Greetings Gothamites! Welcome to this week’s Gotham Recap. This week’s recap will be about the show’s second episode, Selina Kyle. Rather than give you more intro, let us just jump in with what you are really here for and get this recap started. If like me you hate any sort of quasi-spoiler be warned, there may be some ahead.
The Episode:
The episode opens up in the slums of Gotham. A seemingly friendly couple approaches a group of homeless youth among which is Selina Kyle. Hesitant, she stays back while the couple hands out food. Things take a turn for the group of kids and the female of the couple starts pricking the kids with a poisoned pin. One tries to escape and winds up going through a restaurant window. Another homeless person tries to help and winds up dead. This murder brings Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock to the scene. Meanwhile, Carmine Falcone comes to visits Fish. He wants to make sure she is staying in line and find out if there is any truth to what Oswald told him before he “died”. Speaking of Oswald, he is making is way around albeit very violently. We also meet Oswald’s mother who claims a woman is what killed her son. Does she know about Fish or is she just a loving mother who thinks her son is the most handsome? We meet the couple again while they are trying to acquire more poison for their poison pin, as the Dollmaker requires more children. The poison being used was used in the currently closed Arkham Asylum. The proprietor of the poison mentions that the Mayor wants to reopen Arkham (will this come into play later?). Speaking of the mayor, in an effort to clean up the streets and garner some PR he decides to send the “cute” kids into foster homes and the rest upstate. Among those going upstate is Selina. The bus Selina is on is hi-jacked by the couple working for the Dollmaker, both of whom Selina recognizes and manages to escape. In an effort to not get sent upstate she insists on talking to Gordon. She tells him she has been watching him and knows he’s friendly with Bruce Wayne and that she knows who really killed his parents.
Analysis:
As you can see there is a lot going on in Gotham right now. Several storylines are moving along somewhat separately. My guess is that they will all converge later in the season. Right now we are left with a few questions:
- Does Fish have what it takes to overthrow Falcone?
- Who is the Dollmaker?
- Is Arkham going to house villains once again?
- Who really killed the Waynes?
The primary focus of this episode however, was introducing Selina Kyle. She has already taken the moniker of Cat and has several of the skills we have come to know and love about Catwoman. She shows us she is more than capable of not just escaping but also protecting herself. I am very interested to see if she will only watch Bruce Wayne from afar or actually interact with him.
The other standout in this episode was Oswald Cobblepot. The Penguin is developing into a very dynamic character. On the one hand he still comes off as a bit of a mama’s boy (Props to Carol Kane for her epic portrayal of his mother) but on the very opposite side of the spectrum he is very violent and not going to tolerate being called the Penguin (will he ever embrace this name?). I think personally he is shaping up to be Fish’s nemesis on a serious level throughout the show.
The Verdict:
Gotham is really shaping up to be a great show. There are so many facets and so many questions being asked that it is easy for viewers to really engage with the show. Following along with Twitter while the show is also quite fun and it is obvious that fans have really taken to the show with gusto. Personally, I want to see more from Ed Nygma and what will cause him to eventually turn to villainy. Also, the fact that they are already leaving us with cliffhanger episodes means that the writers have lots in store for us and I can’t wait!
Until next time, Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!
DC
