Gotham - Everyone Has A Cobblepot - Review

Gotham returns Monday April 13th, and I am already counting down the moments to the season's end. I had high hopes for Gotham, but at its core, it is a procedural located in the city Batman will go on to protect set in a time before Batman is Batman. I feel that because of that we are left with filler cases, or bait and switch villains(I'm crying over Red Hood btw) and it seems like no ground has really been broken. Seriously, compare where Jim was in the pilot to where he was before Everyone Has a Cobblepot, and it looks like he hasn't done much. With that said, the show has had some great moments and as the show returns, I'm trying to put my finger on what conclusion we are building to, what the season arc was, because right now I am not seeing it. I hope that the show works to build to a satisfying finale in the final batch of episodes, because overall the season as a whole has been underwhelming and felt like it has a lack of cohesive storytelling for some of the characters(Who are expertly portrayed by the way). We know we can expect a sendoff of some sorts for Fish, with Jada departing(Happy Dance!) so what else can we expect? Did anything in Everyone Has A Cobblepot set the stage for the season's end?

File Name: Everyone Has a Cobblepot
Case File: Season One, Episode 18
Study Originated By: Bruno Heller & Megan Mostyn-Brown
Conducted By: Bill Eagles

The Case:This episode didn't exactly have a case of the week at the center, more like a central goal that happened to turn into a murder investigation that if solved, could give Jim the upper hand he needs in this tug of war with corruption in the GCPD. Everything gets started by the return of Arnold Flass, the corrupt detective Jim and Captain Essen put behind bars in Welcome back, Jim Gordon. Jim finds out from the Captain and Harvey Dent that Flass was cleared of all charges and may even be getting a promotion.Dent lets it be known that it was Commissioner Loeb who cleared Flass and is backing him for President of the GCPD. Jim heads straight to Loeb and confronts him for his hand in the release of Flass because he knows that all the evidence they had was overwhelming and only Loeb would have the connections to pull off his release. Loeb's response is to play Jim a video of his own partner, Bullock, confessing that he planted false evidence in the Flass investigation.

Jim is of course upset with Bullock and asks him why he lied. Harvey admits that he did what he had to do in order to avoid going to jail. He informs him that he himself has a cobblepot, except his didn't come back. Harvey tells Jim that half the cops on the force have one and that the Commissioner has dirt on all of them. Jim takes this information to Harvey Dent, and the two decide to team up to find the Dragon's Gold(Dirt on all the cops). Harvey says it won't be somewhere obvious and Jim asks Harvey if there is anyone who may have dirt on Loeb, like an ex-friend or estranged wife. Harvey says that Loeb's wife died long ago, but that there were rumors that Loeb killed her. Harvey laments how it must be hard for Jim knowing his partner turned on him, because he knows how close partners are. This gives Harvey an idea and he tracks down Loeb's old partner from when he was on the force. His old partner is hesitant to talk a first, because Loeb obviously has something on him, but he caves when Jim and Dent persuade him and he tells them that should check with Xi Lu, a chinese bookie that Loeb recommends for keeping things safe. Dent asks if they should bring Bullock in, and Jim decides against it.

They arrive at Xi Lu's place and start asking questions, but it turns out it was a setup and Xi Lu and his men are out to kill Jim and Dent. They escape out the back of the place but find themselves trapped. Luckily, Bullock shows up and saves them both from ending up the menu at Xi Lu's place. With Bullock in on the investigation, he takes a crack at interrogating Loeb's old partner and gets a name, Falcone. Loeb and Falcone are in this together. They realize they have to talk to someone close to Falcone, someone who can find out where the stash is. Bullock says that person doesn't exist, but Jim says he does, and we find the detectives headed to Penguin's place. Jim asks Penguin for his help and he agrees to help, if he gets something out of it. He gets a favor from Jim and five minutes alone with the files, because he likes information he can use, out of helping them find the Dragon's Gold.

Penguin finds out that the super secret blackmail horde is actually a farm. The trio show up there and Penguin decides he is going to stay in the car, but Bullock says he is coming in with them. Their debate is interrupted by an elderly gentleman knocking at the window asking if they were lost. Penguin says they were sent by Loeb and if they could come in. The man agrees. They make their way in and are chatting with the man, as his wife Marge, pours them coffee. Turns out Marge and her husband are pretty curious as to what they are doing here, and Jim reveals they are cops, sent by Loeb for an inspection.They hear a noise upstairs and suggest they take a look around. The man agrees and sends Marge to get the keys, turns out they didn't believe them as evidenced by Marge's return into the room with a large shotgun. A shootout ensues and Penguin ends up standing watch on the subdued couple as Bullock and Jim make their way upstairs and find a young woman locked away in the attic, The young woman reveals herself to be Miriam Loeb, the Commissioner's daughter. Miriam is a little bit off, so the Commissioner has been keeping her locked up in the attic for all these years. They deduce, through Miriam's very vivid descriptions of killing birds, that Miriam killed her mother all those years ago, and her father knew it and kept her locked away, she is the Commissioner's Cobblepot. They ask Miriam about her mother's death and she admits that she did kill her mother with a candlestick when she wouldn't stop singing.They come back down to find out that elderly couple has overpowered Penguin and gotten away.

