“Gotham” 1.7 – Penguin’s Umbrella (9 out of 10) – Directed by Rob Bailey; Written by Bruno Heller; Based on characters created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Howard Chaykin, Frank Miller, Greg Rucka, et al; Starring Donal Logue, Ben McKenzie, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sean Pertwee…; Rated TV14” Aired on Fox 11/3/14.
This week we had almost a perfect episode. The episode took off right from the start and didn’t stop until the credits rolled. We also got a pretty big twist this week as well. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Gordon was left dealing with the fallout of all of Gotham, both the cops and mobsters finding out that Penguin was still alive. The first thing he does is heads home to send Barbara out of town in order to keep her safe. When he gets home he see’s two of Fish’s enforcers have her held hostage and are asking “nicely” that he come with them. Gordon shines in this scene shooting one of them in the leg and knocking out the other. Then after Barbara is safe he does exactly what you would expect of the Gordon we know from the comics and heads into work like it’s a normal day. His golden idea of a plan is to arrest the corrupt Mayor and also both head gangsters Falcone and Maroni.
Not a bad plan actually considering he knows he’s going to die and the only thing he can hope to do now is a big public act that might get the change Gotham needs rolling. Of course the mobsters have other plans and send in Victor Zsasz, played by Anthony Carrigan who captures the very nature of Zsasz perfectly. There is also some credit to the GCPD in that when Zsasz orders all the cops in the room out so he can collect Gordon they hesitate. Of course they do all leave in the end but at least they consider protecting one of their own.
After a cool shootout scene, including us getting to see Zsasz make his 28th tally mark for people he’s killed on his arm (he didn’t kill Gordon of course just some random cop) Gordon is rescued by the MCU agents Montoya and Allen. Finally these characters matter in the show. Until this episode they were just there to create friction between Gordon and Barbara but now Gordon has some allies on his side. By the end of the episode even Bullock has sided with Gordon and wants to fight the good fight. Ben McKenzie who plays Gordon is doing an amazing job with the role. He really shows the bad ass the future commissioner can be. I see McKenzie in a scene and think that’s Gordon through and through and look forward to see the character continue to flesh out and see McKenzie shine.
Penguin’s story line is the bread and butter of this show.
The twist at the end when we find out Penguin requested to Falcone that the person who would be ordered to kill him for snitching would be Gordon was amazing. He told Falcone that Gordon wouldn’t do it and if Penguin lived he would become Falcone’s snitch in Maroni’s operation. Obviously this paid off and Penguin has every one right where he wants them. Maroni thinks he has a “golden goose” as he puts it from Falcone’s own army and Falcone is thinking he is still in control. In reality though Penguin is manipulating both sides to serve his own end and become Gotham’s kingpin of crime. He was able to orchestrate the deaths of two key mobsters on both sides and do it with Falcone and Maroni thinking it was their ideas. The title this week “Penguin’s Umbrella” explains who is in control perfectly. Everything that is happening in Gotham he not only knows about but is making it all happen. His understanding of those around him and how to manipulate them is amazing. His motto is that your greatest passion becomes your greatest weakness. He uses that to his favor in getting the men protecting Maroni’s right hand man to turn on him simply by paying them more money. Penguin knew that Frankie loved money and so he underpaid his men. Big mistake on his part, as Penguin says “it’s truly sad that there is no honor among thieves.” I hope we see more of this. I want to see him discover other people’s weakness and use them to climb the ranks as he takes over the crime of Gotham.
Penguin’s story line is the bread and butter of this show. Watching him take control of Gotham and using all the different sides including the protagonist is wonderful to watch. If Gotham can keep this up it will be right up there with the other superhero shows on TV right now.
Some will say Bruce and Alfred weren’t really needed this week and the scene they were in was very short but I disagree. Gordon goes to Bruce to tell him that he might not be able to keep the promise he made him of finding the man that killed Bruce’s parents. It shows that Gordon is a man of his word and that he respects those he makes promises too, even if they’re just little boys. Also seeing Alfred get the jump on Agent Allen was a lot of fun.
There was only one thing that I didn’t like about this week’s episode. It’s the huge plot hole in that last week ended with Penguin showing up in the precinct building and saying “Hello.” Then this week’s episode started with Gordon in the locker room calling Barbara and telling her to get out of the house. My problem with that is I want to know how Penguin was able to walk out of a room full of corrupt cops, most who are on Falcone’s payroll and know that Penguin is supposed to be dead and then they just let him leave. No one not even Bullock, whose own life is now on the line thought “I should grab that guy to save my own neck.” It’s just missing information that I would like to have, a small thing sure but still enough to keep the episode from that 10 rating.