High Noon in GOTHAM

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Episode 107 “Penguin’s Umbrella”

[Photos: Jessica Miglio/FOX]

 

Barbara Kean is an idiot.

OK. Maybe that’s a little harsh. Let’s say Barbara Kean is the “Hand of the Writer” character, and it seems like the writers really don’t know what to do with her.

This episode: things come to a head on a number of fronts — James Gordon and his efforts to clean up Gotham, the brewing hostilities between Falcone and Maroni, the scheming of Fish Mooney, and that umbrella of Penguin’s really covers a lot.

This is by far the best episode yet, with a sense of inevitability barreling down upon us. The buildup of tension on all fronts is handled well, with the exception of the Barbara Kean thread. More on that in a moment, because it mars what could otherwise be an exceptional series.

James Gordon has had enough, and he’s not going to take it anymore. When Butch lands at the apartment, Gordon makes it very clear with a bullet and an elbow he’s not coming in to talk with Fish Mooney. He’s also not going to put up with anyone threatening Barbara, which is why he puts her on a bus and tells her not to come back to Gotham. You see, as he tells the very scared Harvey Bullock, he’s got a plan.

That plan involves arrest warrants for Mayor James and Carmine Falcone. Captain Essen thinks he’s crazy. He should never have come back to the GCPD. Gordon, ever the Boy Scout, tells Essen that Gotham is his home, and he’s not going anywhere.

Even when Victor Zsasz comes calling, with his feisty girl-thugs in tow. He’s at the GCPD to pick up Gordon, so everyone else can go about their business. And it looks for a second as if the cops in the room might just stand by Gordon, except they don’t. We still have a long way to go before the police feel any kind of backbone, it seems. Although it’s good to see Essen standing next to Gordon until he tells her to leave. She may be coming around a bit, even though it puts her family at risk. You can see something resembling hope under the surface there. Just a smidge.

What follows through the rest of the episode is just pure Western. High Noon and Pale Rider and maybe a little of The Magnificent Seven — or four, in this case.

First, the shootout inside the GCPD, in a fury of bullets that leaves Gordon bleeding out as he spills into the motor pool parking lot. Just as it seems like all is lost, the White Knights Allen and Montoya come charging in to save the day. Taking Gordon to a friend of Allen’s to get stitched up, they are now a party of three white-hat cowboys out to take on the system. Only that’s not quite what Gordon has in mind, as he pulls the MCU officers out to Stately Wayne Manor (where we get our first good glimpse of former-soldier Alfred) to introduce them to Bruce. Gordon’s idea is that he’s probably going to die before solving the Wayne murder, so Allen and Montoya will be the ones to take the case if anything happens. It’s an emotional moment. Not only does it cement a relationship between Gordon and Bruce, but it also serves to form the beginning of a connection between Bruce and the Major Crimes Unit detectives.

The other shootout threatens to set off a major gang war between Maroni and Falcone, as Penguin leads a band of thugs in a raid on one of Falcone’s warehouses. This one just happens to belong to Nikolai, who just happens to be inside said warehouse at the time. Bing, bang, boom — everyone’s dead. And this is when we start to get hints that Penguin is playing a long game, as he also takes out Frankie in a double-cross. Seems Frankie’s bodyguards can be bought. “No honor among thieves” indeed.

Penguin is certainly the driving force behind so much of this episode, as revealed at the end when he walks up to Falcone to discuss their deal. Turns out, Oswald made sure Gordon would get the kill order, knowing the cop was too honest to do it. Thus, he sets in motion a chain of events that puts Oswald at Maroni’s right hand, manipulating both Maroni and Falcone into an inevitable conflict that could lead to Penguin gaining quite a bit of power and influence.

That Oswald’s able to take out Nikolai and Frankie both, plus inflict pain on Fish, plus move Maroni and Falcone closer to a gang war… it starts to look like Gotham may be as much about Oswald Cobblepot as it is about James Gordon.

And good ol’ Harvey Bullock. Down, but not out. A little of that white knight from ten years ago is still there, as the big lug manages to put aside his anger at Gordon and step up to help him serve the warrants on Mayor James and Don Falcone. The fact that they’re probably going to die anyway has a lot to do with Bullock’s decision, sure, but in the end he doesn’t abandon his partner. That says a lot about Harvey’s character — still a good man but just beaten up by the system. With Gordon the Boy Scout, maybe Gotham has a little bit of hope. And even though it seems Harvey’s a fatalist, he might not be as far gone as early episodes might have you believe.

It’s nice, too, to see Allen and Montoya outside their usual box as well, and that they realize Gordon could very well be the one cop in the GCPD they can trust. At least they’re tentative allies for now, and it will be interesting to see how this develops, given the history Montoya has with Barbara.

Ah, Barbara. Sweet, stupid Barbara. Still the weakest element in Gotham, and now she’s the “Hand of the Writer” character, doing whatever the script needs in order to advance a particular plot point. This is not the first time she’s done something to complicate Jim Gordon’s work life, and he really needs to have a chat with her about “need to know” and “in harm’s way”. Even though there were a couple of places where ex-soldier Jim didn’t exercise the best judgment, Barbara Kean is the worst. Who exactly does she think she is? What makes her think she can go to Carmine Falcone and negotiate a deal to spare Gordon’s life? Is she more connected in Gotham than we’ve seen? Does her family have influence? If so, it’s not been established in the show. So far, Barbara’s been a very supportive, yet very nosy, secondary character with no real purpose other than to facilitate trouble.

But, hey! She’s still in Batgirl colors, so at least she’s consistent.

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