CW’s latest Batfamily-oriented teen drama “Gotham Knights” delivers yet another decent episode as the audience sees the titular team take its first step toward the making of a heroic lineup in the third episode of the series. In the previous episode, we saw Stephanie’s friend and possible love interest, Brody, taking the fall for her by confessing to the authorities that it was he who assisted a now-fugitive Turner Hayes. The conspiracy regarding the Court of Owls feels all-pervasive, as it has operated and controlled Gotham City from the shadows for centuries, and Turner finds out that the mysterious organization was also responsible for the generational murder of the Waynes. The episode also featured Talon, a ruthless assassin of the Court who almost ended Duela’s life, but fortunately, the team intervened, and somehow they managed to live another day. The episode ended showing Carrie Kelley, the Robin, has torn and taken the last pages of Bruce Wayne’s journal, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. “Gotham Knights” Episode 3 highlights the teamwork of the team of amateur vigilantes, which adds to the mystery of the Court of the Owls.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In ‘Gotham Knights’ Episode 3?
The episode begins by showing the nightscape of Gotham City and focuses on an illegal trade taking place nearby. The leader of the violent street group called the Mutant Gang, Vernon Wagner, receives a weapon cache shipment and gets intercepted by Carrie Kelley, the Robin. A fight breaks out between the two, and Carrie manages to knock out the mutant leader by electrocuting him, then flees as the cops arrive. As she reaches the team’s hideout at the clocktower, Carrie is visibly ecstatic, as beating the Mutant Leader felt like a personal victory because of the history associated with it. Carrie met an injured Batman for the first time during his fight with the Mutant Leader and treated her hero back to normalcy as an expression of her gratitude for protecting her neighborhood before she was born. Duela tries to pick on Turner by saying Bruce choosing Carrie to be his protégé over him must hurt.
On the other hand, Mayor Hill takes the entirety of the credit for capturing the mutant leader along with the GCPD, much to the team’s dismay, and also calls for a celebration of the victory at the Founder’s Gala the next day. Harvey confronts the mayor about Brody getting acquitted easily despite being an accessory to a suspected murder. He accuses the mayor of being assisted in his re-election campaign by Brody’s rich father, Lincoln March, which Mayor Hill shrugs off, saying Harvey’s paranoia about his own mayoral campaign is clouding his mind.
At school, Carrie and Stephanie connect briefly as Carrie speculates whether Bruce would have felt pride in her achievement, and Steph assures her he would. Brody interrupts their conversation and invites Steph to be his date to the founder’s gala that is going to take place later that night in City Hall. Steph agrees to go with him, although she is surprised to see Brody roaming scot-free despite taking the blame for assisting Turner and later realizes that it was due to the influence of his father. Back at their hideout, Turner wonders whether investigating the first recorded Wayne family murder, that of his great-great-grandfather Alan Wayne, at the hands of the Court of the Owls might help them to solve the mystery behind Bruce’s murder and bring the Court to justice. He states that if they can get a hold of Alan Wayne’s murder case file from the GCPD, they might come up with a lead. An enthusiastic Cullen Row offers his assistance, much to Duela and Harper’s surprise. Cullen has managed to forge a fake evidence transfer order thanks to his art school expertise.
Meanwhile, the mutant gang retaliates by destroying an airship right on top of the Ace chemical plant, causing significant destruction. Carrie feels guilty for acting hastily without considering the repercussions, and thanks to Duela’s additional push, she feels even more responsible for the incident than ever. As Carrie proceeds to rectify her deed by rushing right back to the possible crime scene, Turner offers his assistance repeatedly, which she politely declines. She opines that Bruce didn’t want a life of crime fighting for his son, and to respect that sentiment, she cannot allow Turner to join her. On the other hand, Harper chides her brother for agreeing to infiltrate the GCPD, but Duela encourages his decision—albeit for some personal reason.
