Gotham S3 Ep 16 – “These Delicate And Dark Obsessions” A Recap!

Gotham is back and in full swing, and with new episodes comes new opportunities – such as our very own Ben Mckenzie (Jim Gordon) directing this episode. While “These Delicate And Dark Obsessions” starred many a main character, the episode revolved around a specific three:

• Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot
• Bruce Wayne
• Detective Jim Gordon

Jim’s is the most important of the stories, so I’m going to save it for last and begin with Penguins. When we last aw him, Oswald was being cared for by Ivy Pepper, who had taken to him rather quickly. She pushes him in a wheelchair into her greenhouse to show him her “Friends.” He tells her they’re just plants, and that he needs to make plans to take revenge on the person who hurt him. Ivy tells him she’d help if he’d stop being such a dick. Well…she said “jerk,” but I replaced it with what we all thought. He, as kindly as he can manage, requests that she send a message to Gabe, but Ivy forces him to say please first.

Gabe happily reunites with Penguin, who thinks of him only as a loyal idiot. Ivy expresses her concern to Oswald that she doesn’t trust the goon, and tries to let Penguin know that she’d concocted a perfume that bends people to her will. Penguin tells her they should part ways and calls her a freak. Ivy, hurt by the words, storms off, and when she does, Gabe takes the opportunity to knock Penguin unconscious. When he comes to, he finds himself tied to a chair, and when he tells Gabe to kill him and get it over with, Gabe says he’s going to auction off the right to kill The Penguin to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, Ivy ends up tied to a chair too when one of Gabe’s goons catches her snooping and puts a gun to her head.

Oswald smugly comments on how they’re both basically screwed, but changes his tune when he sees how confident she is in whatever plan she’s forming. He demands she tell him while the goons are distracted by a cannoli delivery, but in return she demands that he be nicer to her. He promises that he will, and so she convinces one of the goons to come to her. With the promise of information about Penguin that could get them more money, Ivy manages to get the guy to lean down. She asks if he likes the smell of her perfume, and when he breathes it in, he falls completely under her spell. She orders the goon to kill everyone except Gabe, untie them, and give them his gun, which Oswald uses to shoot him in the head.

As Penguin forces Gabe to clean up the dead bodies, he inquires as to whether Gabe can remain loyal. Gabe says he would, and Ivy forces the goon to smell her perfume. When she asks again about Gabe’s loyalty, he says he wouldn’t be, and that people only followed Penguin out of fear. He tells them that no-one respected Oswald, and that everyone thought he was a freak. Upon learning that, Penguin loses his cool and slaughters Gabe with a gardening tool. When he regains his self control, Oswald admits to Ivy that he won’t be pursuing his revenge plot any further. Ivy convinces him to change his mind when she tells him they should raise an army of freaks – like the ones they created in Indian Hill.

Unfortunately, that’s where that story-line comes to an end. Next up on our list of exciting Gotham updates, and to catch you upon the events of last week Young Master Bruce is continuing his training under Alfred’s watchful eye.  After receiving a letter from Selina, Alfred convinces his ward to meet with her and at least get closure for how things ended. But when Bruce arrives, he finds Selina’s cousin and a handful of his lackies. When Miss Kyle does eventually show up, she claims to not know anything about the letter, before storming off. The thugs decide to beat up on Bruce in order to squeeze money out of him, but BabyBat manages to take them down, thanks to Alfred’s training. As Bruce makes his way home, he’s stopped by his doppelganger. The clone was trained by The Court Of Owls to take Bruce’s place, and he does just that. He injects Bruce with a drug that causes him to fall unconscious, ensuring that the clone can take his place without any worry.

When he comes to, Bruce is in strange clothing; when he looks out the windows, he finds himself isolated in the mountains, and VERY far from Gotham. A man comes to see him, and tells him that Gotham needs a protector. Bruce confesses that he’s not the one for the job, but the man is convinced otherwise. He leaves Bruce to his own devices, and when the cell door opens next, no one enters. Bruce takes that opportunity to try to escape, but he always ends up right back at his cell. When he re-enters, he finds the man patiently waiting to begin their “Training.” Too curious to pass up the opportunity, Bruce takes a seat in front of him. The man brings forth acupuncture needles that seem to emit an otherworldly vibe. When the man presses the point of one to Bruce’s forehead, he’s pulled into the trenches of his own memory, and is forced to relive the night of his parent’s death. Shocked and panicked by the very realistic illusion, Bruce cowers before the man.

