After an impactful start with Jerome’s three-part arc, where plenty of things happened, this Gotham episode focuses on rebuilding. In every sense of the word. It’s not that this is a bad episode at all, but the pace is drastically different from what has come before, as this rebuilding takes time, and therefore the episode, though advancing the main plot forward, visits all of the character story threads it had in the air.
With the inclusion of Captain Nathaniel Barnes (played by a great Michael Chiklis) we get the change in tone and direction that the GCPD needed. He doesn’t hesitate to say things as they are; and starts taking great lengths to prevent corruption from continuing unabated inside the Police Department. This is a welcomed change, as the fight that Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) had been fighting is no longer a one-man crusade. Even more, now that he’s second in-command to Captain Barnes and has his own unbiased – if small – strike force, he might have the power to change things, both in numbers and hierarchy.
However, the show doesn’t forget about how Jim sold himself to the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) on the opening of this second season; and him being not so clean cut provides some very interesting tension when confronting the Penguin. It is precisely the latter the character to whom the focus drifts a little, if only to see him suffer, as the new player in town, Theo Galavan (James Frain) has a very personal edge over him that will have him as Galavan’s puppet; again on the streets trying to kill Galavan’s rivals for the role of Gotham’s Major.
It was a nice change, to see the Penguin back in action, and in a position where, even if he is now undoubtedly Gotham’s underworld king, thanks to the stellar evolution we saw on the first season – which he briefly summed up to Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas) in a bout of fury – he is being blackmailed into working for another’s benefit; a Theo Galavan that believes himself a builder, a master planner, something that he rubs in Cobblepot’s face in a battle of egos.
I hope to see much more of Penguin and his growing army, as in my eyes he is a much more complex character than Galavan; who might have that Lex Luthor vibe going for him, but sometimes lacks that craziness or boldness that makes Gotham characters interesting. I mean, all of this – devious plan, employing maniacs, extortion – just to build some condos?
Come on…
There is some good news on the villain development side, however, as finally Nygma’s villainous and crazy personality has taken over his more careful, shy one. And, that means that Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) grows a pair and gets a date with his long-desired Kristen Kringle (Chelsea Spack); for the future it means that Enigma is closer. Nygma’s scenes were pretty good, scary at times, and with a very solid character portrayal.
On the side of the angels, Alfred (Sean Pertwee), continues to train Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) in fun and unexpected ways. The boy continues socializing, this time with Gotham’s new “hero”, Theo Galavan, and the latest addition to the cast, Silver St Cloud (Natalie Alyn Lind), meeting her twice throughout the episode. The character, a Gotham socialite, was an important love interest for Bruce Wayne in two story arcs from acclaimed author Steve Englehart, so we’ll see how their relationship evolves in the series.
Gotham could use a whole lot more of Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), as some of the best episodes from the first season where those in which he and Jim partnered up, and their particular relationship was explored. At least the character, as loud as ever, made his worries over the new Captain’s direction pretty clear. But I hope we get more of him, as he’s a grey character that had become really lovable.
The episode ends on a “to be continued” kind of note, so we still have to wrap up the Penguin-Galavan storyline.
I rely on troubled Cobblepot to get things back into high gear.