Gotham Knights season 1, episode 11 recap: Daddy Issues

The last episode of Gotham Knights ended with Duela and Tuner either finally kissing or suddenly kissing, depending on how you feel their sexual tension has been working up until now. Either way, this episode opens up with the two of them in bed talking about Duela’s birthday, which just so happens to be today.

She talks Turner into doing something “fun” for her birthday, which mainly seems to be going out on the town and risk getting caught by the police but in a fun way. Turner, who is still upset with everyone else in his life for not being truthful with him, agrees to go hang out with her.

Harper and Cullen try to go after them but have no idea where they’ve gone.

Gotham Knights season 1, episode 11 recap – The new IT couple of crime…

Duela takes Turner to a bar where she introduces him to her mother, Jane Doe who has just been released (i.e. escaped) from Arkham after 18 years. Duela’s mother has a plan to get out of Gotham and can take Duela with her.

Duela asks if Turner can come along, and her mom agrees. But once Duela is out of earshot, Jane Doe arranges for Turner to be apprehended by the police.

Apparently, getting part of the reward for turning in Turner will go a long way to helping Jane Doe be able to accomplish her plan. Meanwhile, Stephanie agrees to sign a sworn statement that Lincoln March is the head of The Court of Owls and is responsible for the murders of several people, including Bruce Wayne.

Harvey is with her to support her making the statement but has to step out when he gets some alarming information on his phone. As soon as he leaves, Lincoln enters the room, the GCPD clearly in his pocket.

He tells Stephane that her father has just been arrested for illegally obtaining prescription pills, but that the GCPD are willing to work out a deal with her. They will let her father go without charging him if she gives up the location of the Gotham Knights.

Stephanie refuses, much to her father’s disappointment. Stephanie’s mother is also upset with her, but Harper, seeing how Stephanie’s parents treat her, comes to her defense.

Back at the club Harvey shows up and spots Turner hanging out in broad daylight like he isn’t the most wanted person in Gotham. Harvey tries to get Turner safely out of there, but before he can, Harvey is attacked by Jane Doe.

She sedates and ties him up in a straitjacket. As Harvey comes to, Jane Doe reveals to Duela that Harvey is the person that put her away, claiming that she was stalking him.

According to Jane Doe, Harvey pretends that the relationship between himself and Jane Doe never even happened, even though she swears that it did. She even reveals that Duela is actually the daughter of Harvey, not The Joker.

As she says all this, Harvey realizes that it’s possible that Jane Doe’s version of events may actually be true and that she had a relationship with his alter ego that he never knew about. He tries to explain this to them and does a terrible job.

Gotham Knights season 1, episode 11 recap – The titular daddy issues…

Duela was already dealing with father issues when she thought the Joker was her father. In fact, she had a bullet that she carried around that she planned to one day use on the Joker for abandoning her as a child.

So, she really doesn’t take the new information about her parentage well and takes her Joker bullet and shoots Harvey. Then Duela and her mom make their escape.

Turner meanwhile is passed out back at the club, having been drugged before the GCPD were tipped off on where they could find him. Harper and Cullen, along with Stephanie make it to the club in time and are able to sneak Turner off the premises just in time under the noses of the cops.

Turner finally realizes that his friends, who have risked their lives to save his countless times, actually care for him. He apologizes for his behavior over the past two episodes.

Stephanie and Harper have a nice moment, bonding over troubled homelife, and then they finally remember that they’re on a CW show and kiss. Harvey wakes up in a hospital bed, The Court of Owls coin in his pocket having stopped the bullet and saved his life.

But his good fortune is short lived when a news story breaks revealing Harvey as the true father of Duela, one of the suspected murderers of Batman, as the episode comes to a close.

Gotham Knights season 1, episode 11 recap – This actually happened in the comics…

One of the more constant complaints about the show since it premiered, is how tangentially related to the Batman mythos the show can be. While the series is heavily marketed as a Batman show, with the name Gotham right there in the title, the series itself has taken a lot of liberty with the source material.

The Batman story that essentially serves as a prequel to this show is wildly out of step with the Batman story, we’re familiar with. The Joker is supposedly dead, but Harvey Dent hasn’t made the transformation to Two-Face yet.

Alfred seems to be a thing of the past, with Cressida stepping into the role for some reason. Carrie is Robin, but there’s no indication of any other Robin ever happening.

Plus, Batman’s lone adoptee has no idea that he’s Batman, which makes Carrie’s supposed existence as the sole Robin of this universe even more confusing. In many ways, Gotham Knights feels like it’s going off in its own direction, with somebody on the staff just using a DC wiki to find a new Batman character name every time they want to introduce someone new.

Gotham Knights can at times feel like a show that’s only wearing the Batman connection as a costume. But more and more lately we’ve been getting actual narrative connections to the Batman lore, then fans may have tuned into the show for in the first place.

Electrum, while obscure, does exist in the DC universe and is of interest to The Court of Owls. In this episode, Harper’s superhero name from the comics is mentioned for the first time as well.

But even more interesting, Duela’s backstory just got a lot more complicated, but in a way that fans of the character from before the show would already be familiar with. While they may not be as apparent as some would like, for those that are looking, it’s starting to become clear that the comic connections are there for the fans that did actually tune in looking for a new take on the Batman story that they loved.

What did you think of Gotham Knights season 1 episode 11? Leave your answers in the comments below!

Stay tuned for a new episode June 20 on The CW.