Gotham Knights Season 1 Episode 11 Review: Daddy Issues
Gotham Knights Season 1 Episode 11, “Daddy Issues,” is an exhilarating and surprisingly comedic, albeit a bit messy, ride as it delves deeper into its fugitives’ love lives and sees the further unraveling of Harvey Dent.
The show has teased a romance between Turner Hayes and Duela (a.k.a. The Joker’s Daughter) since its first episode and also recently revealed that former rivals Harper Row and Stephanie Brown have feelings for one another.
However, it was initially unclear if the show would fully develop these relationships, as Harper’s and Stephanie’s romance was dropped so close to the season’s end, and Duela’s and Turner’s relationship has never been very convincing.
Fortunately, “Daddy Issues” clears the air around Duela’s and Turner’s relationship by admitting it’s a mistake, as even the fellow Knights are comically horrified by what a terrible pairing they are.
The only issue is that things get messy as the short-lived relationship suddenly segues into Duela’s mother being introduced out of the blue.
Duela’s mother’s entrance is shocking and it ultimately serves to flesh out Duela more, but her introduction didn’t make a lot of sense. The episode fails to explain how she happens to be released from prison on the same day as Duela’s birthday or how Duela manages to track her down so quickly.
As strange and awkward as the initial introduction of Duela’s mother is, the show does still manage to find its stride again and takes an interesting stance on Duela’s parenthood.
In the comic books, The Joker’s Daughter was always a mystery, as she claimed to be the daughter of several different notorious villains. Later, it was revealed she actually was the daughter of Jokester, a Joker from an alternate timeline.
Hence, it is surprising when Gotham Knights does away with this story arc as Duela’s mother announces that Duela is the biological daughter of Harvey.
The surprise reveal of Duela’s father shows how Gotham Knights is continually putting its own spin on the story of Batman and keeping viewers on their toes with which details it chooses to retcon.
Meanwhile, this is the push the show needs to further develop Harvey and Duela. It forces Duela to delve into her past and confront the convoluted feelings she has about her childhood and origins.
Additionally, it forces Harvey to finally verbally admit that he has dissociative identity disorder (DID). Given his previous denial and refusal to accept help, this is a step in the right direction and may finally lead to him asking for help and confessing his actions as Two-Face.
While Turner’s and Duela’s “romance” is used to set up the plot twist, Harper’s and Stephanie’s relationship goes in a different direction.
Harper reveals her true feelings when she defends Stephanie from her abusive mother. The pair later bond as they embark on a rescue mission and ultimately share a kiss.
It is a little messy in that their relationship has grown by leaps and bounds rather than having a slow and steady buildup. However, it still manages to be a believable and satisfying development in their relationship.
All the Knights come from somber and tragic situations, so it’s quite touching to see two of them rise above their circumstances and find some level of happiness and union together.
The show has long demonstrated the unfairness of how the Knights are seemingly continually paying the price for their parents’ lies and terrible decisions.
Perhaps, though, the tides are finally turning as more adults are being forced to answer for their actions while their children are learning to navigate the world and find new avenues of support and protection without them.
With only two more episodes left, it’s encouraging that things are starting to fall into place and that the fugitives still have a shot at getting justice before the finale.
What did you think of this episode of Gotham Knights? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Gotham Knights airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
What to Watch on TV: Cruel Summer, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Never Have I Ever
Rachel Ulatowski
Rachel Ulatowski is a freelance writer from Oshkosh with a penchant for TV, film, and celebrity news. Her work can also be found on Screen Rant, The Mary Sue, and Monsters and Critics. When she's not writing professionally, she enjoys blogging, running, watching film and television, and conducting research for her future novel.
One thought on “Gotham Knights Season 1 Episode 11 Review: Daddy Issues”
I may have to watch it again but I think Jane says to Duela when they had Harvey in the in the train station with the straight jacket on, that Lincoln Marsh had got her released to embarrass Harvey, with the revelations that Duela is his daughter, well two faces daughter. It was on the TV when Harvey woke up in hospital Jane also had something to do with the bomb threat at thre police station. It was strange that Duela had somehow got in contact with her mum, they didn’t show that. I think Harpers attraction to Stephanie was there earlier than you may have noticed. If you remember the founders ball where she and Stephanie disarmed that bomb, she looks Stephanie up and down as she looks HOT! in that dress she was wearing when she opened the door to let them in. The problem was, at that time she couldn’t get past her perceived prejudices of Stephanies “perfect life”. Harper didn’t know about her mothers addiction and that her father was enabling it as Cullen hadn’t told her. It really started to blossom in episodes 7, 8, and especially in 9 when Harper gets Stephanie to distract the Gotham Geo worker while their digging for the electrum and later when they find the electrum.
I did like your review as you were fair, I’ve read a lot that are just outright rubbish in my opinion and very unfair to the good work of the actors, there are some really over opinionated reviews blasting the show as woke and pandering to “minority groups” which just ridiculous, if everyone was the same the world would be very boring place.
Comments are closed.