Gotham: Penguin's Umbrella
November 4, 2014 9:57 AM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe
As violence between Maroni and Falcone continues to escalate, Penguin reveals a new component of his manipulative strategy, forcing Gordon to deal with the consequences of his decision to spare Penguin's life.
I kept waiting for Zsasz to use his Mist powers.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:08 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:08 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
I fear that my love of Penguin is not strong enough to withstand my hate of Barbara Kean.
posted by lyssabee at 1:00 PM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by lyssabee at 1:00 PM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Barbara can't win... she's not dumb, she's just written that way. This is the second time Gordon has trusted her and given her information and she's done exactly the wrong thing with it.
It would have been awesome if he had said "You're lying - Barbara isn't stupid enough" and there had been a smash cut to Barbara far away having breakfast next to a national landmark. Still, she doesn't get to be competent in this show.
Falcone on the other hand, I had expected to die quickly and make way for the Moriarty of weirdcrime, but his character is more interesting than that.
Speaking of Moriarty... is "unexpected pop ringtones" a villain trope now?
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:11 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
It would have been awesome if he had said "You're lying - Barbara isn't stupid enough" and there had been a smash cut to Barbara far away having breakfast next to a national landmark. Still, she doesn't get to be competent in this show.
Falcone on the other hand, I had expected to die quickly and make way for the Moriarty of weirdcrime, but his character is more interesting than that.
Speaking of Moriarty... is "unexpected pop ringtones" a villain trope now?
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:11 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
This certainly feels like it's hitting its stride. I liked this episode quite a bit, even with the anachronistic technology (type-writing reports, flip phones, but also modern smart phones?)
posted by codacorolla at 2:22 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by codacorolla at 2:22 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
I had to look it up to make sure the guy playing Zsasz wasn't the same guy who played The Albino on Banshee. He's not, but honestly... those two guys could play brothers, what with the ripped, bald, eyebrowlessness and all.
For the love of all that is good, DO NOT go clicking the videos that come up on a Google search for Banshee and "The Albino." The fight scene that you'd get is maybe the most violent, graphic thing I have ever seen on tv.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:15 PM on November 4, 2014
For the love of all that is good, DO NOT go clicking the videos that come up on a Google search for Banshee and "The Albino." The fight scene that you'd get is maybe the most violent, graphic thing I have ever seen on tv.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:15 PM on November 4, 2014
I agree with the "Barbara! What are you doing!" sentiment, it was just too formulaic to have her come back.
I really hope the writers get a clue and give her something real to do, at this point she seems like such a wasted character -- so much potential just hanging out doing nothing.
I do love where Penguin and Falcone are going, that saved the episode for me.
posted by selenized at 10:05 PM on November 4, 2014
I really hope the writers get a clue and give her something real to do, at this point she seems like such a wasted character -- so much potential just hanging out doing nothing.
I do love where Penguin and Falcone are going, that saved the episode for me.
posted by selenized at 10:05 PM on November 4, 2014
Wow this was great! I watched this back to back with the Goat episode which I hated. By contrast I loved this one.
In particular I like that they've hung the whole show on Penguin. He's been the best part of this show since episode 1 and I guess the showrunners figured out what he's doing works, so they're giving him lots of airtime. I imagine they had the whole double agent thing planned from the beginning, too much was set up to make that work, but the payoff was really great in the hands of the actor (Robin Taylor). John Doman is doing great as Falcone too, he's a terrific actor from all sorts of smaller parts. I even like that they didn't use Fish too much this episode; she's great, but she's a strong rough whisky, you can't have too much at once.
Anyway this kind of episodic drama is what keeps me interested in shows like this, and I admire they gave us a pretty big payoff. I hope they have more like this in the can but I fear we're back to a couple of one-off stories again before we get back to the good stuff.
posted by Nelson at 9:09 PM on November 7, 2014
In particular I like that they've hung the whole show on Penguin. He's been the best part of this show since episode 1 and I guess the showrunners figured out what he's doing works, so they're giving him lots of airtime. I imagine they had the whole double agent thing planned from the beginning, too much was set up to make that work, but the payoff was really great in the hands of the actor (Robin Taylor). John Doman is doing great as Falcone too, he's a terrific actor from all sorts of smaller parts. I even like that they didn't use Fish too much this episode; she's great, but she's a strong rough whisky, you can't have too much at once.
Anyway this kind of episodic drama is what keeps me interested in shows like this, and I admire they gave us a pretty big payoff. I hope they have more like this in the can but I fear we're back to a couple of one-off stories again before we get back to the good stuff.
posted by Nelson at 9:09 PM on November 7, 2014
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Of course the scene in the precinct house was a a bit Frank Miller, but I imagine they just had to use that expensive, huge set for something. Come to think of it, that throwaway gag with the nuns was too. Ick.
I still can't wrap my head around Montoya not being a rookie cop, but I have to assume she has a daughter off screen somewhere.
Other than that, it was a much better episode, in both the writing and direction. I still think it's only going to go one season, mostly because it's been stylistically all over the map and tepid so far. This episode did hint that the crime families are giving structure to the city, but so far they haven't shown that. It needs to be more like The Wire than it is currently, because these cops are essentially boring to watch. It's also boring to watch scenes like the one where the Penguin took out that boss's second in command, when seeing the Penguin chumming up with the henchmen would have been much more satisfying. Mob guys who'll simply betray their boss for a little extra pay? I doubt that very much, and am not convinced.
At least with the show runner writing this episode things happened, but I'm not convinced they can sustain it.
posted by Catblack at 10:32 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]