When next they meet, Bruce tries to attack the man, but he gets the upper hand. When the man brings out another needle, Bruce goes into a panicked frenzy of apologies in an attempt to avoid what comes next. Within his own mind, he and the man relive that night once more, and when he attacks the man in a bout of anger, the man sends him flying across the alley. When he comes to within the real world, he finds that the injury he sustained in his own mind traveled with him. From there, Bruce’s lessons temporarily end.

Now, of course, we get to see what Jim has been up to.  Before we do though, it seems The Court Of Owls is up to their own plans. As they see it, the city is beyond saving, and needs a cleansing via some diabolical weapon. All present council members, including Frank Gordon, vote to do just that, and so it is decided. “Gotham must fall.” If you’ll remember, Frank has since planted the idea of The Court being to blame for Jim’s father’s murder, and so Jim is looking into the “drunk driver” case. What he finds is that his killer had “Chronic Liver Inflamation,” and according to Harvey, could NOT have been drunk behind the wheel. One sip would’ve killed him almost immediately.

Gordon asks Bullock to do a bit of digging into the drunk driver, before heading off to do his own investigating. At his father’s grave, Jim and Frank meet, where Frank tells him about some sort of weapon heading for Gotham. He tells his nephew that they need to work together to figure out what the weapon is, where it’s coming in at, and what they can do to stop it. After they part ways, Jim finds Lee paying her respects to her husband’s grave. As she stands there, mourning Mario, she tells Jim about a little old man she saw smiling at his wife’s grave. She didn’t understand at first, why he was smiling, until it dawned on her that they got to spend their entire lives together. Jim tries to apologize (again), and Lee snaps at him about how easy it seems to be for him to move on, while leaving destruction and chaos in his wake.

Harvey gets in contact with Jim to let him know that the driver who killed Gordon’s parents was a career criminal. But the most interesting part was the fact that Carmine Falcone paid for the high end lawyer that defended the driver. Jim pays a visit to Carmine, where the retired Mob Boss nearly loses his mind over seeing the man who killed his son. Gordon retorts that “You killed my father,” making them even. Once Falcone calms down a little, he tells the Detective that he simply helped the guy get a lawyer; someone else ordered the hit. When Jim asks for a name, Carmine gives him one – Frank Gordon.

Jim shows up to Frank’s home within Gotham, intent on arresting him. But Frank turns things around and Jim ends up on the ground with a gun pointed at him. His uncle tells him the only thing that matters is stopping The Court, which they can do if they work together. He tells his nephew that the weapon is arriving at Dock 9C, at the Gotham pier, before dropping the gun and making his way out of the apartment. Back at the GCPD, Gordon reiterates EVERYTHING to Harvey, who is ready to rally the swat team to get the dock searched. Jim warns him away from that, because The Court sees everything. Any cops on site will raise suspicions and potentially get Frank killed. Harvey asks who they can use who’s got a veritable army behind them, but who’s not actually connected to the GCPD.

Cut to Barbara Kean, the new Queen of Gotham. She’s got a man on his knees before her, and Tabitha is slightly off to the side, watching as the moment unfolds. The man is terrified and offering money, which she happily takes. She offhandedly comments on how light it is, before taking her shoe and cuffing him over the side of the head with her heel. Obviously our Babs has been increasingly….tough-minded, toward the thugs of the underground. When she gets the phone call, she (as always) seems a little TOO eager to comply to Jim’s favors.

At the docks, they’re torturing one of the workers to get information regarding the weapon, and after a bit of convincing, he tells her that the weapon was delivered a week ago. She then tries to convince the man to set up an introduction for them, but her plans for meeting The Court are interrupted by one of The Court’s guards, a highly skilled swordsman. He dodges every bullet they rain down upon him, and while Babs’ lackies get killed, she and Tabitha escape without a scratch.  Within The Court, Catherine, the face we’ve seen pulling the strings of Gotham, tells Frank that Jim has to die, that he’s been too much trouble. Frank accepts his mission, while at the GCPD Jim and Harvey are catching up on what happened to Barbara, when Jim gets a call from Frank asking to meet up.

When Jim arrives, he finds Frank pointing a gun at him. Frank tries to explain that The Court wants Jim dead, but he also goes on about how he needs someone on the inside, someone to take his place and finish the mission that Jim’s father had started.  Instead of trying to murder his nephew, Frank turns the gun on himself and takes his own life.

While at his father’s grave once more, mourning the loss of two men who’d done so much for him, he gets a call from Catherine. He demands that they finally meet, to which she easily agrees, and when the detective looks to the streets, he finds a limo waiting for him. Without hesitation, Gordon strolls to the limo and goes off, prepared to meet whatever fate he shall.

That’s it for this week’s Gotham. Tune in every Monday at 8/7 Central on Fox to catch the latest episode! Thanks for reading!