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Gotham Recap with Spoilers: Tonight’s the Night

The episode kicks off – strangely. It’s Barbara Kean and Jim Gordon doing a practice run of […]

The episode kicks off – strangely. It’s Barbara Kean and Jim Gordon doing a practice run of their wedding. The priest strangely says “unlawfully wedded” – and it quickly becomes clear this is a dream. An awful dream, with Penguin as the priest, Arkham inmates as the guests and even Theo Galavan as the organist. Barb coughs up a live raven, then is bound in the pews while Jim and Lee are getting married instead. She wakes up says “bad dream” and sees a card that says: “Barbara: Today. Love, G” on a box.

The Galavan siblings meet and Theo says Jim Gordon is forcing them to speed up their plans. Theo has a packet that he plans to offer Bruce in order to get his company from him. They don’t want to outright kill Jim, but they need to keep him distracted for the day first. They’re going to use Barbara to do that, and he tells her “today is the day you get to kill Jim Gordon.”

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At GCPD, Jim tells Captain Barnes about Theo’s scheming. Barnes believes them but says he needs real proof in order to move forward.

Lee tells Jim he can’t be making it personal – and as if on cue, Barbara walks right into GCPD and says “Hi Jim, long time no see.”

In the GCPD Interrogation room, Babs sits patiently and Jim comes in. Lee, Barnes, and Bullock watch. Barbara says “it’s a game, you’ve been losing big time,” when Jim tries to tell her it’s no game. She’s disturbingly calm, with a slight smile on her face. Jim tries to play her a bit, telling her he wants to help her, not hurt her. He tells her she’s a good woman, just sick, is all, and she starts to cry… it actually seems genuine, as if she’s breaking through a bit. He goes across the room to her and kisses her. Lee is… not thrilled with that. “I knew it, I knew you still had feelings for me.” “Of course I have feelings. Talk to me.” She smiles and tells him first she needs to show him something. Okay, yes, he’s still playing her. “It’s a surprise, then after that I will tell you everything.” Jim tries to get something, ANYthing out of her, but she just says “wouldn’t you like to know?” Time’s up on this initial chat. Barbara smiles as Jim leaves, then turns seriously to the two-way mirror and stares down Lee through it despite not actually being able to see her.

The four of them chat in Barnes’ office. They argue whether she’s just crazy or has actual information. “I suggest we play along, make her think she’s in control,” Jim insists. Barnes approves, reluctantly, of the plan.

Cut to the woods, and Nygma has a trunk he gets out of his car, and starts dragging around. It bumps over a log and he says, “Oh, sorry Miss Kringle.” Yipe.

Galavan apartment, Bruce comes in and is greeted by Silver with a kiss and saying her uncle “has something for you. He seemed excited. Totally goofy.” Theo walks in and apologizes for making him wait.

GCPD: the new members of the Strike Force are arming up. Barnes says that if he pulls the plug, they stop the mission immediately. He tells that personally to Harvey, too, in hopes that he’ll keep Jim’s head in the game. Lee tells Jim this isn’t the right move, that “your sickness and hers feed each other.”

Galavan Tower: Bruce and Galavan have a chat, and Bruce says his one dream is to find his parents’ killer – and kill him. Theo says his dream is to rid the city of crime. He needs Bruce’s help, but in return he could help him with his dream.

GCPD has a full strike force vehicle while Jim, Harvey, and Barbara get in a squad car. She tells them to head downtown.

Back to the Galavan Apartment, Theo tells Bruce the “Wayne name is synonymous with growth and prosperity, but that’s a lie.” He tells him that Wayne Enterprises is doing terrible things, including illegal weapons contracts, experiments, chemicals, awful things. Bruce says he’ll look into it all, but Theo says he couldn’t possibly. He proposes that Bruce sell his 51% controlling stake to Theo so he can “fix it all.” Bruce says Wayne Enterprises is “my responsibility, all I have left of them.” But Theo says it’s not all he has to offer Bruce. He tells him the killer was following the Waynes that night, and that he has confirmation of who killed them – that’s that packet, with documented proof of accomplices, motives, how, why, who.

Barbara, Jim and Harvey are driving around. Jim tells Barbara he knows it’s a trap, “and Galavan’s using you like a puppet. It is Galavan behind all this, right? He’s a psychopath, he’s using you. He’s laughing at you, and when it’s done, he’ll kill you.” She says “mm mm mmmmm” and clearly she’s not talking. Harvey wants to turn the car around.

Forest: Nygma is burying Kringle, and pours out two glasses of wine. “Thanks to you, I am whole. I will not forget you.” While he’s offering a riddle to her as eulogy, a hunter sneaks up on him. He hits the hunter over the head with a shovel and says “great, now I’ve gotta improvise. Don’t go anywhere.”

