Already from the start of this episode, I was suspicious. I wondered: Why would they include Kristen in the recap? She hasn’t been on the show in ages; in fact, Lee slapping Nygma for Kristen was the first mention of her in ages, and they didn’t bother to show her in the recap before that episode. What makes this episode different?
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I was incredibly stunned when I found out the answer.
As much as I loved to make fun of how romantic Nygma and Penguin’s relationship was, I never thought that they would actually incorporate that into the story. While GOTHAM has never been particularly homophobic, featuring Barbara and Tabitha in a relationship, they never made the relationship a central plot line. It was a side note you could easily ignore if you disagreed with it. Shout out to all the gays in Gotham’s underworld.
Penguin’s little crush on Nygma has essentially turned him into a lovesick puppy. The guy can barely function anymore. Just watching him gives me second-hand embarrassment; Kingpin and mayor reduced to this. He’s no better that a school girl with a crush, which makes it incredibly ironic that he is going to a school to visit children – maybe he can ask them for advice.
Instead, Penguin goes to the loner boy. He says that he should try hanging out with the other children, and if they don’t like him, just push him down the stairs. Essentially, he just set up this boy to become the next Penguin. Turns out even lovesick Penguin can still give out quality vengeful advice.
Nygma is really not helping the situation, saying shit like, “I continue to be awed by you.” He is not an idiot and I half want to believe that he knows. It seems like in every moment he is complimenting Penguin, and it’s hard to believe that would the main characteristic of our resident narcissist Riddler. Perhaps his plan is still to kill Penguin, and take the criminal underworld for himself. But wouldn’t he have done that by now? Then again, romantic feelings were never his strong suit.
After a couple times chickening out, Penguin invites Nygma to join him at dinner. That long table barely makes it a private conversation; you’ll have to yell just so that the other person will hear you. Hopefully that maid learned English by the time this conversation takes place, I’m sure it will be hilariously awkward to overhear.
Before Nygma can join him at dinner, he gets stopped by a girl at the wine store. Her name is Isabella, and she looks just like Kristen. Finally, it makes sense why she was in the recap; we needed to be reminded of what she looked like. Her looks were enough to capture Nygma’s attention, but then she tells him a riddle and there’s no way Nygma isn’t smitten. Yet, this show has taught us to be vary of look-a-likes; maybe she is a doctor strange production – no one chooses that white hair color on purpose. Overall, it is likely that this will be a far more interesting love triangle than Gordon, Lee, and Valerie.
Val is still determined to get her story, even if that means using her boy toy to do so. Gordon draws the line at calling up Lee to contribute to her story, saying his favorite line recently “it’s complicated.” At least she is asking him the important question we are all wondering – when are you going to give up the PI thing. He brushes it off, or tries to at least. “I’m happy.” Okay, Jim. Even at the end of this awkward conversation, Val still says, “this was nice.” Yeah, bringing up his ex and questioning his lifestyle was a great move. Penguin should take tips from you.
Meanwhile, Lee and her fiancé are planning their engagement party (bound to be extravagant and expensive with the Falcone name attached to it). Lee jokingly asks if he wants to back out, and he says, “you’d have to put a bullet in me.” Oh, sweetheart, that sounds like awful foreshadowing to me. It’s a shame because he does seem like a sweet guy.
But right now, we aren’t worried about the fiancé, we are worried about Lee. Tetch is after Gordon, and it is inevitable that the girls are going to get involved in it. Maybe Gordon should stop dating – he really is more daring and gets a lot more done when he doesn’t have to worry about the two halves of his heart. After Gordon was forced to choose between some innocent people, he understands that he will have to choose between the girls. At least he is mentally prepared for it. I’d love to see Tetch make Nygma choose between Isabella and Penguin.
While in captivity, Val still doesn’t quit her story. Even when her life is at stake, she will only help if she gets something out of it – I’ll help you get US out of here if you give me something for the story. I’d argue she is more insane than some of the villains on this show at this point.
He has GCPD, but of course Gordon is going on his own to save the girls. It truly does seem like Harvey is the only one who is capable on the force anymore – he is the only one that has noticed that Barnes isn’t using his cane anymore. He doesn’t turn to the criminals either, but he still grabs a Falcone to help him out, even if it isn’t the Falcone with all the power.
Gordon is being incredibly obvious that he has a plan. He is letting Tetch talk so clearly he has a plan – he is never this patient otherwise. Unfortunately, letting him talk leads to Tetch informing Gordon that Lee still has love for him, which is bound to complicate everything even more.
Eventually, the fiancé does finally enter the room, and if I thought that a doctor would hesitate in pulling the trigger, I would be wrong. After all, he still is a Falcone. Tetch still has the upper hand though, because he emptied the gun beforehand. His father would be disappointed in him for being so easily apprehended.
Gordon is forced to choose. I feel like there are so many ways he could have gotten out of this situation. I didn’t really think that the show would have him choose; I thought they would just leave us wondering. I was convinced he would just fist fight him when Tetch got up in his face. Yet, Gordon declares that Tetch should “kill Lee.” Of course, that means that he shoots Val. Everything is continuing to be very complicated for Gordon.
At least they had a doctor in the house; that probably helped Val survive. Hopefully he couldn’t hear Gordon telling Tetch to kill Lee from the bathroom. I doubt Lee will tell him about it either, considering she doesn’t even want to listen to Gordon explain his decision. They are never going to have that conversation then, until it is at a really awkward, high-tension moment.
Overall, this show has turned into a tale of love triangles. Even Barbara and Tabitha can be included in this mess, considering that Tabitha is hiding Butch. I admit, I never saw the show ever going this direction, but I am curious where it will go with this.
Written by Nicole Teeters, GOTHAM Beat Writer -- Click to read Nicole's posts
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