GOTHAM Season 1 Episode 6
Episode Title: “Spirit of the Goat”
Writer: Ben Edlund
Director: TJ Scott
Previously on “Gotham”:
“Gotham” is back this week with the closest thing that its had to a good episode since the pilot.
I can’t call “Spirit of the Goat” a truly good story, but there were actually some things that worked in this episode. For once, “Gotham” didn’t force an appearance by Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), which is almost restraint for this show.
Almost.
Gotham’s Original Hero Cop
A very basic rule of drama is that the audience needs to care about the main characters, even if they don’t necessarily like them. “Spirit of the Goat” is the first time that “Gotham” has really tried to give more than one dimension to Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). It did that by showing the audience that Harvey was once a lot like James Gordon (Ben McKenzie)… a cop who actually cared about his job and he ran headlong into danger.
In a flashback, Harvey and his first partner, Detective Dix (Dan Hedaya) track down a serial killer named Randall Milkie aka The Goat (Christopher James Baker)… but they’re too late to save his victim and Dix is crippled before Harvey can shoot Milkie. In the present, Harvey is deeply troubled when someone begins killing with The Goat’s M.O. and he treats the case more seriously than he usually does.
Harvey even reluctantly introduced Gordon to Dix in the present day, before Harvey inadvertently revealed that he’s been paying for Dix’s treatment at a medical center. Dix’s body may be broken, but his mind is sound. There’s more than one Goat killer. It’s the only way to explain the details.
Mating Habits of The Riddler
In the comedy subplot, Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) awkwardly signaled his romantic interest in Kristen Kringle (Chelsea Spack) by telling her how much he would like her parents (because her name suggests that they have a sense of humor) and by radically reorganizing her filing system against her will.
Nygma was hilariously creepy as he sniffed Kristen’s hair as she walked by and he’s only vaguely aware that he overstepped his bounds with her.
Batboy’s Wet Dream
In the pointless subplot of the week, we checked in with Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee). Because the new Goat was targeting the first born of Gotham’s elite, Alfred suggested that Bruce go out of town for his own safety. But Bruce refused and said that the Goat won’t come for him… because there’s no one to take him from.
Wah, wah, wah…
So, while Bruce was sleeping at night, Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) snuck in got a peek at his conspiracy board before stealing something from the desk and escaping before either Alfred or Bruce could see her. It’s a little cheap to be teasing the first meeting between Bruce and Selina if the show isn’t actually going to pull that trigger yet.
“James Gordon, You’re Under Arrest”
I’ll give this to Barbara Kean (Erin Richards): she didn’t flinch when she learned that Gordon was about to be arrested for the murder of Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor). Instead, she urged Gordon to get out of town to escape his fate. Earlier, Barbara asked Gordon to share his burdens with her so that his secrets wouldn’t drive them apart.
This doesn’t mean that Barbara is a fully realized character, but she came off a lot better than Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena), who seems as if she only wants to bring Gordon down as a way to get Barbara back for herself. Montoya and her partner, Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones) conveniently found a witness who told them that he saw Gordon shoot and kill Oswald.
Harvey Cracks The Case
With Gordon under arrest, it falls on Harvey to solve the mystery. And he does!
Realizing that the second Goat killer never met the original killer, Harvey figured out that Dr. Marks (Susan Misner) has been using her psychology skills to break down the men in her care and transform them into predatory killers. She even seemed impressed that Harvey figured it out after all of these years.
Without backup, Harvey managed to subdue Dr. Marks’ latest pawn and he non-fatally shot her in the leg as she tried to escape. But without a witness to back up his story, Harvey’s account of the incident to Police Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara) didn’t seem to go over well.
Smarch of The Penguin
Meanwhile, Oswald reconnected with his mother and he shared his belief that Gordon is the one cop that he can trust. As Montoya and Allen brought Gordon into the station and attempted to arrest Harvey as well, Oswald made a dramatic entrance and and announced his true identity in front of the entire police force.
Harvey immediately became enraged at Gordon, since Oswald’s survival means that Gordon and Harvey are now going to be targeted by Carmine Falcone (John Doman). This probably wasn’t the smartest play for the future Penguin, as Oswald will also be targeted by Falcone. It’s likely that both Falcone and Fish have several cops on their payroll who just witnessed a dead man walk in their front door.
But perhaps that’s the way that Oswald wanted it…. As endings go, that’s not bad. Ben Edlund is a very competent writer. Although he also wrote for NBC’s “Revolution,” so nobody’s perfect.
Feel free to share your thoughts about this week’s “Gotham” in the comment section below!
