Gotham returns, and Gordon faces his first villain inside Arkham Asylum–the Electrocutioner. Check out Josh’s episode recap for Gotham, and see how Jim is faring in his new job! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
Don’t need the Gotham episode recap for Rogue’s Gallery? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Gotham episode, Rogue’s Gallery, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of Gotham, Season 1 Episode 11: Rogue’s Gallery
So Gotham returns from its winter break, with Gordon working at Arkham Asylum. There is a play the inmates are putting on, but one of the audience members isn’t enjoying the performance, and attacks the performers. Gordon has to break up the fight.
Gordon’s boss, Dr. Lang decides this outburst is Gordon’s fault. Lang calls in a doctor to examine the battered inmates, and Dr. Thompkins seems impressed with Gordon’s recent work.
Meanwhile, Cobblepot is trying to swing his weight around, and threatens some fishermen with “tax increases”. They refuse, and Cobblepot threatens to get tough. They aren’t worried though, and the cops show up. Cobblepot thinks that everything is ok, but the cops take him in. Not quite what Cobblepot was expecting.
Back at Arkham Asylum, Jones, the injured patient, has some new injuries–burn marks on his forehead. He has also become a vegetable. Dr. Thompkins looks at the wounds, and it looks like someone performed electro-shock therapy. Lang is not happy about it. Gordon wants to call GCPD but Lang says since the inmate is still alive, it is an internal matter. But Lang puts Gordon on the case, to find the culprit performing these therapies.
Gordon does some checking and gets a guard to admit he lost his keys. Gordon decides that it is time to interview the inmates. He doesn’t seem to get anywhere though.
Then we see another person being tested, by a man, whose face we never see. Another inmate has been given “therapy” and Gordon finds him only having the ability to recite Shakespearian lines. Gordon then comes to the theory that staff might be the culprit. Lang disagrees, and tells him he can’t investigate the staff. Gordon disagrees, and informs Lang that he called GCPD. This doesn’t make Lang too happy.
Guess who shows up to investigate? Harvey Bullock. He is very happy to see Gordon. Lang tries to strong arm Bullock out of the building, but with some quick talking, Bullock gets Lang to go down to the station to answer some questions.
Back at the station, Cobblepot tries to sweet talk his way out of his cell, but Bullock isn’t buying what Cobblepot is selling. Bullock interviews Lang, asking about the process of Electro-shock therapy. Bullock admits that he believes Lang, but wants Lang to think real hard about who could do it. At the same time, Gordon is going through staff files, and finds blueprints to the basement.
Meanwhile, the ever-so-helpful Nurse Duncan brings some coffee for Gordon. He asks Duncan about the basement, but she says its abandoned. Gordon asks her to show him the way, and she agrees. Turns out that she is the bad guy though. But before she can lure Gordon to the basement, Dr. Thompkins comes in. Duncan makes a run for it, and she releases all of the inmates. Gordon gets a call from Bullock telling him what he already knows about Duncan. Gordon tells him to get back to Arkham right away.
Duncan lures the inmates after Thompkins, but in the scuffle, Duncan is trampled. Thompkins is cornered at a locked gate, but Gordon is able to get to her. He manages to calm them down long enough for Thompkins to open the gate and they get through to the other side, locking out the inmates.
At the police station, the Captain congratulates Gordon on a win. Meanwhile, Don Maroni has shown up to visit Cobblepot. Maroni tells Cobblepot he knows what he was up to. After some pleading, Cobblepot is able to get back in Maroni’s good graces.
The medical examiner reveals that Duncan actually was also treated with electro-shock therapy. Gordon and Bullock realize that she wasn’t the culprit, and head back quickly. Unfortunately it is too late. Jack Gruber, one of the inmates, was actually the person behind it all. He shocked Aaron, another inmate, who then kills a guard and then Doctor Lang. Gruber was kind enough to leave a letter for Gordon, wishing him the best. Aaron and Gruber made their getaway in a prison van.
Selina, meanwhile, finds Ivy homeless, sick and suffering in the rain. Selina has the perfect plan–break into Gordon’s house and eat all of his food.
So Barbara has been partying it up with Montoya, quite hard, with prescription pain pills. Montoya returns from work, bringing Barbara some coffee. Montoya then breaks the news that their romance was a mistake. She tells Barbara that they can’t go down the same path of drugs. Barbara is offended and gets ready to leave. Montoya tells her to stay, and that she will leave. Barbara finally agrees.
Barbara decides to give Jim a call at home, and Ivy picks up the phone. Ivy plays with Barbara, leading Barbara to believe there is a woman staying with Jim. Barbara gets mad and hangs up on Ivy.
Fish Mooney is having a meeting with a couple of cronies, Saviano, and they discuss–hypothetically–who would take over if Falcone died. Butch seems to have ties to this guy, and he offers to talk some sense into him. Fish expresses her worries that Butch might be wavering in his loyalty.
