Gotham: Rise Of The Villains’ “Strike Force” introduced formidable new GCPD Captain Barnes. Gotham debuted in 2014 and just like Smallville before it, acted as a prequel exploring the origins of both Batman and the many villains who inhabit the titular city. While that setup might have allowed for a more stripped-down thriller that followed young cop Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as he struggled to keep the city under control, Gotham quickly embraced its campy, over the top nature instead. The series was never afraid of a goofy plot twist, and while this didn’t win the show many critical plaudits, it made it a lot of fun.

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Gotham came to an end with season 5, which covered the Escape From New York-inspired comic arc “No Man’s Land,” where the city is sealed off and the villains are allowed to reign. The show also kept its promise of Bruce finally donning the batsuit in its final episodes, though it saved a good look at the costume under its final moments. While the show has a fanbase who would love to see it continue, Gotham was designed as Jim’s story and not Batman’s, so it’s unlikely to return.

The show was dubbed Gotham: Rise Of The Villains for its second season, with episode 4 introducing Captain Barnes. Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chiklis, The Shield) quickly makes his presence felt, lecturing the GCPD about the death of Commissioner Sarah Essen and the station massacre, before firing several cops who have a history of bribes and other offenses. He makes Gordon his second-in-command and tasks him with recruiting new cops straight from the academy since Barnes feels they haven’t had a chance to be corrupted yet. While Bullock isn’t impressed with his methods, Gordon feels Barnes has potential.

Gotham: Rise Of The Villains “Strike Force” then sees Jim put in charge of said Strike Force, with Barnes presenting them with their new uniforms. The Strike Force is tasked with cleaning up the city, with The Penguin being a prime target. It also turns out the latter villain is being blackmailed by mayoral candidate Theo Galavan with assassinating his political rivals, as Galavan has kidnapped Cobblepot’s mother. Penguin later murders candidate Janice Caulfield, and the Strike Force later engage hitman Victor Zsasz in a gunfight during another assassination attempt.

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Elsewhere on Gotham: Rise Of The Villains “Strike Force,” Edward Nygma had an awkward dinner date with Ms. Kringle as the voice in his head taunts him, while the love triangle between Selina, Bruce, and Silver St. Cloud begins. “Strike Force” acted as a solid introduction to Captain Barnes, who would later evolve into villain The Executioner.

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Padraig Cotter
(3486 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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