#gotham 3x11

[postsaturday]

Listen. I understand that this show is about a young Batman and the different monsters and villains the Gotham City Police Department faces. I understand there is a certain level of disbelief that needs to occur for this show to exist. HOWEVER, I refuse to believe that a 15 year old Bruce Wayne can shoot an arrow with a rope attached and be able to hold up that rope while his girlfriend tightropes across the room to avoid the laser floor.

[winnie-the-monster]

[ineffableriddlebird]

Gotham 3x11: Beware The Green Eyes Monster / Good Omens 2x6: Every Day

[seraphfeathers]

Two O'Clock in the Afternoon in Brazil - Adélia Prado // The Torn-Up Road - Richard Siken // Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder // Interview with the Vampire 1x05 // Wishbone - Richard Siken // Letters From Medea - Salma Deera // Gotham 3x11 // The Last Days of Judas Iscariot - Stephen Adly Guirgis // Corpus Christi - Terrence McNally // Wishbone - Richard Siken

[not-so-mundane-after-all]

Dick & Rachel and the Invisible String theory (part 4)

Hey, it's part 4! LAST ONE! I hope you liked part 1, part 2 and part 3. Seasons 3 & 4 get a joined part because while there aren't many String moments in these two seasons, the ones that are there are major.

Season 3 in general doesn't have much, considering Rachel is gone until episode 9 (and if what I'm talking about here was considered canon and writers had some more brains this season, we would have seen the String work at long distance but nooooo) but it doesn't change the fact that the content that is there is still stellar. And the String basically slaps us in the face with it.

For the past few months Rachel had been on Themyscira, where she trained under the Amazons and studied her magical abilities. And in episode 3x11 "The Call Is Coming From Inside The House" she comes back right into the middle of a mess. The Titans are scattered across Gotham City with no way of reaching one another, the city is against them so they need to hide and the big bad of the season took over Wayne Manor. The first person Rachel finds is Gar, who brings her up to speed on the current situation. Then they head out to search for the Lazarus Pit, because Gar had figured out that it might be how Jason came back to life after being killed at the beginning of the season.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, we see Dick stepping out in full Nightwing gear to answer Jason's challenge. The fight, to say it nicely, doesn't end well for him.

He gets fatally shot in the neck, then bleeds out on the ground while a crowd of Red Hood followers attacks him.

When it happens, Gar and Rachel are underground of some office building, where the Lazarus Pit is located. Suddenly, the Pit starts glowing and the whole place starts to shake as if there was an earthquake happening - and Rachel senses that something really bad is happening to Dick, though she can't tell what. We see her eyes glow red as her power erupts from her and hear her ear-piercing scream.

Two things here. The Pit isn't reacting to Dick's death — it wouldn't make much sense if there was a small earthquake happening every time someone dies in Gotham, right? — but rather to what's happening to Rachel. And what is happening to her?

It's a reaction to the physical pain of The String being broken.

Her scream literally sounds like she's being ripped apart. It's so loud, Gar is covering his ears. She loses all grip on her magic and lets it explode out of her. She can feel Dick dying and therefore their connection breaking.

Now, remember these two things I mentioned in season 2 breakdown that I said I will bring up during season 3? Now it's time to talk about them.

In Dick's last hallucination in 2x11 we see two memories of Rachel, one of which is the moment she entered his mind trapped in Trigon's vision to save him — which proves that Dick was aware of what's happening at the time and remembers it in great detail. And if he was aware, if he was awake somewhere deep in there back then, it means he was also awake to see this:

Imagine him, trapped in there, banging his fists against the walls of his mental prison and screaming, having no control over his body and being forced to watch it. Had he felt it? If Rachel felt the pain of his death, was he able to feel the String being ripped out of his soul the same way Rachel's heart was ripped out of her chest? How bad did it hurt? Did he also scream in pain?

Episode 3x12 "Prodigal" picks up right where the previous episode left off and we see Gar and Rachel roaming the city streets, looking for Dick. Rachel can feel he's dying (meaning he's not completely gone yet) and she uses that feeling to find him. Again, the String is leading her to him.

They get to the place of the fight and find him on the ground. Rachel screams and runs to him, starts crying as she drops to her knees next to him and that alone is heartbreaking enough because it looks like the weight of her grief is pushing her down. It's not a controlled fall — she stumbles and drops.

She tries to heal him with her powers but it's too late, it doesn't work. She and Gar are both devastated. Having no other choice, the kids take his body to the Lazarus Pit with the help of Gar's new friends - the bats.

