Last week in Gotham, Penguin watched the antics of Jerome (who is apparently deceased after Theo Galavan shoved a knife in his throat) from afar and is now embroiled with the soon to be only mayoral candidate of Gotham City. After Galavan turned up the heat by terrifying the local citizenry of the city with his Maniax, and winning the hearts of the locals as the hero of the hour, he now wants to officially run the city.
There is a new captain in town, who is running GCPD, Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chiklis chewing up great chunks of scenery as the ex-marine bent on straightening out the police department) and he makes Jim Gordon his second-in-command. This move may actually come back to plague the detective when the department moves against the ruffled Penguin.
The new “king of Gotham” has his feathers majorly ruffled now that his dear mother (Carol Kane) has been kidnapped by Theo and his sister. Cobblepot “Call me Penguin,” is being forced to kill off the mayoral race competition. This move by Galavan may spell the beginning of his effort to rule the city but it could also mean the beginning of his own end. Penguin is, if nothing else, excellent at scheming and getting his way, not to mention getting rid of his own competition.
The little crime lord (king) is going mad with rage and, despite Butch’s attempts to find Gertrude, the final scene of Strike Force shows that Penguin is close to breaking point. Taking his mother hostage and threatening the only woman in Oswald’s life that means anything to him, has left Theo in a bad position, he just does not realize it yet.
In terms of women and love, Nygma has finally made his move on Kristen Kringle. It turns out that the demur Kringle loves a man who takes charge, like her old, and dead, boyfriend cop. Nygma just has not really made that connection yet. While his more forceful personality suggested he “take” her, which led to his ordering Kringle to have dinner with him. it remains to be seen if the more mild mannered Nygma “has what it takes” to keep the lady enthralled.
Love gets a slap in the face when Selina (Camren Bicondova) drops by the prep school to greet Bruce after his day has finished. Alfred smacks the criminally bent street urchin (“That was for Reggie.”) and then tells her that his charge will be better off without her hanging around.
Later, when Bruce takes Theo to dinner as a thank you gesture, the young millionaire meets Galavan’s niece Silver St. Cloud (Natalie Alyn Lind) and she looks set to replace Selina as potential love interest. (Especially since the character is a “recurring” squeeze of Wayne’s in the DC verse.) It is unclear at this point whether Silver shares her uncle’s interests in Gotham but it seems unlikely.
Oswald’s forced assassination of Claiborne, and his interaction with the Galavan’s allows Butch (Drew Powell) to shine in this episode. The two times he stands out are firstly, the scene where Tabitha introduces herself to Penguin:
Tabitha: “My brother would very much like to talk to you…Alone.”
Butch: “Why you looking at me like that? You don’t know me.”
Penguin: “Relax, Butch. (to Tabitha) He has issues. Bipolar.
Butch; (Explaining to his boss) She don’t know me, I’m just saying.”
The second “standout moment” for Butch is during the murder of Claiborne:
Butch: (Holding his arms around two volunteers) “Steady now, folks. Just think of blue skies and cornfields. That’s what I do.”
Female volunteer: ” Why are you doing this?”
Butch: (Sincerely) “Darling, I got no freaking idea. We’ve been doing crazy stuff all day long.
Later Butch consoles his boss and promises that they will find his mother, patting Penguin’s leg to comfort the tortured King of Gotham. Gordon goes to confront the upset Cobblepot and gets threats from his “benefactor.” While this is clearly not what James wants to hear, the truth of what Penguin says is clear.
When Captain Barnes learns of Gordon’s collusion with the criminal, things will not go well at all.
Barnes and Gordon go to the Gotham City Police Academy to recruit some special rookies for a special task force, aka Strike Force. These new cops, untainted by any outside influence, will be used to clean up Gotham. The “new kids” are good, they manage to stop Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan) in his tracks, while he attempts to kill the remaining opposition candidate for mayor.
By the end of the episode Nygma has “got the girl” (another highlight of the episode was the future Riddler playing the David Lee Roth song Just a Gigolo while preparing his meal of love), Selina is not too happy with Alfred’s actions and Bruce seems to have a new infatuation at school. Jim Gordon is in a tight spot and Penguin is screaming out his frustration and rage.
Gotham airs Mondays on FOX, tune in and revel in the DC darkness…
