Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle

"Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle" is the seventeenth episode of the third season, and 61st episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The show is itself based on the characters created by DC Comics set in the Batman mythology. The episode was written by co-executive producers Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt and directed by Maja Vrvilo. It was first broadcast on May 8, 2017.

In the episode, Nygma is told by Barbara about an organization that controls Gotham and he sets to discover it, not knowing it's the imminent Court. In order to fulfill his plan, he plans on kidnapping newly-reinstated Mayor Aubrey James and broadcast a live TV message to lure out the Court and expose it to the public. Seeing the menace and fearing it could lead to exposure, Gordon is ordered to bring them Nygma as part of a initiation and prove his loyalty to them. Meanwhile, Cobblepot and Ivy begin uniting a group of villains in order to fight against Nygma and whoever can oppose to him while Five discovers that he's bleeding again but this time, he receives shocking news.

The episode received positive reviews, with critics praising Nygma's character development and Cobblepot's subplot.

Plot

Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) and Ivy (Maggie Geha) arrive at the Arctic and set in a base. They find Victor Fries (Nathan Darrow) there, who is angry at Cobblepot for causing him and any other freak get out of Gotham during his mayor campaign. He convinces him to join him and in exchange, he will give him everything he needs to reverse the condition. They then present him his suit so he can go back to Gotham without the risk of exposure outside coldness.

Gordon (Ben McKenzie) meets with Kathryn (Leslie Hendrix) in the Court. She wants him to prove his loyalty to the Court and they make sure to manipulate Frank's body scene. Gordon "discovers" this in the GCPD but Lee (Morena Baccarin) sees through this and suspects him to hide something. Gordon and Bullock (Donal Logue) also discover that Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), now getting called "The Riddler" by the press, begins striking again. Nygma is visited by Barbara (Erin Richards), who wants to know more about the organization that controls Gotham. Nygma remembers Strange worked for an organization in Indian Hill and seeks to find out more about the organization. Later, Nygma kills actors during a play in front of Gotham's elite.

In Wayne Manor, Five (David Mazouz) continues posing as Bruce and discovers that he is bleeding again. He meets with Kathryn, who tells him that he has a little time before he dies. Gordon and Bullock investigate Nygma's interrupting of the theater and find a box that contains a riddle signaling a "two-faced politician". Gordon and Bullock arrive at James' office where they find him eating Danishes made by a "citizen" and when he tries to eat a pill for his pain, discovers interrogation marks in the pills. They transfer him to a hospital but Nygma makes a biker gang's bar explode so the bikers make a riot in the hospital. While no one sees, he takes James. Cobblepot and Ivy then visit Bridgit (Camila Perez), who is now working on an industrial factory. They finally convince her to join them when she kills her boss.

Nygma and Barbara interrogate James, who tells about an organization that controls Gotham that calls itself, "The Court". Nygma then broadcasts on TV a hostage situation, planning on killing James if the Court is not exposed. James is tasked to bring them Nygma in order to prove his loyalty. Gordon calls Nygma and promises to tell him everything about the Court if he comes to the GCPD. Nygma agrees but tells him to empty the department. Nygma takes James with a device on his neck which will kill him once he presses a button. However, Gordon had Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) deactivate the device, freeing James. Gordon then leaves with Nygma to show him who runs the Court.

Five arrives with Selina (Camren Bicondova), revealing his personification and telling her to leave Gotham. Selina refuses, telling him he's not like Bruce and plans on telling Alfred (Sean Pertwee) but Five throws her out of her apartment to the pavement, seemingly killing her. Then, a group of cats begin to swarm around her. Gordon takes Nygma to a location where they meet with Kathryn, who tells Nygma to get in her car so he can find all the answers he needs. Barbara confronts Tabitha and Butch (Drew Powell) for disarming the device and storms off when she proves that she wants full control. Cobblepot, Ivy, Fries and Bridgit set in Dahl Manor while discovering about Nygma's activities. The episode ends as Kathryn introduces the Court to Gordon, officially becoming a member and donning a mask.

