode, the drama is heightened when Jim digs deeper, learning the cause of his father’s death. However, the real scene stealers were from the subplots involving Penguin and Ivy, and Barbara establishing her newfound power over the underworld.

Spoilerific Recap

The Court of Owls meet and they decide to take drastic action—unleash a weapon to cleanse and destroy Gotham City.

In the remote mountains, Bruce wakes up in his prison. He’s soon greeted by a mysterious old man, telling him that the Court is only a tool.

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At GCPD, Jim and Harvey are still looking for Nygma, who has basically vanished after last week’s events. However, Jim is a bit more preoccupied with the circumstances surrounding his father’s death. Michael Ness, the drunk driver who killed Peter, was known to have chronic hepatits—meaning it was impossible that he had alcohol in his system (a fact Harvey surprisingly reveals).

Penguin is Ivy’s “patient,” but he shows zero gratitude for her saving his life. She badly wants to help him, so he gives her a task—contact Gabe.

Frank arranges a visit with Jim at Peter’s grave. Jim cuts to the chase and wants to know what Frank actually wants. Frank reveals that the fanatical high-ranking officers of the Court want to unleash a weapon on Gotham. After their meeting, Jim accidentally runs into Leslie, who’s visiting Mario’s grave. She’s perplexed as to how Jim easily moves on from the lives he’s destroyed.

Penguin reunites with Gabe, telling him that he wants to amass an army. Ivy has a gut feeling to not trust Gabe. Right after Penguin dismisses his “caretaker,” Gabe proves Ivy correct and knocks out his former boss.

Bruce sees a chance to escape, but discovers the prison to be a maze—always leading him back to his cell. The old man greets him again, now offering him something.

Jim confronts Carmine Falcone—demanding to know who ordered the hit on Peter. Carmine reveals Frank to be the perpetrator.

Frank returns home and finds Jim waiting for him, gun ready. Frank admits to ordering the hit.  Peter was becoming too much of a risk. As Jim arrests him, Frank breaks free. He overpowers Jim and gives him the location of where the weapon will be arriving. He needs Jim to find out the “when.”

Gabe has no intention of killing Penguin. In fact, he’s going to give that pleasure to someone else—or, actually, sell that pleasure to the highest bidder. As Gabe’s men arrive, Ivy is also captured.

Jim meets with Harvey and tells him about Frank’s involvement. Jim’s only other option is to have someone not connected to the GCPD raid the docks. That “someone” is none other than Barbara—now a Gotham mob boss.

The old man starts Bruce on his journey. Using some mystical acupuncture needles, the old man brings Bruce back to the night his parents were murdered. Returning from the vision, the old man notes Bruce’s reluctance in giving up the past.

Barbara and her goons hold a dock worker hostage, torturing him for information. They soon encounter a Talon who wipes out all of Barbara’s men. But she and Tabitha are able to make a clean getaway.

Ivy surprises Penguin with an escape plan. She uses her perfume to take control of one of Gabe’s men—forcing him to kill all the henchmen except for Gabe.

Frank meets with the Court’s leadership and reveals Jim’s reluctance to stop the investigation. Kathryn comes up with a solution—kill Jim.

Penguin demands to know why Gabe became disloyal. After Penguin rose to power, Gabe was passed over. Penguin thinks Gabe is salvageable, so he has Ivy use her perfume on him. The trance brings out Gabe’s true feelings, causing Penguin to lose his temper and brutally kill Gabe.

Jim confronts Frank and questions him about the weapon. Frank needs Jim to replace him. He needs Jim to join the Court in order to destroy it. After saying a few final words, Frank turns the gun on himself.

Bruce tries to attack the old man, but is quickly overpowered and brought back to the night of his parents’ murders. This time, after the scene, Bruce lunges at the old man. As the old man knocks the wind out of him, Bruce awakens from his vision. The old man wants Bruce to become Gotham’s protector and a symbol against fear.

As Penguin buries Gabe, Ivy suggest that they form an army using the freaks from Indian Hill.

As Jim visits Peter’s grave, he receives a call from Kathryn. Shortly after, Jim finds a limousine and gets in, presumably to go to the Court.

Best Moment(s)

  • The Penguin and Ivy dynamic is absolutely hilarious. I didn’t think this pairing would work, but the comedy is definitely at a “10” when these two are together.
  • Erin Richards again steals the show with her short screen time. Crazy Barbara is awesome, much more interesting than Barbara of days past.

Final Thoughts

An entertaining episode that pushed the Court of Owls story arc a bit further. It seems Frank was truly genuine in wanting to bring down the Court. Now, we’ll just have to see how deep Jim will have to go in order to destroy this organization.

I think the Penguin and Ivy partnership really works here. It’s more of a brother and sister dynamic that has the potential to be rife with comedy. I like Ivy’s incessant eagerness to help, and Penguin constantly trying to keep his cool. The character interactions are definitely on point.

Barbara needs some more screen time. And Tabitha seems to have reverted back to being a mute. I liked Tabitha’s more vocal nature which I thought was going to be permanent. Maybe they kept her character quiet to keep the story momentum going.

Next: Catch up with a recap of 'Heroes Rise: How the Riddler got His Name'

Don’t forget to visit the Gotham After Show where our friends at theStream.tv will give fans a play-by-play of the latest episode. And the fun continues with Welcome to the Batcave, also on theStream.tv.

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