| Season 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 "Pilot" | 09 "Harvey Dent" | 17 "Red Hood" | ||
| 02 "Selina Kyle" | 10 "Lovecraft" | 18 "Everyone Has a Cobblepot" | ||
| 03 "The Balloonman" | 11 "Rogues' Gallery" | 19 "Beasts of Prey" | ||
| 04 "Arkham" | 12 "What The Little Bird Told Him" | 20 "Under the Knife" | ||
| 05 "Viper" | 13 "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" | 21 "The Anvil or the Hammer" | ||
| 06 "Spirit of the Goat" | 14 "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" | 22 "All Happy Families Are Alike" | ||
| 07 "Penguin's Umbrella" | 15 "The Scarecrow" | |||
| 08 "The Mask" | 16 "The Blind Fortune Teller" | |||
| Episode | Cast | Crew |
- "Now, tell me... who you want me to kill, or, though it breaks my heart, I will take your life right now."
- —Jason Skolimski to Barbara Kean
"The Anvil or the Hammer" is the twenty-first episode of the first season of Gotham. It first aired on April 27, 2015.
Synopsis[]
The Ogre breaks down Barbara’s emotions, while Gordon and Bullock go to great lengths to track him down. Meanwhile, Penguin leads a massacre, starting an epic war, while Bruce learns the truth about Wayne Enterprises and Nygma deals with his recent actions.[1]
Plot[]
After spending the night together, Jason prepares breakfast for him and Barbara. Though she is about to leave, he asks her to stay with him, revealing that he planned to kill her the night he met her, but did not because he saw something in her made him realize that she was the woman he had been looking for. Terrified by this, Barbara tries to escape the apartment, but the door is locked, and Jason quickly captures her. At the GCPD, Leslie asks Jim when was the last time he slept or ate, and Leslie reminds him that Barbara's kidnapping is not his fault, but Gordon tells her that anything that happened to Barbara would be his responsibility. Soon after, Bullock arrives with a JV Pimp who claims to have information about who the Ogre was.
Meanwhile, Nygma drags the dead body of Tom Dougherty, to the forensic laboratory in two suitcases to get rid of the body. In the interrogation room, the JV pimp Jake, tries to negotiate with the Detectives, asking how much Barbara is worth in exchange for his information (arguably comparing her to a prostitute). Angered by this, Gordon decides to break the department's interrogation methods, with Bullock excusing himself. Later, they discover that the Ogre frequents a brothel called The Foxglove, an extremely exclusive place that never uses the same location twice. Given his desperation, Jim decides to once more resort going to Oswald Cobblepot already owing Cobblepot a favor. At his apartment, Jason tells Barbara, shackled in his torture room about the first woman he killed. At the Wayne Manor, Bruce receives a package. Meanwhile, Alfred prepares to identify Reggie's body. Bruce opens the package and inside is the key Selina Kyle had stolen from Sid Bunderslaw the night previous.
That same day, Butch hides two guns at Lidia's, where Maroni is set to be killed by Connor. Later when he returns to Oswald's to inform Penguin, Gordon appears at the entrance and after threatening him, he manages to get the Penguin to get him an invitation to the Foxglove, though having to promise him another favor. Meanwhile, at Wayne Enterprises, Bruce is given a tour and activates the fire alarm to clear the building. At the GCPD, Jim gives Bullock the invitation for Foxglove, to go instead of him. At Jason's apartment, Jason releases Barbara from her bonds and tells him that she is "the one" for him. To prevent her from trying to escape, he threatens to kill her. He then shows her the pictures of all his victims that he had killed in that very room. Jason then promises not to hurt her because she is the one.
At Wayne Enterprises, Bruce goes into Sid Bunderslaw's office and opens the safe, but finds nothing inside. Then Bunderslaw comes into the office, telling him that he had been waiting for Bruce, ever since Selina had stolen his key. To Bruce's surprise, Sid admits to hiring Reggie to spy on him, although he never meant for Alfred to get hurt. He also unexpectedly confirms all the illegal activities going on at Wayne Enterprise, revealing that Thomas Wayne also tried to stop them, but eventually understood the need for such acts in the billion dollar corporation. Bruce, shocked by the revelation, is given two options by Bunderslaw: to live the life his parents wanted for him, or suffer the wrath of the board. At that moment, Lucius Fox enters the office to take Bruce, as his presence is required elsewhere. Once they were away from Sid, Fox reveals to Bruce that he had known Thomas Wayne very well and that he was a true "stoic" who had kept his true self-hidden. After hearing this, Bruce is wished good luck by Lucius.