At the Founder’s Gala, Steph meets Brody’s parents—a seemingly charming mother, Rebecca, and a typically stern, distracted, and mysterious Lincoln March. At the party, the small talk lets viewers know about the ongoing affair between Harvey and Rebecca. Meanwhile, Carrie breaks into a mutant gang warehouse and gets cornered by a guard, who is taken care of by Turner, who’d decided to pursue Carrie nonetheless. They discover empty chemical cans from Ace Chemicals and a blueprint for a device. After returning to the clock tower with whatever information they gathered, they bring the rest of the team up to date, and Harper deduces that the mutant gang is planning a gas bomb attack in the city. Duela is quick to work out that the gas attack is possibly going to happen at the gala, and the presence of Gotham’s socialites will allow the Mutants to create a hostage situation to demand the release of their leader. Duela’s assumption turns out to be true as the mutant gang attacks the city hall full of aristocratic Gothamites. The rest of the team prepares to save the day while Cullen enters the GCPD in disguise to steal the case files of Alan Wayne.
The team infiltrates the city hall through the sewers and, after knocking out a couple of mutant thugs, finds the bomb. Unable to defuse it despite the combined intellect of Steph and Harper, they discover that the explosion is going to happen regardless of whether the demands of the gang are met or not, as they have come prepared to launch the attack and leave the place using gas masks. Turner decides to let Harvey (he knows about Harvey’s presence at the gala due to the mayoral campaign) know about the situation and to not give in to the mutant gang’s demand to release their leader. As Turner does so by changing his appearance to that of a mutant gang member, he also informs Harvey about the presence of the Court of Owls. Harvey requests that Mayor Hill not give in to the demands of the terrorizing gang, but without paying heed to Dent’s words Mayor Hill orders to release the Mutant leader, Vernon Wagner, from custody.
Still unable to crack the algorithm to defuse the bomb, Stephanie considers the extremely risky step of cutting a vital wire to kill the bomb. After their demands are met, the current Mutant gang leader proceeds to detonate the bomb using a remote control, but at the last minute, Stephanie cuts the wire to neutralize it. Harvey takes down the stand-in mutant lead and gets hailed as a hero by the present crowd. Later, the GCPD finds the bomb to be missing from the place. The team regroups in the clock tower, and we see that Duela has managed to seize the pile of loot that consists of the belongings of Gotham’s socialites that the Mutant gang looted from at the gala. They find multiple Court of Owls insignia watches lying in a pile, signifying the absolute control of the Court not only over Gotham’s authoritative forces but also over the aristocracy. Cullen has managed to bring the case files, and also, at Duela’s request, he has brought Joker’s calling card, a reminder to Duela about her father. Harper apologizes to her brother for her overly concerned behaviors but states that she never doubted her brother’s capabilities, as he’s also the bravest person she knows. The next day, Harvey officially launches his mayoral campaign, and the Court of Owls assassinates Mayor Hill inside his car using the gas bomb.
Thoughts
The deep-rooted corruption of Gotham City makes things gradually tougher for the team of teenage crime fighters as the presence of the Court of Owls in every sector of Gotham becomes apparent. Among the highlights of “Gotham Knights” Episode 3, the chief one was the teamwork on display, as after two episodes, the novice vigilantes take a page from Carrie’s book and decide to help save the day—even though, as usual, the corrupt police administration takes the credit at the end. It was good to see Cullen at the forefront, taking charge of an intricate mission and successfully fulfilling it. As his elder sister Harper puts it, he has been brave about his sexuality and identity and has fought personal battles that have required great bravery, and Cullen gradually taking a liking to the life of a crime fighter is a testament to that bravery. Carrie reluctantly agreeing to let Turner take of the calling of a vigilante, despite her own initial reservations, is her own way of opening up, and it remains to be seen whether she lets him know about what was written in Bruce’s journal that she didn’t want him to see. The apparent distance that has been created between Harper and Steph due to their respective differences in economic backgrounds is a conscious attempt to recognize the character’s roots, and we hope it gets resolved meaningfully.
“Gotham Knights” Episode 3 also introduces us to the comic book character Lincoln March, who is introduced as a well-intentioned socialite at first and later turns out to be an infamous undead Talon who previously believed himself to be Bruce Wayne’s brother. Brody’s father being revealed as Lincoln March doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given how teen dramas tend to make most shady-looking teen members come from a villainous heritage, but we will look forward to seeing whether the series gives the character its own spin to differ from his origin in comics. Mayor Hill’s assassination will clear Harvey’s path to see his ambition actualize unless he gets himself caught in the looming conspiracy of the Court itself.
