'Gotham' Season 4, Episode 4 'The Demon's Head' Recap: Bruce Gets Blood On His Hands [SPOILERS]

Bruce is ready to drown in darkness and fear. The latest episode of “Gotham,” titled “The Demon’s Head,” shows us a different kind of moral dilemma for the would-be Dark Knight as he chooses to come between Ra’s Al Ghul’s plan. Arguably, this is the most gripping episode of the show so far. There’s not much villainry going on but instead focused on Bruce’s journey to a darker path needed to finally become Gotham’s hero.

The demon knife

The episode starts with Bruce (David Mazouz) and Alfred (Sean Pertwee) bringing the recently-acquired knife to the Gotham National HIstory Museum. There Bruce asks the help of historian Dr. Niles Winthrop (Dakin Matthews) and his grandson Alex (Benjamin Stockholm) to take a look at the knife. Bruce wanted to know everything there is to know about it, and Dr. Winthrop agrees.

As soon as Dr. Winthrop and Alex begin their probing, they soon learn that the artifact is actually a tool that Ra’s Al Ghul needs to fulfill his terrifying destiny. Inscribed on the knife were the words, “He who rises from the waters, whom death shall not touch. With this sacred blade, his final savage destiny shall be fulfilled. The earth will quake, blood will flow, all tremble before the demon’s head.”
Ra’s Al Ghul (Alexander Siddig) breaks in the museum and tries to retrieve the knife. Alex runs to hide it while Ra’s kills Winthrop. The next day, police are on the scene while Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) investigates. Bruce also shows up and is obviously bothered by what he just did. He blames himself for Winthrop’s death. If it weren’t for him bringing the knife to Winthrop, he would still be alive.
Ra’s, on the other hand, enlists Barbara Kean’s (Erin Richards) minions to look for Alex. Jim goes to her place to ask her about what she knows about the dude who wanted the knife. She didn’t want to tell him, but Bruce interrupts from nowhere and asks if it was Ra’s, which Barbara confirms. Jim sets out to look for Ra’s as Bruce insists tagging along. They had to look for Alex. Eventually they find him hiding in the historical records section of the library. But as soon as they find him, the minions (a Sandor Clegane lookalike and a man-dog) attack the library. Jim and Bruce engage in a fight and manages to they escape. They split up as Jim takes Alex’s bag and brings it to the police station.

This is when Ra’s reveals himself to Jim by disguising as the Minister of Antiquities of Nandar Parbat. Jim doesn’t buy it, and he knows that he’s there to get the knife. Ra’s must’ve thought that Jim got the knife from Alex when they found him in the library. Alfred barges in the station and tries to engage in a fistfight with Ra’s. As Jim tries to stop him, Ra’s disappears, indicating that he knows the knife is still missing. Meanwhile, Bruce tries to tend to Alex’s wounds from the man-dog. That night, Jim sets out to look for Bruce and Alex.
It turns out that Alex hid the knife in one of the museum’s glass displays. As he retrieves it for Bruce, the minions arrive and hunt them down. They find the boys but is intercepted by Jim. He stabs the Clegane lookalike and tricks the man-dog into playing fetch and throws a bone out the window, where it falls to its death. All things seem to be okay until Ra’s takes Alex as his hostage. He threatens to slit the boy’s throat if Bruce doesn’t give the knife to him. Jim tells Bruce to surrender it, but Bruce refuses, saying that it would greatly endanger everyone if he did. Ra’s then kills Alex in front of them. Bruce screams out in anger and rushes to Alex side while Jim arrests Ra’s. Back in the station, Bruce takes the weight of Alex’s death and blames it on himself.

On Penguin’s fort

Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) meets with Sofia Falcone (Crystal Reed) and tells her that she can’t take the city back, despite her Falcone heritage. Sofia insists that she’s not there to do so but just wants to come home. Oswald half-believes her, but it’s clear that he needs to keep a close eye on her.
Later that day, two homeless street rappers come to Oswald and do a verse—which is actually a poorly made riddle from Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith). Apparently, Ed wants Oswald to meet with him somewhere. But Oswald couldn’t figure it out, and so he doesn’t show.

Back in Sofia’s home, three Falcone loyalists come to her and ask when they are going to take the city back. Sofia insists that it’s not what she came for. Oswald arrives and kills the three loyalists and proceeds to tell her that she can’t and won’t be able to take Gotham back from him.
Oswald goes back to his club and he finds the two street rappers waiting for him again. This time, a different riddle is given, but he still fails to figure it out. Out of irritations, he let’s the two rappers be tortured by Victor Szaz’s (Anthony Carrigan) men. This ticks Ed off and he proceeds to storm Oswald’s club. He finds Penguin there and explains the riddles to him. Oswald tells him that he’s not the same Ed anymore, saying that he lost his intelligence. He then calls Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze (Nathan Darrow) and prepares to freeze Ed again, but changes his mind. Oswald would much rather have Ed live with the fact that he’s not that smart as he was before.

Meanwhile, Sofia’s true intentions are revealed. With Jim Gordon in the room, she says that her plan is to get as close as she can to Oswald and gain his trust. It’s a good play, but this might be something that could bring about Penguin’s downfall. After all, she is a Falcone. Her patience and cunning ability to manipulate people through trust is something that Oswald could never prepare for.
The episode ends with Ra’s al Ghul imprisoned in Blackgate. But as he enters the gates of the prison facility, he smiles. This could mean that it’s also a part of his plan after all.

‘Gotham: The Demon’s Head’ Overall Verdict

If not for Ra’s Al Ghul’s appearance, this would have been just a normal “Gotham” episode. But his presence makes everything more Batman-centric, and it’s amazing to see how the show is building up the dark feelings of Bruce Wayne. Of course, the death of his parents was the one thing that made him want to become the Dark Knight, but here we see an even heavier burden for him. Not only did Alfred die and was resurrected in the previous season, a boy also died because Bruce chose the greater good. I can only imagine what he’s going through, and how this darker narrative progresses throughout this new season.
“Gotham” continues next week with “The Blade’s Path,” Thursday, October 19 at 8/9c on FOX.