Jim tries desperately to convince Barbara she needs to talk. Barnes calls in and tells them it’s time to pull them out because of the bad area they’ve driven into. Barbara says, “turn around and you get nothing.” Jim convinces Harvey to keep going. “You asked me to marry you. I booked a church, bought a damn wedding dress.” Aaaand ambush, just as Barnes predicted. A semi sideswipes the cop car, and heavily armed, masked men get out and start shooting. The Strike Team is overwhelmed, and Harvey is out cold. Jim barely comes to, and sees that Barbara’s already out of the car. She’s standing staring at him. He pulls his gun, but Tabby Galavan injects him with a sedative and knocks him out.

GCPD: Barnes tells the Strike Force they need to set up a 20 block perimeter. He also tells Bullock it’s a direct order for him to go home. Lee is strangely not there freaking out.

Woods: Nygma gets back with his bone saws and says “if I can’t make the hole bigger, I will make you smaller” – but then notices the food was eaten. “For a secluded forest this sure has a lot of foot traffic. Looks like it’s going to get a bit crowded in there!”

Bruce is in the cave, and Alfred comes in. Bruce asks him how long he thinks it will take to train properly to take down all the corruption in Wayne enterprises. Alfred says it’ll take years, but he’ll get there. “But how many will suffer and die before it comes to that?” Bruce tells Alfred of his conversation with Theo and the offer to fix Wayne Enterprises, and the offer of his parents’ killer. “Well that’s not an offer, is it? That’s bloddy extortion!” Bruce argues about it – he is just a kid, after all. “If Mayor Galavan can truly fix Wayne Enterprises, isn’t it my moral duty to allow him to do so, for my father’s legacy?” Alfred, perfectly, tells Bruce HE is their legacy. Bruce begins to cry and says he “just wants it to be over.”

Gordon wakes up in a church, tied to a chair. Barbara walks in wearing a wedding gown – she looks gorgeous, incidentally – carrying a sawed-off shotgun instead of flowers. “I know, can you believe it still fits?” She starts talking to Jim about “us.” It’s her actual dress she had originally picked out. The priest and a handful of random people are also there, also tied up. “You can’t have a wedding without witnesses.” She tells Jim he knew it was a trap, and says she’ll make his fondest wish come true – to die. “Aren’t you tired of hiding your true self? Tired of lying to yourself? To Lee?” He says he doesn’t lie to Lee, and she says, “Oh really? Let’s ask her,” and wheels her in, too, tied up at the hands of Tabby. “Hey girlfriend, we really need to talk about this bad boy,” Barbara says to Lee and rips off the duct tape.

GCPD: Bullock listens to a tape of their car ride, and realizes it’s the church and the wedding do-over. He tells Barnes and he listens.

Church: Jim tries to get Barbara to let Lee go – Barbara is playful with Jim, terrifyingly. Babs tells Jim the truth finally, “Mayor James is alive and well in a stash house on the China Docks.” Barbara starts telling Lee “he’s like an addict who thinks he can dabble in darkness as long as no one can see the needle marks.” She asks Lee if he told her how he got reinstated – and she answers immediately with his killing a man for Penguin. Barbara’s getting pissed. She and Lee argue, and Barbara pulls out a knife. Jim has been trying to grind the ropes binding his hands all along. “I am going to prove I love him more. I’m going to carve your pretty face off your skull.” Jim breaks free and picks up the shotgun. “Don’t make me kill you.” “Make you? Jim, you long to kill me,” She says with a smile. The cops arrive on one side, and Tabby and her thugs come in the other side. Barbara looks to escape, and Jim manages to shoot Tabby in the shoulder. He goes to let Lee free, and she points out that Barbara has run up into the eaves/balcony. He says it’s over, and she runs at him with a knife. She falls out the window, held by Jim. “Hold on!” “I’m sorry baby, having kind of a bad day now. I love you baby…” and she lets go, falling to the ground. WHAT THE HELL?

After the commercial break, she is on a stretcher. “She has half a dozen broken bones and a concussion. She’s critical,” Lee tells Jim. “Not now, but when this is over, we need to talk.” “I know,” he replies

Jim tells Barnes about Mayor James and the China Docks. The whole damn GCPD goes to search. They find a warehouse that’s been setup as a torture room. “What is wrong with these people?” Harvey says. They find Mayor James in his head-box and ask who did it to him.

Galavan office: Bruce says the paperwork is in order and has the pen to the paper. He stands up. “I changed my mind. I can’t sell you my company, not for any price.” Jim and the GCPD come in and he tells Alfred to get Bruce away from Galavan. Theo throws the packet into the fire. Jim arrests him for the kidnapping and torture of Aubrey James. Bruce weeps at the fire where the packet and proof are burning.

The Woods, Nygma finds a mobile home with a light on. “Finally.” He goes up to the trailer and the door suddenly opens. It’s Penguin, and he’s hurting bad. “Oh my, mister Penguin?” “Help me, please.” Aw yeah, it’s the Riddler/Penguin team up we’ve been getting teased about! And that’s the episode!