At Ed's forensic laboratory, Nygma begins to get rid of Officer Dougherty's body when suddenly Kristin Kringle appears at his door looking for a file. Seeing the body, Nygma tells her that it belonged to a person who had been killed on accident. Kristin seizes the moment to ask him if he had seen Tom, but Nygma says no. At his club, the Penguin finishes coordinating with Connor regarding the attack on Don Maroni, knowing that he would be at Lidia's to celebrate the release of Tommy Bones. Meanwhile, Bullock reaches the Foxglove and begins to look for clues pertaining to the Ogre, but after witnessing several highly sadistic activities, he chooses to reveal his true identity and summons the rest of the GCPD to there. At Jason's apartment, Jason wakes up Barbara, and to show his love, he asks her to name the next person he would kill. Though she refuses, he puts a knife to her throat and threatens to kill her if she did not do so. Frightened, she whispers a name in his ear.
At the Foxglove, Gordon and the rest of the police arrive, beginning to question the host until he's told to talk to Sally. Taking off her mask to reveal a large scar on her face, she reveals that in the past she was kidnapped by a man, who for some unknown reason did not kill her, though he gave her the scar. After telling her story she informs them that the murderer took her to an apartment in midtown Gotham, and after giving specific details, Gordon deduces that it was across from the Gotham Royal Hotel. At Lidia's, Connor arrives saying he was there to pay his respects to Tommy Bones, on the behalf of Don Falcone. The hitman quickly grabs the hidden weapons and attempts to kill Maroni, but the gun jams. Maroni's men kill Connor's associates, and Sal swears revenge against Falcone before giving the honor of killing Connor to Tommy. Later at his club, Oswald reveals to Butch to have manipulated the situation to start a gang war between Falcone and Maroni that would get rid of them both.
At Jason's apartment, Gordon and Bullock arrive, finding it empty. After discovering the Ogre's torture chamber, the Ogre communicates with Jim via a telephone and confirms that Barbara is safe with him. During the call, Gordon hears the sound of a passing train over a bridge and quickly deduced that they were on their way to Barbara's parents house. There, Barbara leads Jason to the home of her parents, who are horrified at the situation. The detectives arrive too late to save them. At Barbara's parents house, Jim finds Barbara shocked and covered in blood, and at the same time, Bullock is knocked out by the Ogre. The Ogre then engages Gordon in battle, while Barbara stares in shock. After being stabbed in the arm with his own knife, the Ogre sneaks behind Barbara to take her hostage. With the knife at her neck, the Ogre orders him to lower his weapon, and Barbara tells Jim to leave them alone, but Bullock suddenly appears from behind distracting him long enough for Gordon to shoot the Ogre in the head killing him instantly. With the Ogre dead, and Barbara still in shock, Jim comforts her telling her that everything would be alright.
At Wayne Manor, Bruce confesses to Alfred about Selina's part in Reggie's death. He also tells him what happened with Bunderslaw, and telling Alfred that Bunderslaw had said both his father and grandfather had known about the corruption going on in Wayne Enterprise, and did nothing to stop it. Alfred reminds Bruce that Thomas was a good man, although Bruce tells him that even good men had secrets. At the GCPD, Gordon is celebrated as a hero for stopping the Ogre. Leslie congratulates him and confesses that he thought he would blame himself for protecting her, and not remembering Barbara and that than whatever the two of them had would be dead. In the archive room, Kristin reads a letter from "Tom", telling her that he had decided to leave the city. At Wayne Enterprises, Bruce decides to add a picture of his father to his investigation board, and Falcone receives a box, finding out that Connor is dead. Elsewhere, Maroni kills several of Falcone's men. At the GCPD, Sarah receives a call about it and calls all officers to active duty. At his nightclub, Penguin laughs in excitement.
Notes[]
- A newspaper article by "Seth Boston" about the release of Tommy Bones from Blackgate Penitentiary is shown for a moment. In real life, Seth Boston worked as a writer on numerous episodes of Gotham.
- The address of Wayne Manor is revealed as being "1007 Mountain Drive", as it is seen on an envelope that Bruce receives. The same address was also stated to be Wayne Manor's location in the 1993 episode The Demon’s Quest from Batman: The Animated Series.[2]