So Butch and Saviano meet at the docks, and they bond over their long history. Saviano makes an offer to get Butch on his side. Butch says he will think about it.
Talking with Fish, he tells her that he is working him, and it will take a bit of time to turn him around. Fish seems okay with this move.
Re-meeting up with Saviano, Butch has to get something off his chest. He admits when they were kids that he took a better portion of a meat theft they did. Saviano doesn’t seem to care, and just wants Butch on his team. Butch seems broken up about his lie to Saviano. After his apologies though, Butch puts a bullet into Saviano’s head. He gets out of Saviano’s car, into his, and drives away.
Finally, rounding out the episode, Gordon heads home, wishfully calling out Barbara’s name with no response. But he does see he has had some sort of visitors, by the empty dishes left behind…
Josh’s Thoughts: Gotham, Season 1 Episode 11: Rogue’s Gallery
I think I am turning around on Gotham now. Watching the episode the second time around made me realize I actually enjoyed the episode. Oddly enough, Bruce Wayne wasn’t even in the episode. But seeing Gordon dealing with his plight, does put a bright spot in the darkness Gotham seems to always have looming over it.
I have to say that my favorite part of this episode was Butch’s storyline. I think he is one of my favorite “side” characters. His internal struggle with what he should do was actually pretty sad, despite it being a cold-hearted move. It was pretty easy to see that he did not want to make the decision that he did, and was hoping there was another way. But he seems to know where his loyalties lie now, and doesn’t want to break those, no matter how good the deal is.
I am a bit unsure what the plan with Barbara is though. I am surprised that Montoya and Barbara broke up so quickly. What confuses me even more is Dr. Thompkins. It seems like she was brought in for a love interest for Gordon. If that is so, we probably won’t see Jim and Barbara back together for some time. I guess we’ll see what happens there.
It looks like we have a big villain for Gordon to hunt down though. I think I like this move, as giving the show an overarching story will give some more weight to the show I think. But I think Gordon will be getting his old job back soon, as Jim can’t hunt Gruber from a guard post in Arkham Asylum.
So far I am pretty excited to see where this second half of the season goes. Let’s hope its good!
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 11 of Gotham: Rogue’s Gallery
When we left off at the end of the mid-season finale, we were given a very interesting twist that left me quite excited to see what the next half of the season would bring: we learned that Gordon would be working security at Arkham Asylum. But then when this episode started off, and the Akrham Asylum patients are putting on a play, with Gordon standing in the back of the room looking rather bored, it was a much different scene than what I had imagined. Indeed, as the episode progressed, I was not getting that “creepy” vibe that I thought I would be getting once we ventured inside the halls of Arkham Asylum with villainous mental patients. Instead, it just seemed like your normal, run of the mill mental institutions. That is not to say that this aspect made me dislike the episode, I was just surprised at how different Arkham Asylum was than I was expecting. I suppose it will progress to the Arkham Asylum that I pictured as time goes on. After all, Gotham takes place many years before Bruce Wayne becomes Batman, and Arkham Asylym has only recently re-opened, so of course it hasn’t had time to become the infamous Arkham Asylum yet.
I am continuing to like the direction that Gotham is heading. It was fun to see Bullock again, as I like the dynamics of the relationship between Gordon and Bullock. I’m wondering if Gordon will be able to continue making excuses to bring Bullock into whatever he has going on, or if Bullock will be largely absent from the show. The only way I can see the latter happening is if they make Dr. Thompkins into a replacement for Bullock while Gordon is working at Arkham. I don’t think I’d have a problem with that, as I loved the addition of Morena Baccarin to the show, as I am a huge Firefly/Serenity fan.
What, Barbara and Montoya broke up already? Ugh. I thought we’d gotten rid of Barbara for good. Ok, obviously we wouldn’t be getting rid of her forever, but I was hoping it would be for awhile longer. Now that she thinks Gordon has a lady friend, thanks to Ivy, will that make her stay away, or prompt her to investigate so that she can get back into Gordon’s life? I’m thinking the latter, so that the show can create some drama. Not a fan of that avenue though. Have I mentioned that I don’t like Barbara? Yeah? Okay.
In any case, I thought this was a pretty good start to this half of the season. I really wasn’t sure which way Butch was going to go. I thought he was going to side with Saviano during their final conversation in the car together, so I was surprised when he shot him. I guess Fish is one step closer to her goals. As for Cobblepot – not sure what his status in the city yet. I guess he thought he was more revered than he was in reality? Or is this just another of his manipulations? Definitely curious to see what happens next in Gotham!
Scenes from Gotham, Season 1 Episode 12: What the Little Bird Told Him
Here are scenes from next week’s Gotham episode, titled What the Little Bird Told Him:
