Duck Fox

Note: I was out of town, so this review is terribly late, but I should be back on track when it’s Arrow time. 

Before it premiered, show creator Bruno Heller promised that Gotham would be more than just an origin story for Batman. It would chart the progress of multiple characters who are now well known as they establish themselves in the grim, highly corrupt city of Gotham. But the first five episodes mostly concerned the villains of Gotham, placing most of the long form storytelling emphasis on the coming war between various factions (most notably Maroni, Falcone and Fish Mooney). But this week’s episode (well, last weeks- see the note) shifted focus and provided a bit of much needed characterization for Harvey Bullock. 

When a mysterious killer starts kidnapping and murdering rich kids, Bullock is immediately reminded of a case he worked year ago. Though he and then partner Dix (Dan Hedaya) take down the mysterious “Goat Killer,” Dix was permanently injured due to Harvey’s recklessness. It’s a little bit too simplistic to think this is the only thing that turned Harvey from a dogged officer into the lackadaisical, curmudgeonly investigator we know today, but it certainly helps to get a little bit more information on his past. The show has been surprisingly slow with diving into the past of the main “good guys,” with its preoccupation on building the conspiracy around Gordon and Cobblepot. Speaking of Gordon and Cobblepot, the Penguin was in fine form tonight, even before an epic cliffhanger, but more on that later. 

The main case is also more compelling than pretty much every other one. Instead of focusing on over the top powers or campy gimmicks, the killer is pretty straightforward and realistic. Okay, so maybe “murder as a hypnotic suggestion” isn’t totally realistic, but manipulating the means to the crime is considerably less ridiculous than sending people into the stratosphere in balloons. Besides, it gave Bullock a really awesome moment to shine with his detective skills by deducing that Dr. Marks (the always welcome Susan Misner of The Americans) was hypnotizing her patients. She believes that Gotham needs an occasional “purge” of the rich and spoiled in order to keep functioning. There’s something enamoring about Misner’s performance, and though she doesn’t get to do much, she resonates and stands out as the best case-of-the-week villain the series has seen thus far. 

Of course, when it comes to the serial villains, she’s horribly outclassed. Though Edward Nygma is too busy awkwardly flirting with the clerk at the records room for GCPD, a woman named Kristen Kringle (Chelsea Spack), Penguin more than makes up for it.  

You see, Montoya and Allen have finally found a witness to Cobblepot’s “murder,” and now that they have proof, there’s no reason to not arrest Gordon. By the time Bullock puts a wrap on the case, MCU barges in to arrest Gordon. There’s a nice bit of banter here as Gordon insists he didn’t kill Cobblepot, and tries to convince Bullock, but Harvey, thinking he’s just pretending for the benefit of the station, does nothing more than kindly nod in acknowledgement. Then Cobblepot comes in from the cold, revealing his presence with swagger only a Penguin could muster, and Bullock promptly curses Gordon before launching into fisticuffs with him. It’s a hell of a cliffhanger, particularly because there’s little to keep the storylines of Cobblepot and Gordon from colliding again next week, and because now Montoya’s going to have to reassess her opinion of Gordon. Given that both of them are professionals, they should be able to put aside their competing affection for Barbara and work towards using Cobblepot as a mole together, right? Yeah, I don’t think so either.