When Last We Were in Gotham:

The Penguin is behind everything. Bullock still stands up for Gordon, and tries to inspire the rest of the precinct rally behind him. Cat stole something from Bruce Wayne. Bruce went back to school, got a beating from Tommy, then Alfred helped him get even. Fish had Liza steal some information from Falcone. Zsasz wants to kill Gordon and/or Barbara. Speaking of Barbara, she’s tired of Gordon’s secrets(again) and leaves a note at the apartment before walking out. Cat was picked up for off the street and is looking for Gordon. Gordon could use another ally, maybe someone on the side of the law… Someone like Harvey Dent.

“Those high society dames get you all twisted.”

Gordon takes Cat back to Barbara’s place, presumably without calling ahead to see if that’s okay since he shows up and she’s gone. He finally reads her note, which just sounds like she’s going to clear her head and come back when she’s ready to come back. By the end of the episode, we find out that Barbara has gone back to Montoya(who also has a lavish apartment) and they’ve begun a relationship again.

He’s training for a Batman-athalon

Gordon makes arrangements for Cat to stay at Wayne Manor. She’s the key witness in the murder of the Waynes and she needs somewhere safe to stay while they track down the true killer. Cat describes who she saw to a sketch artist. Let’s compare that drawing to the shooter we saw in episode one.

No one immediately recognizes this guy, which I think makes a good case for him being Joe Chill. In certain comics continuities, Joe Chill is simply a hitman who rolls into Gotham and is given the job of killing the Waynes. In other comics continuities, Joe Chill is a random mugger who stumbled upon the richest family in Gotham. This show is trying to make the case that the killer was working for someone who wanted the Waynes dead, possibly connected to the Arkham deal.

 

There’s two sides to every origin story

This episode introduces Harvey Dent into the Gotham-universe as an Assistant District Attorney. In his first scene, he makes a kid promise to God that he’ll never do wrong again. He does so with a trick coin and the seemingly odd statistic of which side teenage hooligans will pick in a coin toss.

I was immediately intrigued by Dent invoking God to scare the kid straight. I don’t recall Dent every being particularly religious in the comics. In fact, I’d think most comics stay away from religion for fear of abandoning an audience. Perhaps this will tie-in when they eventually do the Two-Face origin story too early. He’ll see God as having turned his back on him and leave everything to chance, the flip of the coin. I’m just being hopeful here, because any origin story for Two-Face that doesn’t involve Batman is one I don’t care for. Seriously, if they go that route, it will have to be better than the already established relationships between Dent, Batman, and Gordon. Which is impossible, so…

 

Grass Shavings + Vinegar = Kaboom!

The more or less actual plot of the episode is about the kidnapping of a genius bombmaker named Ian Hargrove who is being used as a pawn by Fish. This is all revealed in the end and doesn’t ultimately matter except that she is still working behind Falcone’s back to undermine him and does so in this episode by blowing up some of his cash. To the tune of “The Final Countdown.” You know, that song that Gob likes to use during his acts of illusion.

 

Cat + Bat = ?

There is a brewing love story between little Bruce and Cat. He wants to make a new friend and she doesn’t want to rely on anyone. Alfred gets a bit catty himself when Cat doesn’t wake up during the breakfast hour.  They end up connecting a bit since they’re both orphans, although Cat still insists her mother is a spy or an actress. Cat’s mother is probably Fish, but I’ll be glad if she isn’t. Cat and Bruce bond over throwing scones at each other.

Putting a Dent in crime

Assistant DA Harvey Dent believes that a feuding business rival is part of the plot to kill the Waynes. Billionaire Dick Lovecraft(those Gotham writers sure are subtle, huh?) fought with Thomas Wayne about development of the Akrham district and renovating Arkham Asylum. In case readers didn’t know, writer H.P. Lovecraft wrote the original stories which featured the city of Arkham and its Sanitarium. Clever guys.

 

Dent leaks to the press that the prosecution has a lead on who killed the Waynes just to scare the criminals and Lovecraft. When Dent actually confronts Lovecraft, the man seems quite innocent and calm. Dent loses his shit and takes Lovecraft by the lapels to yell at him. This is highly unprofessional and could be seen as a potential harm to any case that Dent wants to have against the billionaire.

Smells of Liza in the Morning

Oswald finds the apartment where Liza is staying when she isn’t at Falcone Manor. He breaks into the small dwelling and begins to snoop. He eventually finds an aromatic scarf and steals it. He eventually goes back to see Fish and smells her. The smells are the same. This leads to the genius leap in logic that Fish hired Liza. No two women can both smell of lilac unless they are conspiring together.

This leads to a confrontation between Liza and Oswald. He tells her that he knows everything and he wants her to do nothing but know that he knows. This is literally the stupidest thing he could have done. Telling her just to tell her only puts him at more risk. It’s getting harder and harder to believe that the events in the first seven episodes where all the Penguin’s machinations.

 

Next Time

The next episode is called “Lovecraft.” We just met a guy named Lovecraft. Also the Arkham connection. Hopefully that’ll play out in a fun way.

 

I rate this episode with Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent

Because he’s the hero turned villain that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs now.