Jim takes what he has and heads off to confront Loeb by dropping one of his daughter's bird bone necklaces on his desk. Loeb quickly comes to her defense and even tells Jim that he could handle the scandal if he were to expose what she had done. Jim quickly counters that he knows that he doesn't want Miriam in Arkham and Loeb then offers to tender his resignation. Jim tells him he doesn't want that, and that he wants Loeb to stay because he has leverage on him. They work out some negotiations which in the end amount to Flass being put on trial, Bullock getting his file back and Loeb backing Jim in the Presidential election. Later, when Jim hands him back his file from Loeb's stash, Bullock warns Jim about the favor that he promised Penguin. Meanwhile, we see that the couple from the farm didn't escape, but were let go with a deal by Penguin. One that Penguin didn't plan of following through with as he creatively disposes of them both.

Supportive Research: Fish meets Dr. Dulmacher this week after she scooped out her own eye in the previous episode. She demands that he make her his right hand, pleading her case to him, but he brushes her off before admitting that his stock of eyes is low and it was a shame they couldn't match her original color. Fish walks over to the mirror and catches a glimpse of her new eye. Later, she takes a stroll with the Dulmacher asking if they have a deal or not. The Doctor tells her they have one conditionally, as long as she can prove she can provide the bodies from the basement, and he shows her what can happen if she fails by showing her his former right hand man, now disfigured. She returns to the basement just when her followers are about to doubt her. She tells them the man upstairs is about to meet their demands, if they return his guard. She then sends up the victims and the guard the good Dr. Dulmacher had demanded. When met with opposition from her new "family" about her sending up some of their own, she informs them that she had told them not all of them will survive and these sacrifices mean they will survive. She meets with the Doctor again and he is pleased that she has passed her test and reveals to her why he is not worried that she would betray him. Fish heads over to the window and sees that are inside a mansion-like compound in the middle of nowhere.

Also this week, Alfred is awake and doesn't want to reveal the truth about who attacked him to Jim. When Bruce asks why, Alfred tells him he would never turn on his mate, and then tries to get up and go find him. Bruce orders him back in bed. Later, Selina shows up because she was there with Ivy, and Bruce confides in her what he thinks he has done. He knows it's his fault Alfred is laying where he is and he decides he's going to do something about it. Stay Tuned.

Nygma is still chasing after Kristen Kringle this week, citing that while he knows Flass may have been physically appealing to her, she needs to stay away know that he is out. Kristen assures him she knows, and that she has an idea of what a good guy for her is. Nygma shows up to ask her out later on and he finds that she she currently has a good looking cop boyfriend who calls him the "Riddle Guy" and challenges him to a few easy riddles. Poor Ed.

Conclusive Findings: Gotham really just keeps letting me down. I found this episode to be little boring and had to watch it twice. I'm really tired of Fish and just want know when all this Dulmacher business is going to be over. It has no bearing on the Gotham City story right now and just breaks the action of the main plot. Hopefully it is heading towards a rich conclusion that will make sense of why we have sat through so much of this story so far. The same can be said for the Bruce Wayne arc at the moment. The show feels like it's on a stop and start momentum where things get set in motion and then we spend five weeks waiting for something to happen. I'm not saying that every episode has to be groundbreaking, but if the little peeks into these arcs amount to nothing within the episode, why not just save it for when it does?

I will say the good thing that came out of this episode was that Jim finally really got his hands dirty, which was needed to add some meat to the bones of his character. He has done plenty of things that toe the line, but this week he all out accepted the line by blackmailing Loeb to stay on the force and back him for a seat of power. A seat he wants to take to fight corruption, by being corrupt to get it (This could teach ALnis Morrisette a thing or two about irony). This is a different man than who we met in the pilot and it rings true to this quote from the another Batman universe. "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain" In the end that's what I take away from this episode, everything Jim did to get where he is now, is setting up some major turmoil for him going forward. I just hope we actually see this play out, and we didn't spend an hour building up this win for Jim, just for it to go unaddressed for two weeks. With just four episodes left, Gotham has really fallen into a mediocre rut both creatively and ratings wise, and I really hope it can right the ship and manage a satisfying conclusion for at least some of the arcs set in motion this year.

Gotham returns April 13th at 8pm EST on Fox.

Read a the SpoilerTv advanced preview here of this weeks episode Beasts of Prey.

What did you think of Everyone Has A Cobblepot? What stories are you hoping to be resolved before the finale? Has Gotham improved for you or gotten worse? 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

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