Gotham: “Mommy’s Little Monster” — Nov. 2, 2015
Gotham has had a lot of action and very few disappointments this season, says Special Contributor Ralph S. Check out his recap of this week’s episode here. — David F.
With each new episode this season, the creators of Gotham take it up a notch. This week’s installment of the formative years of the Dark Knight was no exception. Characters are starting to choose sides and we get to see the genesis of an iconic villain. Along the way loads of chaos ensue. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Last week we left Penguin and his crew tooling up to go and rescue his mother, Gertrude, from Theo Galavan’s vile clutches. Butch, after supposedly escaping from Theo and his sister Tabitha/Tigress, gave Oswald the location. They go charging in and do indeed find Gertrude locked in a cell but before Oswald can get his mommy out of the cell Theo and Tabitha show up to throw a big bucket of cold water on Oswald’s touching family reunion. For his efforts, Oswald finds out that Butch is no longer under his control, thanks to Theo and Tabitha, and has led him into a trap. Theo has the upper hand and forces Oswald to beg for his mother’s freedom. Theo lets Gertrude out of her cell and then Tabitha stabs her in the back. She dies in Oswald’s arms. If I didn’t find the character of Gertrude so annoying I’d almost be touched, alas, now I won’t have to put up with her whining. A devastated Penguin attacks Theo, escapes and swears revenge.
After Gertrude’s death I’m really eager to see how far off the chain this will drive Penguin. Oswald, after all, was a real momma’s boy.
So what happens to Theo after he murders a defenseless old lady? Why he gets elected mayor. of course. He killed off the competition, so there was no one else for the citizens to choose. As he watches the returns come in, Theo plots his next steps along with Tabitha and his niece Silver St. Cloud, who’s been getting very close to young Bruce Wayne. We learn that Silver is not only aware of Theo’s plan to relieve Bruce of both his company and his right to breathe, she’s very eager to participate in it.
At the precinct house, Gordon and Bullock are discussing theories about Penguin’s earlier exploits that include killing off mayoral candidates and arranging the arson of several buildings owned by Wayne Enterprises when the new mayor arrives, along with Harvey Dent (Nicholas D’Agosto), to report that he’s been attacked by Penguin. Theo orders the cops to leave no stone unturned, as well as no house un-searched, in order to capture Penguin. Declaring martial law should be a great way for the new mayor to endear himself to the citizenry. “At the end of the day,” he tells Gordon, “all people want is to feel safe.” That’s one straight outta the Dick Cheney playbook. Theo figures this approach will draw Penguin out into the open.
Meanwhile at stately Wayne Manor, Selina shows up to interrupt an afternoon visit between Bruce and Silver. When Bruce leaves the room for a bit Silver makes if extremely clear that Selina has no place in his life. After a few more veiled threats from her, Bruce comes back to announce lunch is served. During the cozy luncheon Selina deftly proves that she ain’t havin’ any of what Silver is trying to serve up. Calling the little blonde socialite a two-faced slut, Selina tries to warn Bruce bout his new ‘friend’ and demands to know what she’s after. Bruce tries to stand up for Silver but she leaves the room crying great big, crocodile tears. Bruce then confronts Selina and tells her to leave. Obviously he’ll see the error of his ways soon enough.
Gordon and Bullock manage to get a lead on the renegade Butch and find him just a few moments before a bunch of Penguin’s henchmen led by Victor Zzazz show up to see that Butch ends up pushing up daisies. By the time the action begins, Gordon figures out that Galavan may be the one behind Penguin’s exploits. He just can’t prove it — yet. After a slight bit of “friendly” persuasion Butch confirms Gordon’s theory, and tells Gordon about Penguin’s mother, but he escapes during the gunplay leaving Gordon and Bullock all broke, busted and disgusted. Apparently nobody told Gordon about the incident involving Butch’s hand and Penguin’s cleaver so he cuffed Butch’s fake hand to a steam pipe in an effort to make him stay put. That didn’t turn out too good.
Theo’s throwing a victory party and Penguin intends to crash it. Captain Barnes, Gordon, Bullock, the Strike Force and the rest of Gotham’s finest show up to stop him. Of course it’s not long before the bullets are flying through the air thicker than the swarms of flies over a pile of dead bodies. Before it’s all over another member of the Strike Force bites the dust; that leaves just two members still among the living by my count, this one buying it literally under the heel of the Tigress. Things end up in a standoff between Penguin and Gordon, who protects Theo. Penguin reveals that he knows what Theo’s end game is and that it involves someone close to Gordon. Before he can divulge any more info he gets winged with a shot by Tigress who’s up on the roof with a sniper rifle. In yet another gun battle Penguin manages to get away — now that’s a BIG surprise ain’t it? After the fireworks end Gordon lets Theo know that it’s now high noon and one of them is going down. “Desperate times,” Gordon tells Theo. “They are indeed,” Theo replies.
After the shocking events of last week that ruined his love life, Edward Nygma has been trying to pull himself together. That’s a bit easier said than done ‘cause it appears he now has two personalities — Edward and the Riddler. After leading Edward on a scavenger hunt for Kristen Kringle’s body, the Riddler finally gets Edward to see the truth about himself and the two personalities merge. Thus the Riddler comes into much clearer focus.
So now the lines are drawn and the pieces are moving into place for the next stage of this dark game. Theo and Gordon are about to square off and it’s apparent that somebody’s gonna get caught in the crossfire. Who’s it going to be? Stick around kiddies and all will be revealed in good time. See ya!