They spend their time holding vigil by the edge of the Pit and waiting for Dick to come back. Rachel doesn't want to take her eyes off the water, as if that alone would bring Dick back. When Gar asks if she can sense him in there, Rachel simply replies that "he has to fight". They can't help him anymore. All they can do is wait.

Meanwhile, Dick's soul goes through a little journey through his past, present and possible future, in order to decide whether or not he wants to come back to life. And even while under the magical waters, his connection to the living world remains intact, because before the journey begins, he can hear Rachel and Gar's voices. He can hear Rachel begging him to talk to her.

Eventually Dick emerges from the water and Rachel grabs onto him to help him climb out of the pit. He drops unconscious right after and she doesn't let him go until he wakes up and gets back on his feet. (It's also worth mentioning that this is the first time he sees Rachel in months, he had no idea she was back until now — talk about a crazy reunion)

He's alive. The String is restored. And also more powerful than ever.

And how do I know that? Because season 4 is where it gets insane.

The shit they're pulling here? In season 1 this would have been impossible. There's not many instances I'll be talking about here but they're huuuuuge and also the most logically unexplainable out of the entire series.

In Episode 4x02 "Mother Mayhem", after Lex Luthor mysteriously dies, Dick takes Rachel to the man's office so she can use her magic and figure out what happened. A vision shows her a house somewhere in town, and when they get there, they find a bloodied body of a woman on the kitchen floor and a little girl, Aria, in her bedroom upstairs, who's trapped in a nightmare. By entering her mind, Rachel is able to save the girl from the masked attacker, and from the dream she gets another location — an abandoned building. The Titans gear up and head out to investigate and find out that it's a slaughterhouse turned into a ritualistic lair. They go upstairs and seem to cross the whole length of the building, but Rachel breaks away from the group and comes back downstairs, following a feeling of someone watching her.

Upstairs, the Titans find bodies of five men, including Aria's father, hanging on chains, their blood being drained into the buckets at their feet. They're still alive so the group rushes in to get them down.

Meanwhile Rachel is wandering through what looks like the basement level of the bulidng (look at the high position of the boarded window between the two lamps, all it took me to figure it out is paying attention to the placement of windows throughout the scene), far away from the group at this point, having sensed that the figure that attacked her in Aria's nightmare is hiding here somewhere and she's trying to find it.

The masked figure surprises her and attacks her from behind, knocking her to the ground but she's able to defend herself with her magic right before the masked man is about to stab her.

Back upstairs, Dick suddenly turns and shouts Rachel's name, knowing that she's in danger. He drops everything and runs, leaving Kory and the boys to take care of the victims.

Now, I've rewatched this many times to figure out the logistics. Rachel went at least one floor down, to the basement, while the others went up from the ground level. She is on the other side of the building while the rest is trying to free these guys from the chains. How the hell did Dick know she was in danger? First thought: he heard her. BUT. There's no giant scream. Yes, she shouts at the figure but she seems to be too far from the rest of the Titans to be heard (especially over the rattling of chains and overall commotion) and even if they have comms in their ears, wouldn't everyone be able to hear her? Gar and Tim don't react, Kory doesn't either until Dick turns and calls Rachel's name — and that's not even a reaction to Rachel herself but to what Dick is doing. When he takes off, she looks after him over her shoulder but doesn't do anything, neither do the boys. And if they all heard Rachel being attacked, wouldn't at least Kory go with him? For backup? Wouldn't she have the same kind of reaction?

This is the clearest example of the pattern of Dick being able to sense when Rachel is in danger. The previous examples were really small compared to this. The String tugged at his gut and told him to run, and he left everything and immediately took off. She couldn't be heard. No one else reacted. They didn't know where she was. Only he knew, was able to find her, and then comforted her when she was shaken after the attack.

Now we move to episode 4x08 "Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory"

Dick, Kory and Rachel are stuck in a town hidden behind a magical barrier with all its residents being brainwashed into a perfect life (welcome to Wandavision, everybody). Rachel gets separated from the others and held captive by the Church of Blood, while Dick and Kory, on top of searching for her, are fighting with their own progressing brainwashing (and start confronting their feelings for each other).

First moment I want to mention is a small one and a liiiiiitle bit of a stretch but you've seen enough of my delusion at this point that it shouldn't even surpirise you that it's here.

