Gotham - The Penguin's Umbrella - Review

Gotham just keeps getting better and better. Which in my opinion, is what a show is supposed to do. Gotham is shaping up to be one of the best ensemble shows on television right now. Each week something new is being brought to the table courtesy of the intricate storytelling being set forth and each week I am left eagerly anticipating the next new episode.

This week was no exception. It makes it so hard to conceive that the show is only in it's 7th episode when so much has happened already.

Usually I have a couple of paragraphs set aside to talk about the case of the week, but this week there was no case. Maybe that's what made this hour so compelling. We ditched the procedural bit of the show to get to the meat of the stew. Power, who has it, who wants it, and who doesn't know where it is. Last week's excellent "Spirit of the Goat" culminated in Gordon being brought in by the Major Crimes Unit for the murder of Oswald Cobblepot. Except, Surprise! Cobblepot is alive and well and standing in the stairway of the station.

So what happen's next? What happens now that everyone knows that good-guy Gordon didn't follow through on Falcone's orders and murder the snitch Penguin? A lot happens. Let's dive in shall we?

The Blaze of Glory: Now that Oswald's not-death is out of the bag, Gordon knows that he is a wanted man. Harvey wants to kill him, Fish wants to talk to him, but he's not going to go down without a fight, or without shipping his leading lady off on a bus far, far away( Metropolis, perhaps?). Too bad that Gordon is just that type of predictable that Fish already has men at home with Barbara, awaiting Jim's arrival. After dispatching of them he takes Barbara to the station and tells her to leave, but lets her know he's not going with her even though he has Falcone and Fish both after him. He tells her he will make things right, and then come join her, but if he doesn't, he instructs her to not come back to Gotham.(Ah, love)

After her men fail, Fish pleads to Falcone that they have to destroy both Gordon and Penguin. Falcone wants Fish to ask Maroni peacefully for Penguin and then decides to send Victor(Could it be?!) after Gordon. We also learn that Falcone hasn't touched the girl that Fish put in place to seduce him. In fact, Fish feels that Falcone is acting too calm, like he knows something.

So how does Gordon go about setting things right? He heads back to work, and decides that he's going to arrest both Falcone and the Mayor. Too bad he'll look like a fool doing it as no one will want to help him, even his Captain is telling him to leave town. Gordon's crusade is interrupted by Victor Zsasz, sent by Falcone, arriving to seize him. Gordon, again, decides to stand his ground and not go down without a fight. A police station shoot out erupts, which he barely escapes, with a a couple of bullet wounds, thanks to our favorite Major Crime Unit Detectives coming to his rescue. They take them to a research lab where a friend of Montoya and Allen removes the bullets and stitches him up. Gordon insists on getting out there, but to where? Cue this week's obligatory Bruce Wayne scene, where Gordon promises that even if he dies, his parents murder will not fall by the wayside. He assures him that Montoya and Allen will carry on if he dies. (Aww sweet, he hugged him, does he even hug Alfred? Poor Alfred)

Fish visits Maroni to plead her case as to why he should hand Penguin back over to her. She claims it's about the respect, not about him being important to them. Maroni's response is to have Penguin apologize. Fish is having none of it and sees this as them declaring war, and makes her exit, but not before laying a good hand on Penguin. She then has her men kindnap some nuns and place them in front of one of Maroni's gun trucks. They rip the truck off, and kill some of his men. This, in turn, upsets Maroni who knows they must be upset that they still have Penguin, the golden goose. (HONK, HONK) Penguin then lets him know that he knows just the place to hit them back. He takes Maroni's right hand man Carbone and his hired men to hit Nikolai's operation, where the Russki meets his end. Penguin goes for the gloat, but Carbone is having none of it, he turns to Penguin to kill him, but twist! Penguin has already paid off Carbone's own men to turn against him and he delivers a pretty psychotic speech while putting a knife to his gut. So, if you were keeping score, now both Maroni and Falcone are down a man. Which leads to the two men brokering a peace deal and ending this war, Falcone gains one of Maroni's properties and Maroni gets to keep Penguin.

