Gotham, “Into the Woods”, Review!
By Lil’ Yoda,
Previously on Gotham, Gordon has escaped prison and Penguin’s father has been murdered. Jim Gordon is trying to prove his innocence now that he’s out. He starts by grabbing the tape of the anonymous tip that re-opened the Galavan case in the first place. In order to do that, Harvey sleeps with evidence lock-up officer and steals her keys. After obtaining the tape, Gordon breaks up a mugging but at the price of getting seen by a cop. Now, Captain Barnes knows that he is in Gotham. The tape that Gordon got has a disguised voice, but background noise that could be useful, so he takes it to Nigma hoping that he can clean up the tape. Nigma agrees to help Gordon, he says, “I didn’t believe the rumors about you killing Galavan, that would make you like the people your hunting, sick…diseased.” When the tape is cleaned up Gordon recognizes it as the clock from Nigma’s apartment, but Nigma knocks Gordon out before he can do anything. Gordon ends up getting away, but gets shot in the leg. Gordon stumbles upon Selina and Bruce who take him back to Wayne Manor to be patched up. While on the run from Nigma, Gordon had figured out that Nigma was behind the disappearance of Kristen Kringle, and sent Selena Kyle to the GCPD to make it appear like he knew where she was buried. When Nigma went to dig up the body, Gordon followed. He admits to framing Gordon, “Are you afraid to admit that there’s a monster in all of us? That’s what made it so easy to frame you.” The GCPD had also followed and arrested Nigma after he confessed. Gordon was cleared, but first decided to wrap up the Wayne case before returning to the GCPD. Speaking of Wayne, since his father’s computer had been finished, he decided to stay at Wayne Manor instead of leaving with Selina, straining their relationship. Over with Oswald Cobblepot, at his father’s funeral is told by his father’s wife, Grace, that he would only be allowed to stay as a servant. After a little scene reminiscent of Cinderella, Oswald figures out that the Van Dahls had poisoned his father. It was clear that the Penguin is back. He murdered the two siblings and fed them to their mother, then murdered her. Finally, after waking up at Arkham, Barbara was released and showed up at Gordon’s apartment. Just another day in Gotham.
A lot of things happening in this episode, a lot of plot lines being wrapped up. Let’s take a look shall we? The Good: Nigma as a mirror for Gordon. After the comments Nigma made about having a monster inside them, and that brutally murdering people made him as diseased as the people he chased, there is no way that Gordon is not questioning himself. One thing that I always loved about the Batman comics is that heroes were always questioning themselves, wondering if they were crossing the line between them and those they hunted. I also like that Penguin is back to his usual self. The switch was fun while it lasted, but I’m glad they kept it short. I’m wondering after this break in personality, if he’ll be more unhinged than before? Also, this should mean that Penguin will have all of his father’s money and resources, which will make it interesting to see what he does with them. Lastly, I love Bullock in increasing ridiculous scenes like where he was grabbing keys for Gordon. Donal Logue never fails to bring a laugh. Now for the Bad. While it’s great to follow the comics sometimes, you shouldn’t always. I’m not a huge fan of the constant off and on again relationship between Selina and Bruce. It would be nice to see in one universe where they aren’t always at each other’s throats, for often trivial reasons. Also, I’m not sure how I feel about Barbara being supposedly ‘sane’. Her character is a lot more fun when psychotic. Overall, a very solid episode of Gotham. Four out of five batarangs.
