What does a good man do when his back is up against the wall? Can you really be friends with your girlfriend’s ex? Who is really in charge here? The answers to these questions and more are revealed on this week’s episode of Gotham. Spoilers start now.
1. There’s Nothing More Dangerous Than an Honest Man
Jim Gordon is playing the dead man’s hand, and he’s going all in. After the revelation that he did not kill Oswald as he was ordered to do, he knows that he’s become Gotham’s most endangered species. Betraying Falcone and Mooney, he now has a price on his head. Believing that his days may be numbered he decides to make the most of a bad situation and take some of the major criminals down with him. Filling out some pre-signed warrants, he makes grand plans to arrest the city’s corrupt mayor and the head of one of Gotham’s most powerful crime families.
Confronting his own mortality and having nothing to lose makes Jim go a little mad. He tells Captain Essen that this new recklessness ‘feels good’. Jim is liberated by the idea that he can risk his life to do the right thing. It’s not as much of a risk as a guarantee, if he goes through with his plan he will face dire consequences. He wants to use his predicament to send a message to the people of Gotham. This is the first instance of Gordon embracing desperate measures for a chance at hope; the kind of thinking that will eventually lead him to accept the bat man in years to come. He’s taking a stand.
Planning to go down in a blaze of glory, Jim won’t be dissuaded from his pursuit of justice, even by the threat of death. He finds his voice and his power when his back is up against the wall. He’s poised to make a difference. What could possibly stop him? Barbara, that’s what. All of Jim’s good intentions go out the window when he learns that Barbara has put herself in danger. She’s the only thing he loves more than the idea of doing the right thing. His relationship with her and need to protect her are major weaknesses for him. This does not bode well for the couple through the rest of the season. It seems that she’s going to cost him everything, betray him, or be killed. This is the only logical progression. She has been established as an Achilles’ heel, as well as what is at stake for him. In order for him to grow, the dynamic of their relationship has to change. It is going to take something really major to make that happen after what they have survived thus far. Brace yourselves, character development is coming.
2. 28 and Counting
Victor Zsasz represents a striking change of pace in the profile of Gotham’s sinister character lineup. Here’s a bad guy that seems to really enjoy being bad. He’s unapologetically brutal, but completely in control of himself. While many of the antagonists we have encountered in the series have developed their pathologies through being victimized themselves, that does not seem to be the case with this relentless killer. He was not bullied; he was the bully. He commands the GCPD precinct with an attitude and charisma that seems more like what you might expect from a professional athlete or low-level television start than an antisocial mass murderer. He even pulls of the Bane-esque double lapel grab with convincing flair. He’s just crazy enough to etch a tally mark into his skin with a box cutter after each kill, and he’s up to 28 marks so far.
Watching him pursue Jim, I noticed something. His shoes are pretty shiny. Did Zsasz kill the Waynes? Maybe. Canon has already been rewritten in regard to the motive for the killings, why not change the assailant’s identity as well? In transforming the murder of the Waynes from a random, senseless act of violence to a political hit, the significance of that event is not diminished, but it is undoubtedly changed. We know that Zsasz works for Falcone, and that Falcone was involved in ordering the hit on the Waynes. It seems he has both the depravity and the self-control to kill two innocent people and leave a boy alive. Given that all we know about the Waynes’ killer is that he is affiliated with Falcone and that he has shiny shoes, Zsasz seems as likely a suspect as anyone. It’s a working theory, admittedly. There’s little evidence to support it, but it is worth considering.
Continued belowAnd if you are still trying to ‘Name that Tune’ in regard to Zsasz’s ringtone, it’s “Funkytown,” because, why wouldn’t it be?
