Welcome to week two of “Got Ham?”, my recap and review of Gotham. The pilot episode started off with a bang(literally! ok, ok, bad joke) and now episode two is building up side plots and doing some world building.
The episode begins with some false do-gooders kidnapping homeless children, an event that Selina Kyle narrowly avoids. The two weirdos doing the kidnapping are named Patti and Doug, which I think is an affront to the cartoon Doug!
But seriously, these two were creepy, which was only amplified by their mannered ways. They kill a bum which means that detectives Gordon and Bullock are on the case! Gordon becomes immediately fixated on the bum because he’s a war veteran and so is Gordon. That moment was a bit hokey.
Bullock is hesitant to investigate the kidnapping of children off of Gotham’s streets. While the detectives are back in the precinct, we get to meet Captain Sarah Essen, played by Zabryna Guevara. She’s just as corrupt as the rest of the police force.
Oddly enough, this is where we get the first mentioning of Arkham Asylum. The drug used in the kidnapping was once used at the famous looney bin. According to Captain Essen, Arkham Asylum has been closed for 15 years. Later, another character mentions the Wayne Foundation was working on reopening but that’s now up-in-the-air with the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne.
I think we should question how prominent Arkham Asylum should be in the Gotham’s plotline. Arkham is a part of the Batman mythos and is located near/just outside of Gotham, but I’m much more fascinated with the police procedural aspect of the show. Having Arkham play a part in the plot would open up more tales about the supervillains.
Speaking of supervillains, the creepy child-snatchers mention that they are working for The Dollmaker. We never see this character, and it isn’t implied that the police even know about him. The Dollmaker is still out there… somewhere.
In other villain updates, Oswald is working his way back to Gotham, killing those he dislikes. We meet his mother Mrs. Kapelput, played by Carol Kane. She doesn’t know about his criminal activities. She’s being interviewd by Montoya and Allen from the Major Crimes Unit. Montoya believes that Oswald is dead and wants to get to the bottom of the corruption in the Gotham police.
One man who isn’t corrupt in the Gotham police force is Saint Jim, as Bullock dubs him in a good cop/bad cop routine. Saint Jim manages to save Selina Kyle, sorry Cat, from the kidnappers and she wants to strike a deal with him. She was witness to the Wayne murders. Whatever can she get from Gordon in this offer? We’ll have to wait and find out.
I rate this episode with Huntress from live-action Legends of the Superheroes show.
Because she’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.