A short time later, Gordon, preparing for war, gets a visit from Bullock, who knows that even though Gordon is a douche bag, he still has the moral high ground and he is going to support him. Harvey agrees to help him out arresting the Mayor and Falcone. They manage to capture the Mayor, and then head to get Falcone. The plan seems to have it all going for them, but it turns out, Falcone has one more trick up his sleeve. He tells Gordon that Barbara was not as far away as she appeared. She had come back to Gotham, and headed to see Falcone to plead for Jim's life and now Victor Zsasz has her.(Like, really girl? Really?) Gordon demands proof, but Falcone wants him to just believe him and drop his gun and then get his his proof. Despite Harvey's protest, Jim drops his gun, and Barbara is brought out to him. Falcone lets them all leave with their lives, with no real catch other than that some day soon Gordon will see he was right about what he said.

And then we get to what was probably one of the best moments of the season so far. The reveal that Penguin and Falcone had been in cahoots this whole time. We flash back and learn Penguin, had asked that Gordon be the one to kill him, on the night Falcone and he first met, in exchange for a secret of great value. Penguin knew that Gordon had a conscience and that he may not not kill him. he promised that if he didn't kill him, he would come back to Gotham and work his way into the Maroni family and be Falcone's snitch. As for the great secret? Penguin reveals that Fish and Nikolai are plotting against Falcone.

Cut to present day where Falcone and Penguin bond over the fact that everything has played out just as Penguin said it would and now Nikolai is dead and Maroni believes he has a golden goose in Penguin. The only loose end Falcone is worried about is Gordon who he only spared because Penguin asked him to, but Penguin assures him that he will come around in time. (Dun, Dun, dunnnnnnn)

The High: Robin Lord Taylor/The Penguin. I know this show is supposed be about Gotham and its descent that caused a need for the Batman, but man this show really could just be called the Penguin. It seems that at the center of it all, is the Penguin, slowly and psychotically taking over the underworld of Gotham. Robin Lord Taylor kills it and brings a charisma to the role that makes this Penguin stand out as the real star of the show. It has taken me by surprise how dominant the character of the Penguin has become. I feel like the show is doing a great job of showing why the Penguin could be a formidable foe for Batman, not just some weird guy with an umbrella and bad breath. Let's face it, this week was all about Cobblepot and everything set in to motion when he wasn't killed by Gordon. Which he knew was going to happen! While I will want to see some other characters get their due at some point, I can't say I'm not satisfied with how things are being handled as of now.

The Gripe: I know we are not supposed to know what time period this takes place. I know the writers and creators want to keep it vague, but it's distracting when one minute Gordon is using a typewriter to type up the arrest warrants, and then the next minute Victor Zsasz is receiving a call on a cell phone. You're telling me flip phones exist but a 95 window's desktop doesn't? Its distracting how they go about avoiding it. Even the Doctor's questions to Gordon after waking up to ensure that he didn't have amnesia were scripted carefully as to avoid dating Gotham. I don't see why this is such a big deal to keep ambiguous and it drives me nuts.

Overall Thoughts:The show just keeps getting better and better. This week was top-notch. It was great hour televison that was firing on all cylinders. I, for one, was not expecting that reveal at the end. I am just really enamored at the world that has been crafted by this show. For a show I felt iffy about after it's pilot, it has certainly won me over. I liked that this week had no case of the week and was more arc driven than some of the previous entries. It felt like it could have been a mid-season finale with so much going on, and being tied up. It will be interesting to where we go from here, now that Penguin has won Maroni's trust but been established as Falcone's snitch. I also assume now that Gordon is no longer tied up in the Cobblepot is dead mess, he can get back to solving the Wayne murder. I think this episode was mild game changer for sure and I'm hoping that what comes next is just as good.

So what did you think for this week's episode? Were you surprised by the Penguin-Falcone reveal? What did you think of Victor Zsasz? Are you excited to see how Penguin plays both dies of the fence? 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.