3. You Gotta Get Hurt a Little
Mooney’s henchman, Butch Gilzean is quite a character. He has a sense of humor and panache that comes to light for the first time in this episode. Holding Barbara hostage in Jim’s home, he comes off as the creepiest, sleaziest fellow imaginable. He asks her about her weight, her natural hair color, and he smells her. It makes me cringe. He’s a buffoon, but the audience never doubts for a second that he is capable of vile things. Drew Powell delivers Gilzean’s lines with gusto and lack of guile that make the character seem believable and familiar. He’s the guy from your neighborhood who gets on your nerves… but with mafia ties, and without a conscience.
After creating a roadblock made of nuns, Butch demands the attention of some of Maroni’s underlings. He relays an ultimatum in a conversational tone, then essentially explains how intimidation techniques are meant to work in the same way a kid might explain the rules of a board game to a friend who was trying to cheat, before wounding Maroni’s men. Something about the casual composure of this character makes him fascinating. He’s not cryptic or mysterious. He doesn’t have a hidden agenda. He takes his orders, avoids questions and speaks plainly. Butch is the literal manifestation of the term ‘muscle‘ as it applies to organized crime. However despite his lack of depth, he has a great deal of personality that makes him very captivating.
4. Best Seat in the House
If this episode has a theme it is shifting perspectives. The reality of a situation, as Harvey Bullock deftly points out, depends on where you are sitting. Opinions and alliances are changed and tested in this episode of Gotham. From the schism between Jim and Harvey at the beginning of the episode to the total change of heart we see in Montoya and Allen, tables are turning and the times, they are a‘ changin’. As more and more secrets come to light, the detectives of Gotham gain a more realistic picture of who they can trust.
Montoya and Allen realize their mistake, believing that Jim was corrupt, and do their best to make up for it. Saving his life, and later agreeing to take up his cause; Montoya and Allen establish themselves as allies for Jim. In a great show of trust, Jim introduces the pair to Bruce Wayne and Alfred. He tells Bruce that they are ‘good detectives‘ and promises that they will finish the work he began, solving the Wayne murder. This is quite a long way from Jim’s arrest in the previous episode, it’s amazing how much life and death circumstances can expedite the process of becoming friends.
Harvey experiences a shift in perspective as well. In the beginning of this episode, he’s telling Jim that he is going to have to kill him to save himself from Falcone. By the end, though, he’s at Jim’s side prepared to go down fighting with him. He decides to be a good guy, and deems Jim’s cause a worthy one. The nonchalance with which Harvey approaches potentially sacrificing himself for the greater good is endearing. Despite Harvey’s efforts to prove otherwise, he cares for the city and for his partner. Though the arteries may be a little clogged, he has a big heart. It seems like he has been looking for something or someone to believe in, and in this episode it becomes clear that Jim and his integrity are just what he’s needed to push him back over to the side of good. My favorite Harvey Bullock one-liner from this episode sums up his feelings for Jim perfectly: “You’re still a douche bag, but you have the moral high ground.”
5. Birds of a Feather
Is there any more potentially hazardous combination of elements than Oswald Cobblepot and Carmine Falcone? This episode reveals that they are working together, and that cannot be anything but trouble for every other character on the show. Falcone is shrewd. He has an eye for potential and opportunity. Oswald has presented him with both. He has become Falcone’s informant, and not a soul knows it. They are playing everyone: Maroni, Mooney, the authorities, Jim… everyone.
Tending his chickens, Falcone greets Oswald warmly and begins to reminisce about the way the young snitch came to be in his debt. Gordon’s conscience was spotted and exploited by Oswald early on. The order of execution was given to Jim at Penguin’s request; it was his only chance for survival, and he knew it. Falcone hedged his bets and gave Oswald that chance, resulting in his loyalty and Falcone’s newfound advantage in the looming war for Gotham. Almost everything that has happened in the series thus far is part of planning and collusion of these two criminal elements.
Finding himself under the protection of Penguin’s umbrella, Falcone stands in the best possible position to continue his role as the most powerful criminal in the city. Both master manipulators, these men have found important allies in each other. Together they are pulling strings that no one else can see, controlling everything in a carefully choreographed series of events. Now they are just biding their time, waiting for their plans to hatch.
