Gotham Episode 21 Recap, The Anvil or the Hammer, Plus Season Finale Promo

Barbara spent the night with Jason, but come morning she is ready for the walk of shame. He doesn’t want her to go, but she doesn’t want to pretend it is more than it is. She insists on leaving; he insists she stays, and decides to tell her the truth: “The night we met, I was going to kill you.” Barbara thinks he is joking until he goes into more detail. Then she is just scared. She is the one he has been looking for, and wants her to have breakfast. She makes a run for the door (sealed) and he realizes they are going to have to do this the hard way. He puts a hood over her head and drags her off.

He leaves her hanging by her arms in his playroom, but after a time, unchains her and offers her some water – which she takes gratefully. “I love you, but if you try to escape, I will hang you from the ceiling and gut you,” he warns, then makes her look at the photos of the women he has killed. The “water” starts to take effect and Barbara passes out. She is out all day. Jason wakes her with kisses that night, and Barbara cries into his arms, certain that he is going to kill her. Instead he makes her an offer: tell me who to kill. She thinks he is insane, then he holds the knife to her throat. “Tell me who to kill, or I will kill you.” She whispers the intended victim into his ear.

Jim is positively manic that he hasn’t found Barbara yet. He feels like it is his fault. Bullock brings in a young pimp who, after being beaten by Jim, admits that the Ogre had occasion to visit the Foxglove, a high-end and very extreme brothel. Jim goes to Penguin for details on the Foxglove. More violence, and the promise of owing him a VERY big favor, yields info and an invite to the club. Bullock goes in undercover, and finds all manner of fetish being serviced there: adult babies, whipping, rope play, and more. The evening’s “main event” begins, and even though we don’t see it, we hear moans, whips, a chainsaw, and a pig squealing. We see Bullock’s horrified face as he pulls out his badge and shuts the whole thing down. The cops move in and start interrogating everyone. The madam directs them to Sally, who recognizes the drawing immediately. He hired her, put a sack over her head, and carved up half her face – but he let her go. This was nine years ago, just before the first murder. Jim wants to know why she never reported it, but she did. Of course, she was a hooker, he was a rich man… you know how this story ends. She does manage to describe where his apartment is.

It doesn’t take long for Jim and Bullock to find the Ogre’s apartment. It is empty, but Bullock finds the playroom. Jim doesn’t recognize any of Barbara’s trinkets, but he knows she was there – he can still smell her perfume. The phone rings, and the detectives eye each other warily. Jim answers; it is the Ogre, taunting the cops, telling Jim that Barbara loves him now, more than she ever loved Jim. He hangs up, but Jim and Bullock were able to recognize sounds in the background that suggest they are heading upstate. Barbara’s parents live upstate.

Sure enough, Barbara and Jason are at her parents’ house. He reminds her he is doing this for her, and goes in for the kill. Barbara just stands there, watching. By the time Jim and Bullock arrive, her parents are dead. Barbara appears, looking a little hazy, and asks what he is doing there. Bullock, out in the foyer, is attacked from behind by Jason, and falls down the stairs. Jason then attacks Jim, and the two fight. Barbara watches like a traumatized puppy. Then Jason grabs Barbara, using her as a human shield, knife to her throat. Barbara assures Jim she is okay, and he should leave them alone. Bullock sneaks up behind Jason and then Jim shoots him in the head. He slits her throat as he falls, but it clearly missed the jugular. Barbara is bleeding, but she is okay.

Bruce has a package messengered to him: the key. He arranges a tour of Wayne Enterprises and when he ducks away to use the restroom, he pulls the fire alarm. As the building is evacuating, he finds Bunderslaw’s office, and his old timey safe. The safe is empty, and Bunderslaw catches Bruce. He knew the kids lifted his key, and has been expecting Bruce. It is time to have “the talk” with Bruce: Wayne Enterprises will break any law if it will guarantee an increase in profits. Bruce’s father accepted this, and his grandfather before him. Eventually, Bruce will have to accept it, too. Bruce doesn’t believe this, insists his father was a good man. Lucius Fox comes in to collect Bruce. Out in the hall, Lucius promises he knew Bruce’s father well, and he was a good man, not who the company thought he was. “He kept his best self hidden. That is all I will say.” We all know what that means. Upon arriving home, guilt overwhelms Bruce and he finally admits to Alfred what he and Selina did. Alfred doesn’t seem too surprised, nor does he punish Bruce. He does assure Bruce (for the billionth time tonight) that his father was a good man.

Penguin has the hit on Maroni all set up. Butch hides weapons at Lydia’s, and schedules Connor to show up with some booze from Falcone. He grabs one of the guns, and pulls the trigger – it jams. Maroni instructs Tommy Bones (a hitman released from prison) to kill Connor as a message to Falcone. Later, his head is delivered to Falcone in a box. Then Maroni and his men open fire on three different Falcone businesses, which sends the captain into a panic. The gang war has officially started.

The show is finally getting good. This is the format the show needs: to no longer worry about jamming in as many bad guys as possible and to focus on the overall arc of the story. You’ve got a second season; now pace out the stories. There was no other way for the Barbara storyline to end; however, the times when she was with Jason were the only times I liked her.

Also, have you noticed that Selina has dropped the ridiculous “Cat” nickname? I think it was about halfway through the season that Selina officially stopped telling people to call her that. Thank goodness.

You can check out the promo for the season finale of “Gotham” in the player below. Titled “All Happy Families Are Alike,” the episode is officially described as follows:

“As Gotham City’s gang war reaches its boiling point, Fish Mooney goes head-to-head with Maroni and Penguin in an attempt to re-stake her claim on the city. Meanwhile, Barbara and Leslie Thompkins are brought together after recent events, and Bruce searches Wayne Manor for any hints that his father might have left behind.”

“All Happy Familes Are Alike” is set to air May 4. “Gotham” airs Mondays at 8 P.M. EST.