It seems like the dominoes are beginning to fall into place on Gotham. The stakes are high, the drama’s deeper, and its scope more apparent than ever. There’s a tension in the air that’s finally building around its keenest pair of beady little eyes down to its most righteous, and Penguin’s Umbrella felt some of the most chilling winds we’ve gotten yet.
Gotham’s corrupt have never needed more than fear for its good citizens to do nothing, after all, so leave it to an honest man to step out of line, our one and only Detective Jim Gordon. This week ultimately came down to another man of the hour pushing the episode forward, namely amidst the surprising amount of action at the GCPD. With a mob hit on his head since last episode’s tumultuous finale, Gordon and Barbra are left with little option to leave town fast as Falcone and Maroni’s war came to a standstill. Out of those ashes we got our best look at the short arm of the law still and just how deep the rabbit hole goes in Gotham’s underbelly.
Naturally, the police didn’t exactly have Gordon’s back, but a shoot-out with mob assassin and comic villain Victor Zsasz– played with all of Anthony Carrigan’s delightful menace – in the precinct itself was particularly entertaining to see. Seeing the cops scatter like rats in their own offices is sickening enough of an image, but even their own Captain, Sarah Essen (Gordon’s second wife in the comics), fleeing gave us a worse look at just how high that fear goes. Her hesitation was telling nonetheless, even a subtle nod to her and Gordon’s “chemistry” to come. What came afterwards was an exciting bout of gunplay and fisticuffs and lent some refreshing action to Montoya and Allen for a change.
What Gordon did accomplish was bring out a few fellow crusaders – even Bullock – to aid him in punching his way straight to the top. His (almost) suicide mission provided a somber tone, if not one strangely juxtaposed against an equally comedic one. Between Bullock drunkenly deciding to team with Gordon and tote machine guns and Zsasz’s ringtone being “Funkytown,” Gotham can’t seem to be dour without ending up like a kid in his parent’s clothes. If it did grow up some, then it came from Gordon and Bullock’s Godfather sit-down with Carmine Falcone in the triumphant final act with a wealth of masterful dialogue courtesy of John Doman’s Falcone.
It’s also a shame on a smaller note that Gordon’s resident Florence Nightingale played by Mekia Cox wasn’t our much previewed Dr. Leslie Thompkins. That honor will be given to Morena Baccarin next year, but its perfect timing felt like a missed opportunity.
Plenty of further hilarities were in no short supply for Penguin’s Umbrella. Barbara and Gordon’s romantic cues continue to fall flat for reasons unknown, and our former cop wife inevitably endangering herself for her man was silly and predictable. None compete against the mob’s most ill-fated attempt at mustache-twirling that would have Adam West’s villains eating their hearts out, á lá holy nuns, a bus, and some indescribably bad bird puns. Honk, honk?!
Everyone was on thin ice this week meanwhile, namely the Penguin, and absurdly unscathed to boot. It’s a wonder how he’s walked away from as many botched dealings as he has – bribery included – but his wheeling-and-dealing stratagem’s beautiful to see play out in all of Robin Lord Taylor’s demented charm. While Alfred and Bruce mostly bowed out of the spotlight, our very own waddling suit of the hour dug up the biggest twist of the episode in the form of an fascinating “omitted” scene of the pilot’s. It would seem like he’s already outpaced Fish and her boy-toy Nikolai for Falcone’s renewed favor, and better still that he’s micromanaging the spoils of the war closer to his own pocket.
Calculating, daring, and a trifle clumsy at times, Penguin’s Umbrella brought the brains and the brawn to match in another fashionable round of mystery and mayhem for Gotham. If Gotham’s to be believed, one man can make a difference, but it’s undeniable Jim’s not liable to be doing it at all engagingly alone. The show’s ensemble cast is as much its strength as its crutch even by now, and to be blunt, the sooner Gordon’s put behind a desk, the sooner we can get to the real stars. We may not know what game Gotham’s playing with us, but for once it might be worth knowing.
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Gotham airs Monday nights on FOX at 8/7 Central. Catch all the latest episodes on FOX.com and the latest reviews right here at BagoGames.