Gotham Recap: “The Demon’s Head”

Written by series star, Ben McKenzie, “The Demon’s Head,” is definitely the strongest episode of Gotham this season.

Instead of having the show take itself too seriously, McKenzie brings some much-needed humor to the typically grim series. With a genuinely delightful and interesting episode, Gotham finally gets a focused storyline that highlights almost all of the main characters.

Bruce Wayne’s morality is finally questioned in “The Demon’s Head,” when his actions from last week have a fatal effect on two innocent bystanders. After taking his knife to a museum curator, he lands the man as well as his curious grandson in the line of R’as Al Ghul’s warpath. The grandson, Alex, manages to escape after hiding the knife but Bruce is suddenly becoming very aware of how his vigilante actions will affect those around him. Deciding to work with Gordon this week, the two embark on the path to finding both Alex and the knife. Unfortunately, R’as isn’t going to be deterred easily and dispatches “dog boy,” otherwise known as Anubis, on the hunt as well.

Of course, the investigation leads Gordon to Barbara’s doorstep for a reunion between the two former lovebirds. Sadly, “The Demon’s Head,” doesn’t give them the scene they deserve with Barbara’s new restrained character. However, she does give away her benefactor to Bruce with her look of shock when he name drops R’as Al Ghul which finally gives Gordon a leg up in his investigations. Tracking Alex down to the Historical Records room at the Gotham library, the three men attempt to get to the police station but are ambushed by Anubis as well as his owner.

The three escape, with Gordon heading back to the precinct to stall R’as while Bruce and Alex hide out with the knife. A poorly-timed entrance by Alfred alerts the villains that Gordon doesn’t have his prized knife, and the two boys once again must go up against Anubis. It lands the innocent boy into the path of R’as Al Ghul leaving Bruce with an important decision to make.

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Gotham has attempted to explore the morality of Jim Gordon but has never been able to hit the mark. Most likely because Jim is the main character, which means he can’t really change that much from being the hero of the series. In, “The Demon’s Head,” Bruce makes the logical decision to keep the knife but at the expense of Alex’s life, something he will have to grapple with for the rest of his life.

Throughout the investigation, Penguin and the Riddler have their own side stories going on. Nygma spends six hours coming up with some pretty bad “raps” to try to lure Oswald to his death. Unfortunately, the plans fail, and Penguin decides to spare his former love the fate of being frozen again because it’s better revenge to allow him to remain dumb but alive. In fact, Penguin is on the top of his game in “The Demon’s Head,”  because he also tracks down Sofia Falcone. He uses her to find all of the remaining Falcone loyalists and force them out of hiding so he can slaughter them before any kind of uprising can be formed.

While she plays the naive young lady, Sofia Falcone proves that she is more than meets the eye in, “The Demon’s Head”. Crystal Reed shoots very subtle looks that display just how cunning her character is and she seems like the only one with a real plan in place.

Next: Gotham Recap: “They Who Hide Behind Masks”

It could have been easy for her to just be another Jim Gordon love interest to hold the place until Lee returns, but Reed is delivering a winning performance that makes Sofia intriguing to watch. Next week it looks like the war for Gotham will continue, with Bruce finally confronting R’as Al Ghul this season as Batman-lite.