Violet provides a recap of the second episode of Gotham, titled Selina Kyle where someone is kidnapping homeless kids, and Gordon tries to get to the bottom of it! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of Gotham, Season 1 Episode 2: Selina Kyle
This episode begins with young Bruce Wayne putting the palm of his hand into a candle flame. Alfred catches him and yells at him, then hugs him.
In a dark alley, a bus pulls up. A man named Doug and a woman named Patti step out and distribute food to some homeless kids, claiming to be with the Mayor’s Homeless Outreach program. Selina Kyle is there, but stands back and eyes them suspiciously. Patti stabs the kids in the back of the neck and they pass out. Selina hides, as one of the kids gets away. Doug shoots a homeless man sitting nearby, then chases after the kid, named Mackey, who tries to fight him off, and the kid ends up getting thrown through the window of a fancy restaurant.
The next day, Gordon and Harvey find the dead body of the homeless man, as Selina watches from afar. Gordon chastises another police officer for not preserving the crime scene and Harvey has to stop them from getting into a fight.
Back at the police station, Gordon and Harvey question Mackey. He tells them about the woman stabbing the kids with “a big pen” and that street kids have been disappearing for weeks. Mackey tells them that Kat was there, and to ask her. Gordon pulls Harvey away, who has begun to lose his temper. They get into an argument, which ends in Harvey kicking a co-worker.
Oswald Cobblepot hitches a ride with some young men a few miles outside of Gotham. But when they tell him that he looks like a penguin when he walks, he breaks the beer bottle they’ve given him and uses it to kill them.
Gordon and Harvey tell Captain Essen Mackey’s story. Ed comes in and reports that Mackey’s blood test revealed high levels of ATP, a fast acting knockout drug that was used at Arkham Asylum on troublesome patients. Essen tells them to get to work, but keep it quiet, no press. We also learn that Arkham Asylum has been closed for 15 years.
Falcone visits Fish Mooney and confronts her about something Cobblepot told him she said: that he was getting soft and she wanted to take him out. She denies it, and he seems to forgive her. But then he figures out who that her lover is the waiter who had been serving them, and has his guys beat him up. After Falcone and his guys leave, Mooney orders everyone out.
Montoya and Allen from Major Crimes Unit talk to Cobblepot’s mother, who is worried about her son being missing. Montoya and Allen figure Mooney and the cops must have had him killed.
Mooney vows to Butch that she will kill Falcone some day.
Cobblepot rents a trailer in the middle of nowhere.
Homeless kids wake up in what appears to be the sewer or basement area, and other homeless kids are there. They see a big hole in the cement floor and look down into it, but can’t see the bottom.
Harvey and Gordon go talk to Mooney, since the incident occurred on her turf. She expresses her surprise that Gordon went through with killing Penguin. Mooney tells them that there’s a buyer overseas that will take anyone young and healthy, but that’s all she knows.
At home, Gordon tells Barbara about the homeless kids, and she calls in an anonymous tip before he is able to stop her. The next day, the story hits the newspaper, and Essen is furious. Gordon denies leaking the story. Harvey and Gordon’s plan is to investigate the three companies in Gotham that stock ATP.
Meanwhile, one of the ATP stockers is mad at Doug and Patti for the story getting out, and demands another $5,000. We find out that they are working for the Dollmaker. Patti stabs the guy’s security guy in the leg, and he passes out. Just then, Gordon and Harvey pull up outside of the store, and Gordon admits it was his girlfriend that called it in. When the detectives enter the store, Patti greets them, and the store owner, Mr. Quillan, tells them that he no longer stocks ATP. We see that Doug is off to the side, pointing a gun at Quillan. Suddenly, Patti switches off the lights, and gunfire breaks out. Doug and Patti manage to get away.
Back inside the store, Quillan tells his henchman to “get rid of them” and burn the evidence. However, Gordon has overheard this. He is able to stop the henchman, who has gone into the next room, where we see the homeless children, before he shoots them.
The Mayor praises Harvey and Gordon for their efforts, and announces that he’s implementing a program that will round up all the homeless kids in the city and send them to Juvenile Services – though he tries to make it sound like it’s a kind thing that he’s doing for the children. We see that homeless children across the city are being handcuffed and taken into custody, including Selina Kyle. AFter the announcement, Gordon lets the Mayor know that he disagrees with what he’s doing.
Alfred stops by the police station and asks Gordon to visit Bruce. He agrees.
Selina Kyle gets put on a bus to be sent upstate, along with other homeless kids. Patti and Doug come on the bus, and Selina tries to escape out the back, but she stops her at gunpoint, and they steal the bus.
The police get word of the busload of kids being stolen, and Harvey beats Quillan with a phone book to get the story out of him, while Gordon stands by and watches. Quillan remembers a catering-like fork and plate logo from their truck, and they have him draw it for them.
Doug and Patti arrive in a warehouse, and realize that one of the kids from the list is missing. We see that it’s Selina. Patti goes to look for her on the bus, but Selina is able to sneak out. Patti and Doug chalk it up to a miscount.