Kory is rapidly succumbing into the brainwashing and more often taking on the persona of Carol — a perfect wife with the perfect life she shares with her husband Ted, who Dick is turning into. He's having it a little easier to keep control over his mind, but he's starting to struggle as well. They're at "their house", trying to figure out a way to protect themselves from losing their minds (a way that's bringing up some buried feelings as a side effect) so they can search for Rachel. Kory is losing her mind to Carol while Dick is trying to keep a very important conversation going, when suddenly he sees this:

A flock of ravens in the sky is basically an equivalent of Rachel sending a flare. A big neon sign saying HEY, I'M HERE! It's another example of Dick dropping everything and rushing with help. Kory has fully turned into Carol at this point and he obviously can't leave her like this (which he emotionally promises to her, saying that would never) so he takes her with him and asks her to stay in the car while he goes for Rachel.

Another one from this episode, a bit later. And this one's big. Again, it's Rachel bringing Dick back to reality, and this one is at the same level as the one from 2x01, if not bigger.

They found a way to break the brainwashing and the barrier. They head to the location. In the car, Dick is starting to turn into Ted, but all Rachel has to do is snap her fingers.

Later he fully switches into Ted, while they're attacked by guards inside the building — which makes the situation really bad because Ted isn't a fighter. He doesn't have the training and instincts, and curls on the floor in fear as the guards beat him.

And it's up to Rachel to remind him of who he is:

That first memory of her, of that little girl from the interrogation room staring at him with wide, pleading eyes full of tears is his anchor to reality. Obviously, Detroit holds a very special place in both of their hearts, it's the origin of their story, and the mere mention of it brings back who Dick is and what he's fighting for. It snaps him back in an instant and just like that he's back in the game, moping the floor with the guards.

Honorary mention to the third time she has to bring him back in this episode, only not from brainwashing, but from a cloud of rage that blinded him when he got his hands on the machinery responsible for the brainwashing and destroyed it all with his bare hands.

Then we have episode 4x10 "Game Over" which, along with 4x02, is their episode of the season. Now, I could write a whole new essay about the significance of the "Your weapon is your love for this child" line and said weapon, but I'm going to leave this for a fic. Here, I'm going to talk about something that happens later.

Dick and Rachel are performing a dark magic ritual to serve the link between Rachel and her half-brother Sebastian. The ritual gives "the inner evil" a physical form so it can be killed with a blade made out of love (how poetic, isn't it?). The monster that appears is connected to Rachel and feeding off her life force, so the longer it exists, the more energy she loses and in the end can die. After a brief fight with Dick, the monster runs away — Dick hesitates, not wanting to leave Rachel, but she tells him to go chase it.

Now this where we can see the String at work. The communication is the easy part this time — they have comms in their ears, they can talk to each other. But Rachel, despite being vulnerable and drained of energy, can sense both Dick and the monster. The monster? Sure, they're connected, it literally came out of her. It's the whole point of the ritual. But Dick? She knows where he is in the building, can tell him where to go and warn him when the monster is near. It's like she can see through his eyes, she stays connected to his mind and is able to guide him. What's more is that they are both aware of the connection and using it to their advantage. They're working like a well oiled machine at this point.

Technically, the blade can also be backed up by the String, since it's supposed to be powered by Dick's love for Rachel ("Your faith will make the blade. Your weapon is your love for this child."). Through the entire fight and chase, Dick is struggling to make the blade work, because he's thinking about it too much, and only succeeds when the monster takes Rachel for a target and has his hand around her neck, choking her. Fear for her safety is what makes the blade work.

And that's it! Man, writing it all down and gathering evidence took me way longer than I expected lol. What can I say to wrap this up? Dick and Rachel's relationship progresses as any other on the show, it has its ups and downs, but there's also this extra factor that makes it something more. It's right there from the start and it's consistent thoughout the entire series. Whether we call it fate, destiny, the invisible string or just a simple coincidence of events that wasn't thought out by the writers but somehow happened anyway, we can't deny that it's there. At least I can't — that's why I love them so much.

If you somehow read through all of this delusional blabbering and got to the end, thank you for your time and for allowing me to share a piece of my heart and brain with you. Creating these posts reignited my love for these two birds, it was a good decision to do so.

