At least both her and Lee understand Gordon’s true motive for saying, “kill Lee,” so we don’t need to deal with a lengthy, angst plot line following that miscommunication. The only one who doesn’t truly understand is the fiancé. Mario is pissed, but understandably so. He wants Gordon out of their lives, and I really can’t blame the guy. Even though Gordon wasn’t trying to kill his fiancé, he still has put her in some very dangerous situations suddenly.
I knew that the moment they introduced the Red Queen hallucinogen that I was about to witness a long episode of unnecessary, creepy special effects in order to (finally) lead to some character development on Gordon’s part. For the most part, I was right; we had Bruce in a creepy mask, Penguin reciting Latin, and Barbara being incredibly sexualized. They showcased his fear of being responsible for the deaths of others, gave him an ideal 1950s family life with Lee (that time period is only good for you, white man, Lee would not enjoy that), and questioned why he was still acting as a PI. Overall, it was just a lot of things that we already knew about Gordon; being explicitly told all these things just seemed redundant.
However, at the end of the dream sequence, they introduce Gordon’s father. His father tells him to find the ring and follow the code (things that we have never heard on this show before, but okay I’ll accept it if it means that Gordon will quit this PI thing). On the ring is the Latin phrase for “while we breathe we shall defend,” and I just thought it was interesting that in his dream sequence Penguin was the one who was repeating the code whereas other people like Bruce just shot him in the chest.
Luckily the ring is enough to convince Gordon to rejoin the GCPD, and Barnes accepts him readily. He was probably eager to reinstate Gordon so quickly since he doesn’t know how much time he has left. He interrogated someone that day and nearly snapped the man’s neck the same way he bent the chair in the last episode. Included with the other paperwork on his desk, we see his will, so Barnes clearly doesn’t have high hopes for himself.
The person who is truly doing the best on this show currently is Bruce. He’s the only one with a date (and since this show has really upped the romance recently, it seems that a date equates to success at this point). Granted, it is kind of weird for both of them, but they are also teenagers; I don’t think I ever had a date in high school that wasn’t incredibly awkward at first. I’m just happy these two are actually going on a date as opposed to talking around their feelings with each other in a way that always gave me anxiety and second-hand embarrassment.
To be fair, Nygma is doing pretty well on this show too. He spent all 12 hours with Isabella, and completely stood up Penguin. They do seem good together; they are both incredibly smart, and she answers his riddles without hesitation or derision. Penguin just needs to learn some riddles, and Nygma will be all over him.
Instead, Penguin is calling the police trying to file a missing person report. I’m not sure why now Penguin is going to the police instead of using his criminal underworld first, but maybe being mayor is changing him. He is incredibly relieved to see Nygma walk through the door, but after Nygma tells him that he found someone, I think Penguin would have rather he been kidnapped. Penguin politely asks about her, including where she works, and I was convinced that our favorite criminal was going back to his murdering ways.
Turns out, he is not going to kill he, but he is going to ruin Nygma’s reputation; the Kingpin of the underworld has turned into such a softy. Isabella doesn’t know anything about Nygma’s criminal past, despite the fact that it was front page news at one point (she can answer riddles and she doesn’t keep up with her current events, she sounds like Nygma’s dream girl). Penguin tells her all about him, and I hope that Nygma does return Penguin’s feelings otherwise this was a real dick move.
Still, this girl is all that Penguin can think about. Even at the party where only the most sophisticated and powerful people are invited, Penguin is telling everyone about his middle school-esque situation. He even tells Katherine of the Court of Owls about it, but she seems unperturbed by it enough to still be able to tell him that he will be needed when the time is right. Penguin is worried by this news briefly, but after walking in on Nygma and Isabella kissing, I’m sure he is not thinking about it anymore.
It was surprising to see that Isabella even showed up to the date, let alone to see them kissing, but Nygma was telling her all about his life story – not knowing that she already knew (so even if Penguin hadn’t told her, at least Nygma would have stood up and told her the truth, which is kind of him). She lets him know that she already knew, but she is going to stay around. She is (rightfully) scared, but “love isn’t logical” (and if these two just talk in riddles and clichés I am going to get sick of them really quick).
So instead of being worried about Katherine’s vaguely frightening words, Penguin will only be worried about this couple. Somehow, when Katherine is asked by her boss about Penguin, she still thinks him a bad criminal as if she didn’t hear him moan on about his love life at the party. Katherine’s boss takes her word into consideration, and when we are presented with his silhouette, we see that he has the same ring as Gordon’s father. Now it makes sense why the writers suddenly decided to pull a ring and family code out of their asses – to provide the plot twist that Gordon’s father may be the one in charge of the Court of Owls. Not to mention that Fish and Ivy have been totally forgotten about lately. Hopefully now that Tetch has been captured, it will be time for the actual villains to come out to play again.
Written by Nicole Teeters, GOTHAM Beat Writer -- Click to read Nicole's posts
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