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Gotham season 3, episode 19 recap: “Heroes Rise: All Will Be Judged”

By Steve Lam

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Tonight on Gotham, Nathaniel Barnes returns without missing a step in his perverted crusade for extreme justice, and, in order to escape, Penguin and Ed are forced to work together.

Like I’ve always said, Gotham is at its finest when it goes over-the-top crazy. With Nathaniel Barnes on the loose, everything was fair game. But above all, we got a very satisfying death to one of the most arrogant side characters on the show.

Spoilerific Recap

Penguin awakens to the site of Edward Nygma and is surprised to find him alive. The two are imprisoned in cages, but that still doesn’t stop them from arguing and threatening to kill each other.

Selina breaks into Wayne Manor and sets off the alarms. Fake-Bruce confronts her in the study and the two fight, with her getting in a good stab. Alfred soon joins the fray and learns that Bruce isn’t who he’s supposed to be. Fake-Bruce overpowers Alfred and knocks him out.

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The Temple Shaman and Bruce Wayne arrive at the outskirts of Gotham.

Lee is in a weird dream where Mario tries to feed her his rage blood. She soon wakes up, completely disgusted.

Jim Gordon has found a number of Court of Owls locations with secret rooms. He and Harvey pay one a visit and soon find a crystal owl which projects a map showing all the safe houses. Barnes—clad in armor and armed with an axe for a hand–surprises and ambushes them.

A frustrated Alfred tries to reach Jim with no success. He turns to Selina for help, but she refuses—coldly saying that there’s nothing in it for her. An enraged Alfred scolds her, stating that she’s no different than her deplorable mother.

With Jim now missing, Harvey questions a witness who claims he saw Barnes’s truck.

Penguin and Ed continue to argue and taunt each other. Ed incapacitates Penguin with a poisoned dart he stole from a guard. As Ed tries to make his escape, Penguin causes enough of a ruckus to alert the guards. They rush in and furiously beat Ed.

Temple Shaman and Bruce go on another vision. He offers to take Bruce’s pain away. However, Bruce needs to be willing. When presented with the opportunity to put his mother’s pearls inside the metaphorical safe, Bruce hesitates. Seeing no other options, Temple Shaman offers to tell Bruce the truth.

Jim awakens and finds himself restrained to a chair. Kathryn demands to know who else knows about the Court’s secrets. After Jim refuses, Kathryn allows Barnes to proceed with his judgement.

Lee speaks to Jervis Tetch and learns the twisted reasoning behind Mario’s rage virus infection. He knew Mario would be killed, and wanted Leslie to blame Jim. Thereby, depriving him of love. Jervis soon turns the blame onto Leslie.

Penguin wakes up from his drug-induced slumber. Both Penguin and Ed eventually come to the conclusion that they will need to work together in order to escape. They quickly form a set of rules to prevent one from killing the other.

Temple Shaman takes Bruce on another vision journey. This time, it’s one of Temple Shaman’s own memories—one where he killed the man responsible for murdering Thomas and Martha. He implores Bruce to help him on a crusade to make the Court pay for its crimes.

Barnes sentences Jim to death by beheading. Before doing so, Barnes reveals that Lee had visited him, wanting to know more about the effects of the rage virus. Jim makes a final request to wear his badge. The trick allows Jim to pull the pin from a grenade attached to Barnes. Barnes is able to toss it, but the resulting explosion alerts the GCPD. Barnes escapes by jumping out the window.

At the GCPD, Harvey receives word that Kathryn had been apprehended by Strike Force. Alfred storms in and both Jim and Harvey learn of Bruce’s abduction. The three quickly discover that their common enemy is the Court. Alfred agrees to bring Jim and Harvey the crystal owl, hoping it will have information of Bruce’s whereabouts.

Penguin lures the guards in with his screams for help. After Ed fakes Penguin’s murder with a perceived throat cutting, the two overpower the guards and make their escape.

Kathryn is brought to the GCPD and questioned, but Jim has no luck extracting information about where she hid the virus bombs. When Alfred arrives with the crystal owl, he learns from Harvey that Kathryn is also here. Before Harvey can stop him, Alfred makes his way into the interrogation room and stabs Kathryn’s hand. Outside, Barnes has infiltrated the GCPD.

Alfred proceeds to torture Kathryn, demanding to know Bruce’s location. The interrogation is cut short when they learn about Barnes’s attack. The four leave the room, but Kathryn calls out to Barnes to help her. Barnes leaps down from the ceiling, quickly overpowering Jim, Harvey, and Alfred.

When Kathryn condescendingly commands Barnes to escort her out, he beheads her. Barnes approaches Jim to kill him. However, Jim is able to shoot Barnes’s hand off, mangling him.

Penguin and Ed escape out into an alley. After giving each other some parting threats, the two go their separate ways.

Lee returns to the GCPD and exchanges a few words with Jim. He later comments to Harvey that Kathryn’s death will cause the Court’s true leadership to act.

Temple Shaman and Bruce are back in the vision. This time, Bruce chooses to place his mother’s pearls in the safe—symbolizing the removal of all emotion. This is later proved when Temple Shaman confirms that Bruce feels nothing in regards to his mother’s murder.

Using Talon, Temple Shaman shows Bruce the true power of having no emotions. He later makes Bruce vow that he will follow his commands.

At the GCPD, the reassembled crystal owl reveals all the various Court safe houses. Harvey soon receives a report that Barnes has escaped. Even more disturbing, Lee has taken all the virus samples.

Back at home, Lee injects herself with the virus and starts to experience the effects immediately.

Best Moment(s)

  • Penguin and Ed’s bickering and threats to kill each other.
  • Alfred plunging his knife through Kathryn’s hand when she smugly refused to give any information regarding Bruce’s abduction.

Final Thoughts

Barnes’s escape at the end of the episode basically sets him up as one of the main antagonists for the rest of Season 2. And with Lee injecting herself with the rage virus, does this mean Barnes will soon have a partner?

I’m calling it now. Selina may be coldly refusing to help find Bruce, but I know she’ll be integral in bringing him back from his brainwashing. It’ll most likely be in the season finale. Her true feelings will surface, and she’ll be the only one able to break through.

And let’s not forget the most satisfying torture and death of the smug Kathryn. It’s a testament to the actress, Leslie Hendrix, who plays her that the audience finds the character so easy to hate. It was great to see Alfred instill some real fear into her, and to see her plan with Barnes backfire.

Next: Catch up with a recap of 'Heroes Rise: Light the Wick'

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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