[afaims100arrowversefavs]

My 250 Favorite Arrowverse Episodes: Part 8: 75-51

Taken from „Arrow“, „The Flash“, „Supergirl“, „Legends of Tomorrow“, „Constantine“, „Black Lightning“, „Batwoman“, „Stargirl“ and Season 1-3 of „Superman & Lois“:

In honor of Seaosn 4 of "Superman & Lois" being the end of the Arrrowverse, the end of DCTV like we knew it and the end of The CW like we knew it, a final time before the final season all Seasons ends of all the 250 best Arrowverse Episodes (according to me):

I did include "Stargirl" this time, since it has as much connection as "Superman & Lois" to the rest of the Arrowverse, but One Hit Shows like "Gotham Knights" and "Naomi" (anyone still remember this one?) are not on this list, neither are Arrowverse unrelated DC shows:

 75. Zari, Not Zari (Legends of Tomorrow 5x8)

The One in which: Zari meets Zari and „Supernatural“ crosses over.

76, Written by: Morgan Faust, Tyron B. Carter, Directed by: Kevin Mock

 74. Freakshow (Legends of Tomorrow 3x2)

The One in which: The Legends participate in the Greates Show.

35, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Grainne Godfree, Directed by: Kevin Tancharoen

73. The Magician (Arrow 3x4)

The One in which: Nyssa comes to town and Malcolm is under suspicion.

50, Written by: Wendy Mercile, Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: John Behring

72.  Crisis on Infinite Earths 1-5

The Ones in which: The Multiverse is destroyed.

Part 1: Supergirl Episode 5.9/96, Written by: Robert Rovner, Marc Guggenheim, Derek Simon, Jay Faerber, Directed by: Jesse Warn, Part 2: Batwoman Episode 1.9/9, Written by: Din Whitehead, Holly Henderson, Directed by: Laura Belsey, Part 3: The Flash Episode 6.9/123, Written By: Lauren Certo, Sterling Gates, Eric Wallace, Directed By: David McWhirter, Part 4: Arrow: Episode 8.8/168, Written by: Marv Wolfman, Marc Guggenheim; Directed by: Glen Winter, Part 5: Legends of Tomorrow Episode 5.0/68, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Ubah Mohamed, Directed by: Gregory Smith

71. The Getaway (Legends of Tomorrow 4x10)

The One in which: A President gets kidnapped and a bugs makes to tell the truth.

61, Written by: Matthew Maala, Ubah Mohamed, Directed by: Viet Nguyen

 70. Midvale (Supergirl 3x6)

The One in which: Kara and Alex team up to solve a murder.

48, Written by: Caitlin Parrish, Jess Kardos, Directed by: Rob Greenlea

69. For the Girl who has everything (Supergirl 1x13)

The One in which: Kara is back on Krypton, or so she thinks.

13, Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Ted Sullivan, Derek Simon, Directed by: Dermott Downs

 68. Aruba-Con (Legends of Tomorrow 3x1)

The One in which: Sara fights Caesar and Rip thinks the Legends are a chainsaw.

34, Written by: Phil Klemmer, Marx Guggenheim, Directed by: Rob Seidenglanz

67. Crisis on Earth X 1-4

The Ones in which: Barry’s and Iris‘ Wedding is crashed by Nazis.

Part 1: Supergirl 3.8/ 50, Written by: Robert Rovner, Jessica Queller, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Larry Teng, Part 2: Arrow 6.8/ 123, Written by: Wendy Mercile, Ben Sokolowski, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed by: James Bamford, Part 3: The Flash4.8/77, Written by: Todd Helbing, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Dermott Daniel Downs, Part 4: Legends of Tomorrow 3.8/21, Written by: Phil Klemmer, Keto Shimizu, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed by: Greogry Smith

66. Here I go again (Legends of Tomorrow 3x11)

The One in which: Zari is stuck in time-loop.

44, Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Morgan Faust, Directed by: Ben Bray

 65. Unthinkable (Arrow 2x23)

The One in which: Slade kidnaps Laurel and Thea shoots Malcolm.

46, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed by: John Behring

64. Luthors (Supergirl 2x12)

The One in which: Lena looks guilty and Kara is jealous.

32, Written by: Robert Rovner, Cindy Lichtman, Directed by: Tawnia McKiernan

 63. Checkmate (Arrow 5x16)

The One in which: Oliver learns who Prometheus really is.

108, Written by: Beth Schwartz, Sarah Tarkoff, Directed by: Ken Shane

62. The Virgin Gary (Legends of Tomorrow 4x1)

The One in which: Garys nipple gets eaten by an unicorn.

52, Written by: Phil Klemmer und Grainee Godfree, Directed by: Gregory Smith

 61. The Man Under the Hood (Arrow 2x19)

The One in which: Slade in the Arrowcave.

