A brief refresher on last week's return to Gotham as we head towards the finale. Last week, we met Jason Lennon aka The Ogre played by Heroes alum Milo Ventimiglia. The Ogre likes to kidnap women and force them to cater to his whims to test their compatibility and if it doesn't work out...well, expect a more literal type of clean break when the Ogre decides to part ways. The case was brought to Jim by another officer who claimed to look up to him and wanted his help looking into the case of Grace Fairchild because he also wanted to clean up Gotham. Though by the end of the episode Bullock deduces who exactly they are looking for and notifies Jim that he has been set up and to check on Leslie, who can't be reached. You see, The Ogre tends to target the loved ones of any cop who investigates him, and only few cops could have known that. Turns out Commissioner Loeb sent that young officer in Jim's direction with this case as a way to enact revenge on Jim for his actions in Everyone Has a Cobblepot. Also in the episode, Fish managed to escape the Dollmaker's island while getting shot in the process and Bruce and Selina tracked down Reggie to ask why he attacked Alfred with the latter eventually pushing Reggie out of a window and killing him. Oh and Penguin plans to kill Don Maroni by taking over some dump of a restaurant.
File Name: Under The Knife
Case File: Season One, Episode 20
Study Originated By: Bruno Heller & John Stephens
Conducted By: T.J. Scott
This week sees the continuation of the Ogre case from last week, after Jim grabbed Commissioner Loeb and told him all bets were off. A panicked Jim heads off to find Leslie thinking she'd be the target that the Ogre goes after. For a brief moment it looks like Leslie might actually be the target, but unfortunately there is someone else that Jim loves. Jim explains to Leslie why Loeb gave him the case; he could either let the case go and let a killer go free or he could keep searching for the killer and put the ones he loves in danger. Yes, this week does feature a pretty big moment for the Leslie-Gordon ship as they exchange some words that spell out something serious for the couple. Meanwhile, Barbara is the true target of the Ogre and look for sparks to fly between the girl who feels she has no one and the man just looking for someone.
Jim takes the case back to the very beginning and looks to the first officer who investiagted for help in finding the Ogre. Little does Jim know that the Ogre is just lying in wait studying Gordon waiting to make his move. When it seems like they are about to meet another dead end, Bullock and Gordon find themselves playing a game of cat and mouse with the Ogre, and the episode really hits it stride from there. Despite his warnings, Jim decides to continue the case and the game evolves into what is probably Jim's most intense and most personal case yet. Last week, we saw more of the setup to what this episode plays out, which is the twisted tale of Ogre. This week we will learn why he has that name, and a bit more about why he wants what he wants through his chase after Barbara.
Just how last week established the past of the Ogre and Jim's introduction to the case, this week is more about pushing Jim to where he becomes obsessed with the case so the game is only just beginning in
Under the Knife and there will still be more to come with the Ogre. I found myself upset that the episode was over because I just have to know what's coming next, because based on where it looks to be headed and knowing there's only two episodes left after this, has me thinking this arc is about to get real good, real fast.
Supporting Research: Bruce will have the reaction you'd expect he'd have after watching Selina push Reggie out of that window, while Selina will stand by the decision that she made to save both of their lives. (Will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back on this friendship?) Though now that they have a name, Bunderslaw, they think they can stop all of this once and for all, by finding something to take Bunderslaw down. They hatch a plan that starts an awful lot like a date seeing as it coincides with the Wayne Enterprise's Charity Ball, but that pesky deed of Selina's is going to continue to rear its ugly head at the pair, so don't expect hugs and kisses between the two.
Penguin is still moving forward with his plan to take care of Don Maroni and starts recruiting others to his side this week, but Maroni isn't one to exactly play fair and he hits Penguin where it hurts, because the Ogre isn't the only one who can hurt the ones his victims love. Which is most certainly going to push Penguin to a breaking point. Finally, the Nygma-Kringle storyline seems to be heating up,and Riddler fans you
DO. NOT. WANT. TO. MISS. THIS. EPISODE. This looks to be the episode that finally pays off a season's worth of sub-plot for the riddle-man, and it's so satisfying watching it happen.
Conclusive Findings: Do not miss this episode for the Nygma part only. While the other stuff happening isn't bad, it's just not particularly noteworthy in terms of overall story. There doesn't seem to be much ground made on several fronts which is disappointing but expected of
Gotham by this point. There is no Fish this week, so we are left to wonder about her fate after being shot trying to escape last week. Milo is pretty good in his role coming off as an even more sadistic and charming Christian Grey, so it's fun watching him stalk and get close to Jim and Barb. It's also nice that Barb finally has something to do that makes sense on the show, that isn't disjointed from everyone else. (Though I still disapprove of her just taking in a random teenager as her "Roommate" as she dubs Selina this week) I still don't know how exactly this season is going to end or where it's building, but it looks like the Ogre arc is shaping to carry us through to the finale. I'm learning it's best to just take Gotham at face value and stop searching for more, because it's more enjoyable that way, so with that said.
Under the Knife, come for Ogre, stay for the Nygma.
Under the Knife airs Monday at 8pm EST on Fox.
Do you like Gotham's take on the Ogre? Do you think that Bruce and Selina can remain close after what she did? Do you think that the bullet is going to kill Fish? Sound off below.
About the Author - Winston Mize
Winston is a 24 year old goofball, born in the north, and currently living in the south. He loves TV.... for some it's coffee, for him it's TV talk that gets his day going. He wants to be a screenwriter, and watches some of everything. You name it, he's probably checked it out. And he would like you to know that it is okay for a 24 year old to play with action figures... well, he does anyway
