Things are really heating up as we enter the back half of Gotham Knights’ first season. After a series of art heists in Gotham, Turner, and the Knights turn their attention to a possible Court of Owls Connection.
Heist
Episode 7, “Bad to Be Good” opens in a dim room with a masked intruder dropping from the ceiling. They carefully select a painting before waiting for the guards to arrive. After taking out all three security guys with ease, the art thief zips back up the line and away the way they came.
Overpriced Swirls of Paint
Gotham Morning News covers the heist, revealing that the target was City Hall. The GCPD has enlisted the help of Detective Sophia Green, a known criminologist. The segment’s hosts declare that they think this sounds like a job for their newest local heroes, mysterious vigilantes the Gotham Knights.
The Knights are watching the news in the Belfry, and Harper isn’t impressed by a job finding “overpriced swirls of paint.” Cullen seems a little put out at her assessment, but it initially seems like several of the Knights agree with her, including Turner and Duela.
Turner rightfully points out that they have bigger problems. Carrie and Stephanie arrive with donuts and an update on Brody and Lincoln March. The Knights won’t get any more answers on Lincoln’s attacker until they can figure out how the Talon has lived so long. Struck with some kind of inspiration, Duela says she may know a way to get them some answers.
Carrie gets a text from Duela sometime later, summoning her to the garage where she is getting out of a hotwired car—the school’s driver’s ed car. Carrie isn’t happy about that, but it becomes a lesser problem as soon as Duela reveals who she has in the trunk: Eunice Harmon.
“In Gotham, villains get things done.”
Duela
Despite Carrie’s horror at Duela kidnapping the old woman, Duela slowly persuades her that Eunice is the only person who will have information about what is up with her papa, Felix Harmon, a.k.a. The Talon. Sometimes you gotta be bad to get the goods.
Doodles for Rich People
Meanwhile, Stephanie and Cullen had a little chat over coffee and crullers about the importance of art, and it got Stephanie thinking. She’s discovered a connection between the stolen art pieces. All of them were owned by Alan Wayne at the time of his death.
Suddenly, the “missing doodles for rich people” seem like they are the Gotham Knights’ problem, after all.
Thankfully, Officer Row’s rubber duckie is still letting Stephanie hack into the GCPD. There’s nothing there to help them though, as it seems the cops are just as stumped as they are. Harper has a plan to find out more—away from the computer.
“You know who knows more about crime than cops? Criminals.”
Harper
Her idea is to go see what her ex — the infamous Dylan McKillen — knows about the art heists. But first, she has to get him on her side, as the last they parted ways he was willing to turn her in for reward money. She manages to sweet-talk him and apologizes for what happened between them. She soon has him eating from her hand, but it’s no use. Even the criminals of Gotham have no idea who is stealing the art.
Stephanie has deduced that there is one painting left that was owned by Alan Wayne at the time of his death that remains un-burgled. The piece is in off-site storage at the Kane Museum. Looks like it’s time for the Gotham Knights to go catch a thief.
You Gotta be Good to Get the Goods
Back in the makeshift kidnapper’s dungeon, Eunice is being her feisty self again. Why should she tell them anything? Surely they can ask all their Talon questions when Papa himself comes to chop off their adorable little heads. Given that they stole her music box, Eunice isn’t feeling inclined to share.
Duela loses her patience and starts turning off the old lady’s oxygen supply. Carrie manages to get her to stop and tells Eunice that if they can have a nice little chat, she’ll return her stolen music box.
With the music box procured, Eunice opens up a little to Carrie, talking about the Court of Owls parties she used to go to as a girl. Carrie tries to get information about who attended the parties, but Eunice tells her they always wore masks. The Court, she says, would always give her whatever she wanted.
“So Papa kills for court and in return you get a life of privilege.”
Duela
When Felix was exposed as the Butcher of Gotham, the Court came to him with a deal. They could ensure he survived his hanging if, in return, he became their enforcer. They imbued him with a substance of some kind, but Eunice claims not to remember its name. She does know that the Court used the last of it on Felix, and they’ve been searching for more of it ever since.
Duela begins to lose her temper again when Eunice says that she’s parched. Carrie agrees to go get her a glass of water.
Art Extortion
The rest of the Knights are hanging around waiting for their art thief to show up. (Cullen bemoans that he should have brought more snacks.) Finally, a little late, our masked criminal from the opener arrives, suited up and ready to break in and snatch the final painting. The Knights follow, but the thief quickly shakes them and gets in a shot at Harper.
Diving behind a car, the Knights take shelter from the bullets. Stephanie and Cullen establish that Harper was only grazed while Turner peels off to take out the shooter’s gun with one of his batarangs. One of their own bullets ricochets off the car and takes out their knee. Turner and Cullen dive in to confront the thief while Stephanie helps Harper.
The art thief turns out to be none other than Detective Green herself. The Court of Owls has her family hostage, forcing her to retrieve the paintings for them in exchange for their freedom. She has no idea who gave the orders.
Cullen and Turner, embracing their Gotham Knights title, tell her they will get the painting for her to save her family.
Stephanie bandages up Harper with a strip of her shirt, and the two of them have a bonding (and possibly even flirty) moment over Harper ending up with a “very sexy scar.”
