When Last We Were in Gotham:
Fish Mooney and Nikolai are working together to take down Falcone. Fish has enlisted a young singer named Liza to gain Falcone’s trust. Edward Nygma is beginning to enjoy the gruesome aspects of his job too much. Nygma also has a crush on Kristen Cringle, who works in the GCPD Records Department. Harvey Bullock was once a good cop, eager to take down bad guys. Then he learned the hard way that the golden rule in Gotham is “No Heroes.” Montoya and Allen have finally arrested Gordon for the murder of Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. The only way he could get off the hook for this is if Cobblepot himself shows up at the exactly planned perfect moment. Which he does…
And Nothing Happens
Instead of seeing how Penguin explains the situation to the various police officers in the precinct, including Captain Essen, Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen, they cut to Gordon packing his locker and calling Barbara. Honestly, this is a huge missed opportunity but they skipped for a very good reason. There is no way that Montoya or Allen would let Penguin back on the streets so fast, not unless they were under Falcone’s influence as well(they aren’t). So Penguin is alive, what a shock in the streets! Fish is mad! Just like she said she would be!
Gordon believes that Penguin being seen alive in Gotham is a death sentence for him from Falcone’s goons. So he sends Barbara away to keep her safe. BUT she’s just so in love with him that she doesn’t know what she’d do! She has no inner-life or hobbies! Gordon is her whole life! What piss-poor writing…
Jim’s Master Plan
Gordon decides he’s going to arrest those he sees as responsible for the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. That would be Mayor Aubrey James and Carmine Falcone because they conspired to frame Mario Pepper for the murder. Gordon sees this as his best option because he’s a dead man anyway. His optimism is really nice. He wants to stand against injustice. Others don’t stand up, in his eyes, because they don’t think they can. It’s too bad that they fail him at the first chance.
High Noon
Fish wants Gordon, Penguin, and Bullock dead. Falcone doesn’t want it that way. He says he’ll send in Victor to pick up Gordon. That’s right, Victor Zsasz!
He strolls into the GCPD like he owns the place, politely asks if anyone knows where Jim Gordon is, and then shouts out, “Hey, Jim!” This draws out Gordon from the Captain’s office, so now the two men can face off like a proper Old West quick draw. This is probably the best scene in the episode because it shows how committed Gordon is to upholding the law. Gordon dares Zsasz to make a move in a room with at least 50 police officers. Zsasz then asks them all to “please leave” and they do. Gordon is so crushed in this moment, humanity has failed him again! So commence shooting.
Montoya and Allen, Weeknights at 7pm
The former feuding detectives have now teamed up. Montoya and Allen storm the police station to save Gordon. He’s been shot, gets fixed up at an animal lab, and is ready to go! First stop, Wayne Manor!
Gordon tells Bruce that he’s got mixed up in some bad stuff and that if he dies, Montoya and Allen will be taking over the case of his parents’ murder. Gordon heads back to the apartment to get one last night of rest before facing certain death. Also, Bullock picks up a hooker.
A Fox in the Henhouse
Falcone is taking care of chickens. It doesn’t make any more sense at the end of this episode then when it is introduced. He encourages Fish to talk things out with Maroni instead of demanding he hand over Penguin. Fish wants Penguin dead, and Maroni too, if she feels inclined. In her meeting with Maroni, all she gets is a “sincere” apology from Penguin. She doesn’t like that one bit, calling him a scaly-face bitch. She then has Gil stop some of Maroni’s trucks using nuns.
Penguin plots with Maroni to get back at Fish by taking out a back-room poker game. Nikolai happens to be involved in this game and is killed. Frankie has been jealous of Penguin and his quick rise in the ranks. Frankie roughs up Penguin only to have the tables turned and get stabbed. Then Penguin says, as Frankie is dying, “Love conquers all.” I am not making this up.
#ItsAllConnectedSomehow
Gordon and Bullock take the Mayor by surprise when they arrest him. He leads them to Falcone. Before they can serve the arrest warrant for the Don, he reveals that Victor Zsasz is holding Barbara hostage. Even if they fail to arrest Falcone, and instead kill him, who knows what will become of Barbara. Yes, Barbara didn’t leave Gotham but instead became the worst form of damsel in distress. Gordon believes this, despite Bullock saying its a bluff. This actually saves Gordon’s life, perhaps, and Falcone takes that as a sign of trust and lets everyone go free. Now Gordon isn’t wanted by police or mob.
In the end, Penguin comes to visit Falcone in secret. They flash back to when they first met, after he’d been caught for snitching to MCU, right before Gordon fake-shoots Penguin. The Penguin strikes a deal with Falcone. Let him live and he’ll be a snitch on the other side. He’ll somehow infiltrate the Maroni family and tell their secrets to Falcone. All he asks is that Gordon be the one to kill him because he knows Gordon won’t. Basically, Penguin has orchestrated everything now. Every last detail. In present time, Falcone remarks how it has all gone according to Penguin’s plan.
Side Lines
When Fish gets only an apology from Penguin, she tells Maroni off before leaving, “Fat jolly men are so tiresome.” I can only imagine she includes Santa Claus in that broad statement.
When Gil stops Maroni’s truck using nuns, he explains to the drivers how they’re making a statement to Falcone and the guys have to be a little hurt. He asks if they want a beating or a bullet. One of them asks, “Why we gotta get hurt?” Gil then shoots both of them in the leg.
After killing a cop, Zsasz rolls up a sleeve and scars himself, counting “28.”
Next Time
Hopefully, now that seven episodes have been devoted to showing Penguin rising the ranks, sneaking around, and lying that we can focus on other characters doing much more interesting things. Even a different case that Gordon and Bullock have to solve every week would be better than just watching Penguin kill and lie over and over again. I’m ready to see what Nygma gets up to outside of the GCPD in his spare time. Or any other character. Like Scarecrow. It was revealed at the Gotham panel at Comikaze that Jonathan Crane would be around Bruce’s age in the show and that his father would be the first Scarecrow. This sounds a bit promising, even as it changes the characters backstory.
I rate this episode with Burgess Meredith’s Penguin from the 1960’s Batman show
Because he’s the villain Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.