Gordon figures out that the logo is a trident, and we see the logo: Trident Intercontinental Shipping, as Patti and Doug load the kids into a shipping container. One of their guys comes stumbling out saying “she” scratched him in the eyes. Patti shoots him in the head. She looks around the warehouse and finds Selina, and point a gun at her. Just then, Gordon comes in and hits Patti on the head with his gun, knocking her out.
Gordon visits the Wayne mansion and has a chat with Alfred, who explains that the Waynes left instructions in case of their death: to let Bruce choose his own course. Bruce reveals that he has been eavesdropping, and says that he’s been testing himself. Bruce has been following the homeless kids case and wants to help. He suggests providing clothes.
At the police station, Selina Kyle insists on talking to Gordon.
Cobblepot calls and tries to get a $10,000 ransom out of the parents of the guy that had been driving the car he stole, who apparently he has kept alive. However, it doesn’t work.
Kat tells Gordon she’ll give him some info if he gets her out of there. She reveals that she’s been watching him, and even knows that Pepper was a patsy. She then drops the bombshell that she saw who killed the Waynes.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 2 of Gotham: Selina Kyle
My first time watching this episode, I was a little bored. Maybe I was a bit distracted when I watched it? Anyway, the second time around, I was into it a little more, having missed a few of the nuances during my first viewing. For example, you see the Trident Intercontinental Shipping logo at the beginning of the episode on a billboard in the alley with the homeless kids, which I hadn’t noticed at all the first time, and probably most people didn’t, so that’s pretty cool how they slipped that in there. I also somehow missed Patti saying that it was the Dollmaker who wanted the kids, so that’s interesting. I remember the Dollmaker from an episode of Arrow. I doubt there will be any crossover there, considering the two shows are on different networks, but still.
I’m still deciding whether or not I like the show. It seems to still be insisting on featuring all of the villains and heroes as were introduced during the first episode, though in short bursts, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I guess it’s working alright so far, as they’re only small side stories, but hopefully it doesn’t get too distracting.
I go back and forth on my opinions about the acting. Sometimes it seems good, other times not so much, and my opinion varies even with the same character sometimes. Jada Pinkett Smith seems over the top most of the time, and has a weird and unnecessary accent, but she has a few moments from time to time that I appreciate, like when she was trying to hide her reaction when Falcone was subtly threatening her lover.
The “fight” between Gordon and the police officer at the beginning of the episode felt a little forced, and I kind of didn’t buy it. Maybe because I don’t know what kind of image of Gordon they want to portray to us. I thought he was supposed to be more of a pacifist, but apparently not. Maybe that’s the point though, that Gordon is still trying to figure out who he is, trying to discover his identity as a detective. And we are witnessing this evolution.
I didn’t really like Alfred in this episode, the way he yelled at Bruce Wayne. I’ve always thought of Alfred with warm and fuzzy character, not as an angry man. He seemed like a meanie! I know, I know, his reaction was only because he cares about Bruce, and doesn’t want him to hurt himself. But maybe they should have toned down his anger a bit. It seems a bit of a stretch how they found an excuse for Gordon to go visit Bruce, but gotta please the fans and keep Batman in Gotham somehow, I guess!
At the moment, I’m game to keep watching this show and see how things develop.
Josh’s Thoughts: Gotham, Season 1 Episode 2: Selina Kyle
This was a lot better episode of Gotham this week. The threat was something much more believable, and didn’t involve any major Batman villains which was nice. Apparently nobody in Gotham is a good guy though, with the exception of Gordon. But I guess we should know that from Batman’s stories.
So far the episode seems to be setting up Penguin as the looming villain of the season. He seems to be developing his criminal record aggressively and quickly. He will probably be back in town soon, and I foresee further Moody and Penguin conflict.
Seeing emo-Bruce Wayne is pretty weird. I wonder if that is what Bruce Wayne did as a child? Hold his hand over an open flame until the pain was too much. What was even weirder was how harshly Alfred came at him at first. I’ve never seen that side of Alfred before!
It looks like the show is setting up the anti-heroine Catwoman a lot this season as well. I am curious to see how she and Bruce Wayne interact. She seems to already have her claws deep into Gordon, trying to barter information with him. I guess we’ll see if he bites. Perhaps Gordon gives her a place to stay? I am pretty sure that is way off what the lore of Batman is, but I guess we’ll see what happens.
So I guess we will see where the season takes us. I don’t want to judge too soon. If it turns into a crime drama, just feature Batman villains, I am not sure how long the show will hold my interest. Then again, I am not sure what else the show could do, without seeming too cheesy. I guess Fox will have to surprise me!
Scenes from Gotham, Season 1 Episode 3: The Balloonman
Here are scenes from the next episode of Gotham, titled The Balloonman:
LOVED this episode! The Girl playing Selina is doing a hell of a job. This is my favorite episode so far.