Gotham Knights Season 1 Episode 13 Review: Night of the Owls
Gotham Knights Season 1 Episode 13, “Night of the Owls,” takes the series out with a bang in an action-packed, emotional, and bittersweet season finale.
The episode sees the Gotham Knights finally reveal their identities to Gotham as they race to save the city from total destruction at the hands of Rebecca March. At the same time that the Knights are established as heroes, Harvey Dent is firmly established as the villain Two-Face.
The only real flaw in the finale is that the plot is a little too reminiscent of The Batman. With The Batman‘s climax featuring a villain attempting to bomb Gotham, Rebecca’s sudden inspiration to also bomb Gotham falls a little flat.
Additionally, it feels out of character that Rebecca’s only final motivation is to clear her name and run away with Harvey. She has proven to be a brilliant and ruthless villain, who claimed to want to prolong life with her Electrum discovery.
Hence, it seems hard to believe that she’s just content to blow up everything she has built over 200 years or that this cold woman who killed her husband and son would be so blinded by her love for Harvey.
Despite these flaws, the finale is executed very well. The pacing is smooth, the action is exciting, and it ties up all loose ends in the season while setting the stage for another adventure.
One of the best parts of the finale is how it capitalizes so well on Batman lore.
The episode finally sees Harvey transform completely into the villain Two-Face, both physically and mentally. Viewers have received some glimpses of Two-Face, but only inside Harvey’s mind when he’s under the influence of drugs.
This is the first time Two-Face has been unleashed onscreen with Harvey’s permission, and Misha Collins gives a chilling and haunting performance. Unlike Rebecca, Two-Face is more believable in that he’s not carried away by sentiments and emotions.
He just looks for excuses for killing all of his acquaintances, and having him on the loose in Gotham spells trouble for the Knights. Still, the fact that he does seem to care in some twisted way that Duela is his daughter shows he may not be wholly unreachable.
Speaking of Duela, she finally gets the redemption arc her character deserves.
The past few episodes have been frustrating, considering Duela’s continued lack of character development. However, it’s Harvey of all people who manages to break down her walls.
She has a moment of bonding with her father and later surprises even the Knights by making an incredibly selfless decision to risk losing her life to save Gotham.
Later, she rallies the Knights to continue their vigilantism to remember Turner Hayes, who they presume is dead after the collapse of Wayne Tower.
The twist in Turner’s story, though, teases another exciting aspect of Batman lore.
Viewers finally get to the bottom of Turner’s mysterious parenthood when it’s revealed that his parents were assassins trained by Henri Ducard. Ducard makes his return at the end of “Night of the Owls.”
He fakes Turner’s death and abducts him to train him in the way he trained his parents and Bruce Wayne. Those familiar with the comic books will know that Ducard is an alias used by Ra’s al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins.
Ra’s is a huge Batman character, and to see his arrival in Gotham Knights is very exciting, especially since he may be training Turner to be the next Batman.
The show did a fantastic job of keeping his arrival secret, allowing the finale to end with a note of surprise and intrigue.
Unfortunately, the finale is very bittersweet, considering Gotham Knights was canceled by The CW. As exciting as the arrivals of Ra’s and Two-Face are, most viewers went into the episode knowing they won’t see the full story arcs of these characters.
The finale is exceptional at doing what it was initially intended to do, which is smoothly and flawlessly set the course of season 2.
While this may heighten the disappointment for some, it’s fortunate that Gotham Knights got to prove its potential and growth with a strong finale that refuses to let the show be remembered as a failure.
What did you think of this episode of Gotham Knights? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Gotham Knights airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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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.