In last week’s episode of Gotham, Gordon got in a bit of trouble with Fish and Falcone for not killing Oswald, but Falcone ultimately let him go as a favor to Oswald, as Oswald is Falcone’s go-to snitch. Meanwhile, Falcone made a deal with Maroni, and Barbara almost got killed trying to protect Gordon.
In this week’s episode of Gotham, “The Mask,” Gordon and Bullock investigate a man who runs a fatal fight club, and Bruce’s return to school leads the youngster to pick a fight of his own. As always, please let me know if I miss any moments of foreshadowing or overlook the introduction of an important comics character. Read on to find out if Gotham delivers the corruption and creepiness we have come to expect.
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Gordon vs. the World
A big theme of this week’s episode is that Gordon likes to pick fights. He is on a one-man mission to clean up Gotham and take down all the corrupt power players. He is also fighting with his fiance, his co-workers and actual members of a fight club. At the end of the episode, Gordon tells Bullock that he does not like to fight, but he is not afraid of it, and if he doesn’t fight for his city, who will? Personally, I think Gordon and the show would be better served if he took a step back from all this fighting, but I guess an hour of Gordon bonding with Bruce and re-connecting with Barbara would be boring.
Gordon and Bullock catch the case of a young man who was killed in a fight club situation. The dead kid’s attire leads them to believe he works in finance and this eventually leads them to Sionis Investments. Mr. Sionis is clearly in-the-know about what happened to this kid and Gordon takes an instant dislike to the guy, but they have no evidence against him. Gordon and Bullock also learn that the fight club is responsible for several deaths over the last few years.
Later, Gordon goes to check out one of the many properties Sionis owns and lands directly in the middle of Sionis’ fight club. Sionis knocks Gordon out, and when he wakes up, Sionis forces Gordon to battle it out with three other men. Gordon makes quick work of these men, much to the disappointment of everyone watching the fight, so Sionis steps in to battle Gordon. Gordon bests Sionis, but chooses not to deliver the killing blow and places him under arrest instead.
As mentioned above, Gordon is also fighting with the other cops because, if you remember, not one of them bothered to help him out when Falcone’s people came for him at the station in last week’s episode. The other cops spend most of the episode avoiding Gordon out of guilt, but when Gordon goes missing, Bullock tears into them until they agree to help out their fellow cop. Captain Essen is the one who ultimately finds Gordon at the fight club and he thanks her for coming to his aid. The brief glimpses we get of their dynamic make me wish the show would find a way to use Essen more often.
Oswald Gets the Goods on Fish
Oswald spends this episode beating up one of Fish’s men for information. Oswald tries to make nice with Fish earlier in the episode, since they are forced to get along now that Maroni and Falcone have a peace agreement in place, but Fish decides to stab Oswald in the hand rather than play along. So Oswald has some of his men grab the guy who took his place as Fish’s umbrella-holder and they torture him for information. The guy finally tells Oswald that Fish has a mole close to Falcone, and Oswald orders his men to kill the guy and hide the body since they are supposed to be at peace.
Can Fish Keep Liza Safe?
Liza is still undercover with Falcone, but Fish wants her to step up her game this week. She gives Liza something that will put Falcone to sleep so Liza can sneak into his private office and copy some pages from his ledger. Liza does as she’s told, but the experience convinces her that it is only a matter of time before she is caught. She asks Fish if going after Falcone is worth it, and Fish spins a tale about her mother being killed by one of Falcone’s men while little Fish was helpless to stop it. Liza believes the story and Fish promises to protect her, but it seems like Fish’s mother could be alive and well, so who knows if anything she told Liza was true?
Other Happenings
— At Alfred’s insistence, Bruce returns to school. His first day does not go well, as a group of boys led by a kid named Tommy keep harassing him. But Alfred takes him to Tommy’s house later that day and Bruce gives him a little surprise via several punches to the face. Tommy comes away with a bloody face and the knowledge that you do not mess with little Bruce Wayne. Bruce tells Alfred that he enjoyed hurting the bully and asks Alfred if he will teach him how to fight.
— Barbara is still freaked out from her ordeal as a hostage, so she is drinking a lot and flinging about firearms in an unsafe manner. But instead of being a supportive partner while she is dealing with her trauma — granted, trauma she brought on herself by not leaving town when she should have — Gordon is once again coming home late and putting his work ahead of everything else. Babs has had enough, so she leaves Gordon a note and gets out of there. Is she going to crash at Renee’s place? Or is she heading out of town like she should have done when things started getting dangerous?
— In another sub-plot, Edward Nygma does an autopsy on Gordon and Bullock’s victim, something he is not meant to do because he is a forensic expert and not a medical examiner. But he finds evidence that the actual medical examiner missed, so perhaps he should consider a career change.
— In the episode’s only interesting development, Cat is back in custody after the cops catch her stealing. When Gordon comes to see her, she asks him if she missed her. Gordon may not have, but I certainly did.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Gotham? Were you as disappointed as I was that this episode saw a significant drop in quality from last week’s installment? Was this week’s case the least interesting to date? Is it just me or did Alfred handle the whole bullying situation in the worst way possible? Was anything that Fish told Liza true or did she simply tell the girl a tale she knew would pull at Liza’s heartstrings? Will Oswald figure out that Liza is Fish’s spy, and if so, how will he use that knowledge to his advantage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Gotham airs Mondays at 8pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