Production

Development

In April 2017, it was announced that the seventeenth episode of the season will be titled "The Primal Riddle" and was to be written by co-executive producers Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt and directed by Maja Vrvilo.^[1]

Casting

Chris Chalk, Benedict Samuel, and Michael Chiklis don't appear in the episode as their respective characters. In April 2017, it was announced that the guest cast for the episode would include Richard Kind as Aubrey James, Leslie Hendrix as Kathryn, Camila Perez as Bridgit Pike/Firefly, and Nathan Darrow as Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze.^[1]

Reception

Viewers

The episode was watched by 3.03 million viewers with a 1.0/4 share among adults aged 18 to 49.^[2] This was a slight increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 3.02 million viewers with a 1.0/4 in the 18-49 demographics.^[3] With this rating, Gotham ranked first for FOX, behind Lucifer but beating Lucifer in the 18-49 demographics, fourth on its timeslot and seventh for the night behind Man with a Plan, The Wall, Scorpion, Kevin Can Wait, Dancing with the Stars, and The Voice.

With Live+7 DVR viewing factored in, the episode had a rating of 1.6 in the 18–49 demographic.^[4] With Live+7 DVR viewing factored in, the episode had an overall viewership of 4.56 million viewers and a rating of 1.6 in the 18–49 demographic.^[5]

Critical reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	100%[6]
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	7.12[6]
IGN	7.5[7]
TV Fanatic	[8]
TV Overmind	[9]

"Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle" received positive reviews from critics. The episode received a rating of 100% with an average score of 7.12 out of 10 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.^[6]

Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.5 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "This week's Gotham stuck by Riddler's side as he launched an official 'investigation' into the Court of Owls, showing that his only goal is to be the top intellectual mind in the city, regardless of who he's pitted against. This character, like Jerome/Joker, is working out really well, and he's still fun to watch outside of the context of Batman. The rest of the show, though, feels like it's rushing its teenage characters into places they shouldn't get to for another decade."^[7]

Nick Hogan of TV Overmind gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5, writing "Overall, this was a good episode. I'm more excited, however, on where it leads next. Several dangling plot threads should come to a head over the next few weeks, which has the potential to be exciting as the show has ever been."^[9] Amanda Bell of EW gave the episode a "B-" and wrote, "This week, some of Gotham's strongest alliances are literally tossed out the window while others are being formed. Ed Nygma is back to do his worst as the Riddler — albeit with less vexing wordplay this time — while the Court of Owls is ready to take Jim under its proverbial wing. Meanwhile, Bruce's doppelganger's endgame is coming into view, and Penguin and Ivy are recruiting their 'Army of Freaks' just in time for a busy day."^[10]

Vinnie Mancuso of New York Observer wrote, "If it's one thing Gotham has consistently been for three seasons it's an upward trajectory into Batshit Crazyville, always escalating its characters into weirder, more intense places."^[11] Lisa Babick of TV Fanatic gave the series a 4 star rating out of 5, writing "I love the Penguin and Ivy relationship. They make a great team. It's going to be interesting to see what they're going to do and how they plan to take back control of Gotham."^[8] Robert Yanis, Jr. of Screenrant wrote, "After building up its roster of iconic Batman villains over the past season and a half, Gotham is poised for all-out war to break out among the rogues gallery by the time season 3 comes to a close. Last week's episode saw Penguin and Ivy launch a mission to assemble an “army of freaks” to take on Riddler, Barbara and the rest of the reigning criminal underworld. Now, 'The Primal Riddle' sees both Penguin and Riddler ready themselves for the battle ahead, as the latter closes in on the Court of Owls. It seems he may be ready to solve the greatest riddle of all, but how will the court's planned 'cleansing' of Gotham affect the supervillains' agendas?"^[12]

Kayti Burt of Den of Geek wrote, "Selina better not be dead. I mean... I don't think Gotham would do that (and characters here have survived much worse than a two-storey fall), but I'm just putting that out there. Selina is one of the best parts of this show and, if she goes, Gotham will be the poorer for it."^[13] Kaitlin Thomas of TV Guide wrote, "It can be done and Gotham seems to specialize in the crazy and the extreme, especially when finale time rolls around. You can't blame a girl for being nervous though. Gotham also specializes in chronic uneven storytelling and repeated identity crises. This could really go either way -- so let's just sit back and enjoy the freak show."^[14]

References

External links

• "Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle" on IMDb
• "Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle" at TV.com