'Gotham' Season 1 Episode 21 Recap: Jim Takes Down The Ogre And Penguin Starts A War

The action picks up in the penultimate episode of the new FOX series “Gotham.” Detective Jim Gordon zeroes in on the Ogre and rescues his ex-girlfriend Barbara. Meanwhile, Penguin ignites an all-out shooting war between the two big Mafia bosses that have been tormenting him. While Gotham City turns into a war zone, Bruce Wayne is fighting his own moral battle when he discovers some dark family secrets.

Penguin pits Maroni and Falcone against each other.

Penguin has been planning an assassination attempt against Don Maroni for a long time. The two of them have not been getting along ever since Maroni discovered that Penguin has been double-crossing him and working for Don Falcone all along.

Penguin stages an assassination attempt on Maroni and makes it look like Falcone made the call. Penguin sets up the assasination attempt to fail and to deliberately pit the two Mafia bosses against each other. Maroni survives but a fire has been lit under him to go after Falcone. He gets his men out and they start attacking known Falcone businesses. He sends the assassin’s head to Falcone and declares all-out war.

Jim catches up with the Ogre

Jim and Harvey are still hot on the heels of the Ogre, especially now that thye know that he has Barbara. With the help of Penguin, they manage to gather some information from underground clubs that lead them to the Ogre’s apartment.

Before Jim and Harvey could get to him, the Ogre has managed to tell Barbara everything about his crimes. He also tells her about his plans for her. She is scared out of her mind and agrees to become his accomplice. She leads him to her parents’ house upstate where the Ogre proceeds to murder them.

Jim and Harvey finally catch up with them at Barbara’s parents’ house. She is in a sorry state and appears delirious. Harvey distracts the Ogre and Jim manages to shoot him. He falls dead and leaves Barbara with a nasty cut on her throat. She survives but it remains to be seen how she will recover from the traumatic experience.

Bruce finds some skeletons in his closet

Bruce finally receives the key to Sid Bunderslaw’s office safe. He tries to check it out but Bunderslaw is already one step ahead of him. He catches Bruce in the act of opening his safe and gives him a small talk. He tells Bruce that he is acting just like his father and his grandfather. He says that they both investigated and wanted to clean up Wayne Enterprises when they were younger. Eventually, both of them and hopefully Bruce too, changed their minds and went along with the way the company was being run.

Bruce is devastated and tells Alfred everything. Alfred assures him that his father was a good man. Bruce agrees but he also says that he is still determined to learn more about his father’s secrets.

Ed Nygma gets comfortable being a villain

After murdering Kristen Kringle’s boyfriend in the previous episode, Ed Nygma needs to deal with the aftermath. He gets rid of the body and leaves no trace thanks to his scientific prowess. He does everything with no remorse and even leaves her a note that’s meant to lead her into his arms.

Ed Nygma’s journey towards becoming the Riddler continues and Jim Gordon’s rise to the top is also moving at top speed. What happens in his war against Commissioner Loeb and the war that’s raging in the city will be revealed in the explosive “Gotham” season finale that airs next Monday at 9 p.m. on FOX.

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