Gotham Season 3 Episode 17 Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle Review

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis: The most unhinged villains of Gotham come together as the Riddler continues his conquest; Gordon’s search for answers keeps leading him back to the Court of Owls; Alfred notices a change in Bruce while Bruce 2 confides in Selina. (IMDB)

Writers: Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt

Director: Maja Vrvilo

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 42mins

In the last episode, Penguin and Ivy were about to from their army of freaks so Penguin could have his revenge and so far, they now have Mr. Freeze and Firefly on their side and they of course did not get along with one another. Gordon also hopped in a car with Catherine and they had a meeting. Gordon did not hold the Court responsible for Frank killing his father which was exactly what she wanted to hear. Despite that, Gordon was not in with the Court just yet since he had to prove his loyalty once he is called upon, more on that later obviously.

The Court have already taken care of the crime scene, unbeknownst to Gordon, so Frank’s body washed up on shore. Lee found it and performed an autopsy and was annoyingly suspicious of Gordon, again. Gordon told her to drop it for her own good but Lee was not going to drop it, seeing that she had nothing left to lose thanks to him. He told Bullock the truth about what happened and that it would be his way into the Court. They would just have to wait. Bullock didn’t like waiting but at least they had Ed, who is now in full Riddler mode, to deal with, taking up the bulk of the episode.

Hearing about Barbara’s run-in with the Court, she and Ed both became obsessed with the Court and trying to learn more about them. Ed then hijacked a theatre production because that was where all the rich and influential people would be and making a big show of it, thus putting himself on the map. He believed that the interim Mayor James would know about this group so he set up an elaborate plan to kidnap him. Tabitha was annoyed that Ed was still alive but Barbara promised to kill him after he found the Court.

Wanting to make it a show, Ed had James hostage on TV. This now was Gordon’s opportunity to prove himself to the Court. Catherine wanted him to bring Ed to them. Gordon managed to play into Ed’s ego, convincing him to come to the police station to meet Gordon in exchange for the information he was looking for. Because she hated Ed, Tabitha helped Gordon defuse the bomb that James had around his neck. Leaving few options, Ed decided to go with Gordon who drove him to a meeting with Catherine. Seeing his usefulness, they decided not to kill Ed.

Luckily, the CB subplot doesn’t look to last too long (Bruce wasn’t in the episode). Alfred was starting to notice that this Bruce was acting differently lately but he claimed that he was having problems with Selena and that was the end of it, or at least that’s what it looked like. Once Alfred left the room, CB started getting nosebleeds so he called the Court doctor and met with Catherine. She told him he was dying but the real Bruce would be back before that happens. He’s thankful for having been given a purpose. She revealed that when Bruce returns, people will die. She had asked if he had become attached to anyone and he said no which was a lie.

CB later visited Selena but was unaware of what she had said to the real Bruce. He had to tell her what was going to happen to Gotham. She was skeptical but he had her attention when he told her that he wasn’t Bruce. He told her everything that happened but she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to go but he didn’t let her. She was the one person he wanted to save and that was the difference between him and Bruce since he would have wanted to save everybody. She berated him which made him angry and push her out of a window.

The episode ended with Barbara and Tabitha having a fight, Penguin and the team going home, Selena’s body being surrounded by cats (we all know she’s not dead), and most importantly, Gordon officially joining the Court of Owls!

Overall, this was another good episode with a compelling battle between Ed and the GCPD and I like how it all connected to the Court of Owls. Lee and CB are annoying characters but it was kept to a minimum here. It was nice to see some old characters come back on Penguin’s team. It’s actually getting exciting for a change.

Score: 8/10

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.