Spritely Old Thing
Once Carrie steps out to get Eunice her water, Duela reluctantly agrees to wind up the music box for Eunice. Unfortunately for her, it turns out that decrepit, wheelchair-bound Eunice isn’t quite so decrepit and wheelchair-bound after all. As soon as Duela is within range of the music box, Eunice dives for the ballerina that spins in the box, pulling it out — revealing a long, sharp, metal spike attached to the bottom of it — and stabs Duela through the hand with it. As Duela screams, Eunice wraps her oxygen tubes around Duela’s neck and begins choking her.
Thank goodness, Carrie arrives just in time, pulling Eunice off of Duela. She asks Duela what happened, and if she knew that Eunice could stand.
“Well, I tried to be good and I got shivved with a ballerina!”
Duela
Eunice cackles evilly while Duela pulls the offending ballerina out of her hand.
Duela heads back to the Belfry to tell the rest of the Knights about Felix Harmon’s “secret sauce” while Carrie looks after Eunice.
Dash and Grab
Back at the Kane Museum’s warehouse, the Knights are trying to work out how to get in. They’ll have to do a smash and grab (or dash and grab, as they’ll only have 60 seconds), but the door doesn’t even have a lock. Turner solves the issue with a bat gadget he liberated from Carrie’s stash.
Harper and Stephanie keep the engine running in the van, and Turner and Cullen blow the door and dive inside. The warehouse is full of paintings, and they’re on a time limit. They manage to find the seascape they need, a medieval tower on a cliff near the ocean with sheep (much to Cullen’s bafflement), but not before the guards arrive.
Turner and Cullen sneak through the aisles hiding from the guards. Eventually, Cullen manages to throw a goblet to create a diversion, and they run to the van. Harper guns it, and the Gotham Knights escape into the night.
Hostage Exchange
The Knights get a drop-off location for the painting on Detective Green’s burner phone. They park up and Turner — masked, of course — takes the painting out to meet the Owls. The representative of the Court agrees to take the painting, after verifying its authenticity with a knife. Immediately, lasers pin Turner and an order is given to kill the hostages and Turner.
Turner takes it pretty well, coolly responding that they might want to reconsider Because — as Duela tells the Court as she exits the van, dragging Eunice — they brought along a really pissed-off insurance policy.
The plan works. The Court won’t put Eunice at risk, so they let Detective Green’s family, and the Knights, go.
You Can’t Trust Anyone
While the Knights are following their leads on Alan Wayne’s art and the Talon, Lincoln March is comatose at Gotham General Hospital. Rebecca is watching over him when Harvey turns up to check on him, and the two talk. They go for a walk and Rebecca confesses that when she heard Lincoln was attacked at Harvey’s office, she was more worried about Harvey.
Harvey advises that Rebecca and Brody get out of the city. They can’t trust anyone.
In his office, Harvey is looking through his case files, including a photograph of Lincoln. He tries to push through, but can’t quite shake a series of flashbacks to the night Lincoln was stabbed. Clearly, the Talon’s brazen attack is affecting Harvey quite a lot.
He’s interrupted by a call from Rebecca. She’s scared. She sent Brody off to his grandparents and stayed behind to pack, but she feels like she’s being watched, and someone keeps calling the house and hanging up. Harvey says he’ll be right there.
Only a few minutes after Harvey’s arrival at the March residence, the phone rings again. He gets GCPD to trace the number, and they discover that the calls are coming from Miranda Livingston, Lincoln’s mistress.
Rebecca convinces Harvey to have a drink with her, which soon turns into more as she talks about her regrets over ending up with Lincoln, not Harvey.
I’m not unhappy over Lincoln…It’s my regrets that keep me up at night.
Rebecca
In bed afterward, Rebecca mentions that usually, this is when she sees “the other part” of Harvey. They begin to discuss whether is possible for them to be together, and Harvey says to Rebecca that there’s something he has to tell her — only to be interrupted by a call from the hospital, telling them that Lincoln is awake.
Good People, Bad People
Gotham News Now praises the Gotham Knights for saving Detective Green’s family. Duela is still disgruntled about the whole “doing good” part of it all, but Turner comforts her. Just because she did a good deed, he says, doesn’t make her a good person.
Carrie comes down the stairs to present Duela with a messed-up souvenir — the ballerina that Eunice stabbed her with. The pair talk about doing good things and bad things, and how it’s not always as clear as it seems to be which is the good or bad choice. Duela is delighted with the macabre trinket and goes to replace it in the music box. In the process, she triggers a secret compartment, which turns out to be full of photographs of the masked Court of Owls.
“It’s Gotham, which really just means that its complicated.”
Duela
Finally, to the tune of Bob Moses’ “Broken Belief” we get two scenes in our final montage — Harvey Dent returning to his office to find Cressida waiting for him, and a group of masked owls setting fire to the paintings they’d had Detective Green (and the Knights) burgle for them.
“I need your help,” Cressida confesses, before trying to persuade Harvey that what she knows is more important than her betrayals. She knows what the Court is planning, and it affects the whole of Gotham.
The paintings blaze as the semi-circle of owls watch, slowly revealing a metallic-looking substance beneath the paint, forming map-like patterns.
Gotham Knights airs on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Stay up to date with our coverage on the show here. Additionally, make sure to check out Your Bat Is Dead, a Gotham Knights podcast by Nerds and Beyond! As always, stay tuned for more updates.