42. Written by: Greg Berlanti, Geoff Johns, Andrew Kreisberg, Keto Shimizu, Directed by: Jesse Warn

60. Welcome to Earth (Supergirl 2x3)

The One in which: Mon-El wakes up.

23, Written by: Jessica Queller, Derek Simon, Directed by: Rachel Talalay

59. Witch Hunt (Legends of Tomorrow 4x2)

The One in which: The Fairy Godmother is not all nice.

53, Written by: Keto Shimizu und Matthew Maalaa, Directed by: Kevin Mock

58. Helen Hunt (Legends of Tomorrow 3x6)

The One in which: There a some changes in Firstorm and Helen of Troy mixes up Hollywood.

39, Written by: Keto Shimizu und Ubah Mohamed, Directed by: David Geddes

 57. Deathstroke (Arrow 2x18)

The One in which: Slade kidnaps Thea and Isobel shows her true colours.

41, Written by: Marc Guggenheim, Drew Z. Greenberg, Directed by: Guy Bee

 56. Present Tense (Arrow 8x4)

The One in which: Mia, William and Connor land in the present.

164, Written by: Oscar Balderrama, Jeane Wong, Directed by: Kristin Windell

 55. Supergirl Lives (Supergirl 2x9)

The One in which: Kara goes to space to stop human trafficking.

29, Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Eric Carrasco, Jess Kardos, Directed by: Kevin Smith

54. Phone Home (Legends of Tomorrow 3x4)

The One in which: Ray’s best friend is a Baby Dominator.

37, Written by: Matthew Maala, Directed By: Kevin Mock

53. Heir to the Demon (Arrow 2x13)

The One in which: Nyssa wants to bring Sara home.

36, Written by: Jake Coburn, Directed by: Wendey Stanzler

52. Tagumo Attacks!!! (Legends of Tomorrow 4x5)

The One in which: A gigantic squid comes to live.

56, Written by: Keto Simizu, Ubah Mohamend, Directed by: Alexandra LaRoche

 51. Honor Thy Fathers (Arrow 5x21)

The One in which: Ollie and Thea have to come to terms with Robert.

113, Written by: Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Laura Belsey

[ambeauty]

Yes he died at the end of 3x11 and taken to the lazarus in the middle of 3x12 is what I remember, but I was always confused by how they new showed Kory knowing about that death caused by Jason😂And in 3x8 they blindly put a clip of her hugging gar during the scene where they both hear about barbara's men shooting him so I thought when Kory said 'You almost died' she was talking about that and not the scene that gave him a dream about his daughter with Kory. Thank you by the way|!

And I think that moment when she hugged Gar was after Hank blew to smithereens LMAO However yes, when Kory pressed Dick in 306 it was about him getting shot at by Barbara's men. She didn't know he got shot until he got back because her and Gar were off getting Kom from wherever she was. I wrote a whole smutty fic about this moment.

So in 408 I believe she is referencing his actual death since she says you don't know how you feel about someone until they're gone. She also says in Gotham she learned about Dick's death (just rewatched the scene) But showing her reaction to Hank's death was an interesting choice....

[ednyxmatic]

Currently watching 3x11 of Gotham. Honestly? I’m not enjoying Ed too much rn

[felicitykings]

favourite baby batcat scenes: 7/? ↳ “Does this mean you are my girlfriend?” (3x11)

[honestmrdual]

So... you infected them after you stole your sister's blood, but you stayed quiet, waiting for them to show symptoms.

[shyjusticewarrior]

Thinking about how Ed's first idea to kill Oswald was to stab him with the knife from when he took Oswald into his home. And how he decided to murder him in a less intimate manner, adding distance with a gun and doing it in a place that held no significance to their relationship.

[postsaturday]

If I'm getting ready for my wedding and an ex comes in and says, "You can't marry him," my bridesmaids should not leave me alone with them. Even if I tell them to leave us alone, my bridesmaids should not leave. That is a recipe for disaster.

[winnie-the-monster]

[worldonlyconsultingasgardian]

I think being stabbed would be less painful than watching this episode... so many broken ships, so many broken people 😭😭

[thousandblankpages]

Oswald and Ed give me some Hannibal x Will vibes

Oswald - from "I'd kill anyone for you", "I'd kill anyone who takes you away", "I'd rather kill you than let anyone else have you(yeah, spoiled myself there)"  right down to the whole cannibalism thing XD

and Ed is so blind... poor Ed ;w; Barbara had to tell him ;D i mean, that was a parallel right there (Bedelia telling a Will that Hannibal was in love with him)

[sun-3-160]

The pin did drop by god did it drop