Gotham Episode 1.07 Recap, Plus Episode 8 Promo

Now that everyone knows Oswald is alive, Gotham freaks out. Bullock tries to kill Jim; Fish wants to “talk” to Jim; and Jim wants Barbara to get out of town, especially when he comes home and finds a couple of Fish’s goons holding her hostage. Jim sends Barbara away, then returns to work – much to the shock of his fellow police. Jim has a simple, if stupid plan: serve arrest warrants to the mayor and Falcone for conspiring to kill the Waynes. His theory is that, even if he is killed (a likely scenario), if he shows that someone is willing to stand up against them, that others will join.

Falcone sends Victor Zsasz to collect Jim for him. He enters the police station with a pair of cyber-goth chicks and clears the station. A shoot-out ensues, and Jim is clipped by a bullet. He escapes into the police garage, and a weak scene of hide-and-seek takes place. This should have been tense – but it wasn’t. Part of that probably had to do with the fact that Jim is a terrible hider… and that Victor was just tracking him by his blood drippings. A stray policewoman wanders in and is shot in the leg by Victor. Jim attempts to make a run for it and is shot in the leg. Luckily a car squeals in between Jim and Victor and another shoot-out begins. Allen and Montoya are there at inexplicably the right place, the right time, and with guns blazing. They scoop Jim up and zoom out of there. Victor turns around and shoots the policewoman dead, then adds a cut to his arm. Twenty-eight.

Jim is patched up at a research facility by a friend of Allen’s. Then the three of them head to Wayne Manor. Montoya apologizes for being such a bitch to Jim and not trusting him. They are on the same side now, 100%. Jim introduces Allen and Montoya to Bruce, telling him that if something happens to him, they will take up the Wayne case and he can trust them.

Fish goes to Maroni and asks, in as nice a way as she can, to give her back Penguin (as everyone is now calling him). Fish insists he means nothing to her; it is a matter of respect. Maroni makes Penguin apologize, and he thinks the whole thing is over. But it’s not. Fish declares Maroni has made his choice: bloodshed.

To start, Fish’s goons kidnap a flock of nuns who are walking down the street (that scene alone was Lynchian) and then chain them together in the middle of the road, forcing Maroni’s trucks to screech to a halt. Maroni’s trucks are not allowed over the bridge until Penguin is returned. Maroni is pissed and wants to hit back, harder. Penguin knows how.

He leads Maroni’s men to a Falcone warehouse. The goons place an explosive and enter, shooting everyone inside – including Niko. Then Frankie turns on Penguin. He is jealous that Maroni has a new favorite and threatens to kill Penguin right there and blame it on Niko’s men. But there is no honor among thieves. Penguin has paid the other two goons more money than Frankie was paying them, so they hold Frankie down while Penguin stabs him to death.

Maroni and Falcone meet and embrace, mourning the loss of Niko and Frankie. Both were like sons to their respective mob bosses. Falcone wants the violence to stop. Life is good – why ruin it all for nothing? Falcone will let Maroni keep Penguin as a show of goodwill, but Falcone wants something in return. Maybe a warehouse on the river? Maroni instead offers Indian Hill, part of Arkham that Fish describes as a toxic waste dump atop an Indian burial ground. Falcone agrees.

A significant amount of booze leads Bullock back to Jim. He figures he is doomed, so he may as well go out with the good guys. They start by handing the mayor an arrest warrant in his limo, then use him to get in to see Falcone. They present Falcone with his arrest warrant and Jim informs him that since this is a lawful arrest, if he resists, he will be shot. Falcone isn’t worried – he has Barbara in his custody, and there is a knife to her throat. He won’t offer proof of this; he just wants Jim to trust him. Bullock tries telling Jim that it is a lie, but Jim ultimately stands down. Which is good for Barbara, because she was indeed being held hostage by Victor. Dummy came back to town because she couldn’t bear to be without Jim.

Barbara was just being kept in the kitchen, so she is brought out with apologies from Falcone. He then proceeds to consider what to do with Jim and Bullock. By rights, he should kill them. But Falcone believes that anarchy is the enemy, and because Jim trusted him, there is hope for him. He lets the men go, and when Jim asks what the catch is, Falcone just wants him to think about what he said, and that one day Jim will see that he is right.

With the Jim Gordon crew cleared out of his house, Falcone enjoys a muffin baked by Liza. After, he goes outside to tend to his chickens, and Penguin limps up. Falcone greets him with a hug, and we learn that they have been in cahoots the whole time. The night they first met, in the meat locker, Penguin offered Falcone a secret. He had just one request: that Falcone send Jim Gordon to kill him. Penguin thinks that Jim will spare his life, and if he does, Falcone will have a snitch for life. He will work his way into Maroni’s family. Falcone agrees, and Penguin shares his secret: that Fish and Niko are lovers, and Fish is pushing Niko to take Falcone’s place so that she in turn can take over. Falcone is impressed that this complicated plan is taking form almost exactly as Penguin said it would. He thinks it is a mistake to let Jim live, but Penguin appreciates the favor.

This episode is titled “Penguin’s Umbrella.” Other than the fact that Penguin and Falcone revealed their plan to the audience beneath Penguin’s umbrella (it was raining) I failed to see the significance. Maybe I am too used to Penguin’s umbrella being a weapon. Clearly, the people behind “Gotham” are creating an entirely new mythology to Penguin, starting him a weaselly little snitch instead of the classy mobster of means he is usually portrayed as. But then, why name him Penguin at all? The producers created Fish Mooney; why not create a new character for Penguin? They have basically done that anyway.

Just when I thought I couldn’t hate Barbara any more… BAM! She goes and gets herself kidnapped/held hostage TWICE in one episode. Seriously, this damsel in distress bit is ridiculous. At least we didn’t have to see Selina creeping around for no reason other than to remind people that the show has a Catwoman.

You can check out the promo for episode 8 of “Gotham” in the player below. Titled “The Mask,” the episode is officially described as follows:

“Gordon and Bullock investigate a Gothamite who runs a deadly fight club for candidates applying for a job at his financial firm. Meanwhile, Bruce returns to school and gets a visit from a new friend.”

“The Mask” is set to air November 10. “Gotham” airs Mondays on FOX at 8 p.m.