Gotham 2×19, “Azrael,” showed just what Hugo Strange would do once he had the power to control others to do his bidding.
Galavan is alive again, but is clearly mad and doesn’t have a grip on reality. All he can seem to remember is text from St. Dumas. Ms. Peabody is worried they won’t be able to bring anyone else back if they’re all going to be crazy. There’s worse news, though, because Gordon has stopped by looking for information on Karen Jennings.
Hugo Strange tries to convince Gordon that Thomas Wayne was the one running Pinewoood. He claims to have tried to shut the program down. Gordon doesn’t believe that, though; he thinks Strange ran it all. He’s able to convince Strange that he has a court order to exhume Victor Fries’ body and can easily tell that Strange is lying about it. However, Gordon still isn’t with the GCPD, so he doesn’t have any real power.
As he’s leaving, Gordon sees Nygma, who claims he’s going to break out. Nygma believes that Arkham is just one big puzzle and that he will be able to escape. He even tries to convince Strange that he can help them with Gordon. Though it doesn’t help Nygma, it does help Strange.
Something that Nygma says to Strange gives him a clue for how to work with Galavan. Since Galavan can’t remember his old life, Strange decides to give him something new, so he finds the story of Azrael in the text of St. Dumas and convinces Galavan that’s who he is. There’s a tiny problem because Galavan can still remember bits of his old life, like the fact that he had a sister. Strange tries to convince him that it’s just a memory placed there by demons.
Bruce wants to go after Strange for the murder of his parents and doesn’t have the patience to wait for Barnes to sign off on it. Gordon tries to make Bruce see that they have to do it the right way or else they will become just as bad as those they’re trying to bring justice to. I’m not sure how much Gordon really believes this, though. It seems like he’s always trying to tell others they need to be good but is willing to bend the law for his own purposes.
For his first assignment, Strange decides to send Galavan out to hunt for Gordon. Just as Gordon is trying to convince Barnes that Strange is creating monsters, Galavan arrives dressed up as Azrael. Still, Barnes won’t see reason that Strange is up to no good. Barnes says he needs real proof, and while we don’t exactly blame him, you’d think he would know by now that anything goes in the city of Gotham.
Since Gordon refuses to follow Barnes’ orders, he has Gordon locked up at the GCPD. While everyone is out looking for Azrael, he comes to the GCPD looking for Gordon. When Barnes refuses to give Gordon up, Azrael kills them one by one. I feel like they should have seen this coming since Azrael only wants Gordon right now.
When it’s down to just Barnes and Gordon, they get him up to the roof where Barnes is able to knock off his mask and see that it’s Galavan. As Barnes is distracted by the truth, Galavan stabs him. Gordon tries to shoot Galavan, but he falls off the roof and reveals himself to all the news stations waiting nearby.
Now everyone knows that Galavan is back, except of course Galavan himself because he’s still confused. I’m not convinced that he will continue to believe he’s Azrael, though. Wouldn’t he just have to see Tabitha in real life to know the truth?
Penguin may have lost his mind, as he is still living at his father’s house, but hasn’t cleaned up Grace’s dead body yet. Barbara is still with Tabitha and seems to have lost her mind again as well. Yet seeing that Galavan is still alive seems to give the worst of Gotham inspiration again. I fully expect that everyone will be trying to get to him now that they know he’s back.
Nygma believes that he has finally found the way out of Arkham, but he actually just discovers Indian Hill. What will he do now that he’s down there?
It looks like Strange is ready to continue bringing others back even though he hasn’t seen what will happen with Galavan yet. He’s preparing to give all the subjects new identities from characters in novels they should recognize. I’m curious to see what he will choose for Mooney and Jerome, and if it will actually work.