Gotham: Welcome Back, Jim Gordon

January 27, 2015 3:55 AM - Season 1, Episode 13

When the key witness in a homicide ends up dead while being held for questioning by the police, Gordon suspects that it’s an inside job and looks to an old friend for information. Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot takes control of one of Fish Mooney’s prized possessions, as she gets a gets a small taste of her own medicine.
posted by DirtyOldTown (8 comments total)

An episode full of transitions. Gordon gaining cred at GCPD, Fish leaving town and vowing to return, Bruce being shot-down by Selina and diving back into being a detective. And Penguin...well...he's still the Penguin.

Given that this was the 13th episode, one could be forgiven for thinking this was an "In case we get cancelled, this will more-or-less tie-up threads however sloppily" episode. Still, I'm glad that the Gordon story arc has seemingly moved past the "lone honest man" stage. We shall see, of course.

Oh, and Carol Kane!
posted by Thorzdad at 8:19 AM on January 27, 2015

Random observations:

Alfred had on way too much eyeliner.
Butch stole the show with his loyal sidekickassness. And his name is Butch.
Carol Kane needs to be on every show.

I do like that they don't attempt to follow every storyline every week. There are just too many and I like that they put some subplots on the back burner to let them steep a little bit.
posted by the webmistress at 9:40 AM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

I do like that they don't attempt to follow every storyline every week.


Welllll, they don't but... they do routinely build their B stories out of disconnected fragments of other stories they're working on, even when those B stories don't amount to much beyond a distraction to the week's overall themes or action.

See "Gordon, Barbara."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:37 AM on January 28, 2015

I'm glad that the Gordon story arc has seemingly moved past the "lone honest man" stage. We shall see, of course.

I sincerely hope that was a turning point, because it felt like one. I still wish he were smarter, but I guess that ship has sailed. (Going to the Penguin had better bite him on the ass in a funny way.)

Other thoughts:
* Fish was as great as ever. I'm glad they haven't killed her off.
* Yep, Butch definitely earned Thug of the Month.
* Count another 'me too' about Carol Kane. She cracked me up.
* It was fun seeing Bullock reluctantly care about people, even though he knows it's a really bad idea in his situation.
posted by mordax at 8:24 AM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I hope this doesn't get canceled. I don't follow TV numbers, so I'm not sure how likely that is.

It's really picking up steam for me. I started watching The Strain around the same time, and this is doing something that The Strain never did: it's getting better. A lot of its early stumbling is getting ironed out, plots are paying off, characters are experiencing some development, and interesting situations are being set up. It's even gotten less unintentionally silly (and a lot of the silliness that remains appears to be there by design).
posted by codacorolla at 12:09 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I started watching The Strain around the same time, and this is doing something that The Strain never did: it's getting better.

Hehe, I think The Strain got actively worse. Jim Gordon is dumb here, but he never reaches Grade Eph.
posted by mordax at 4:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

The last week I saw, Gotham was in a dead heat with two other shows for its time slot, though it's live viewing numbers were considerably lower than either. It has already been renewed for Season 2. So it's chugging along fine, but it's not a slam dunk for six seasons and a movie or anything.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:24 AM on January 29, 2015

So hey, I'm a month late, but this episode was great. Some weak moments but the central discomfort and weirdness was good. Particularly the scene of Penguin reveling in his victory in his club, and his decrepit mother, the weirdness and discomfort. Mirrored with the real story advancement that Gordon is now compromised, in enlisting Penguin's help and realizing the compromise that entails.

I'm glad they had a way to keep Fish written into the story if they can bring the actress back. Also sad it looks like they wrote KittenGirl out, she's been the most delicious part of the whole Batman story. Maybe it's a temporary thing though, she seems like a fickle young woman.
posted by Nelson at 8:44 PM on February 27, 2015