Now that Oswald Cobblepot is the new mayor of Gotham City, all sorts of problems are opening up in the city. Not only does he have to make good on his promise to “make Gotham Great Again,” but he has to navigate the criminal world and the political world. Both worlds are full of betrayals at every corner.
The focus on this week’s episode of Gotham centered on Cobblepot as he has to deal with a new criminal/political problem. The Red Hood gang, which we thought was done with, interrupts him during a dedication ceremony for his dearly departed mother as they shoot up and defile a statue he made in her honor. As a result, the newly inaugurated mayor utilizes both the criminal and legal forces at his disposal to find out who they are so that they can be stopped.
Little does he know that the backer of the new Red Hood Gang is someone close to him. His long time criminal confidant, Butch is tired of being second place to Edward Nygma, who was appointed Penguin’s new chief of staff last week. Butch lays out a plan to have the Red Hood gang try to take on Penguin, and at the last minute, Butch would stop them and save the day, getting back into his graces. Unfortunately, Butch did not count on the ingenuity of Nygma to be able to solve this “riddle” and determine that Butch is the culprit of the whole fiasco. Butch’s plan was for the Red Hood Gang to storm Penguin’s inaugural dinner party celebrating him winning the election, and then Butch would stop them last minute.
Before that can happen, Penguin discovers where the Red Hood Gang’s lair is, thanks to Nygma working with a Gotham police department as Lucius Fox scientifically determines where they are. When Penguin find out where the gang is located, he calls Butch to join in on stopping them. Butch tries to rush his gang out of there safely so he can enact the next part of his plan, but then Penguin arrives and he has no choice but to murder the whole group before Penguin walks in. As a result, Butch is the hero.
In the aftermath of the murder, Nygma solves yet another riddle as he realizes that the dead henchmen have suits that are to be worn at the inauguration celebration. After further research, Nygma learns that Butch’s suit, as well as the suits the Red Hood Gang were going to wear at the party, were all made at the same tailor shop, therefore Butch is the real culprit. When Nygma confronts Butch later on at the party, he reveals his own truth, he also plans on betraying Penguin. Nygma then enacts a plan to further alienate Butch and get in even closer with Penguin. He works with other bad guys within Penguin’s inner circle to hold Tabitha Galavan (Butch’s former flame) hostage in order to make Burtch carry out his wishes to kill Penguin. Butch goes through with the plan to keep Tabitha alive, but Nygma gave him blanks, so Penguin’s safe. Butch is shot in the aftermath and then taken by the police. Lucky for him, Tabitha frees him from the ambulance on his way to the police station.Meanwhile, Bruce makes a chivalrous gesture towards Selina. Since she is still looking for her friend Ivy (since she’s magically grown into an adult) with no such luck, Bruce hires Gordon to help find her. Gordon utilizes his former police buddies to learn about her. They hear about the story about her adventure with the truck driver, but don’t believe it’s her since the truck driver said she was older. Later on, Bruce and Gordon go for coffee where they discuss relationships. The two get on each other about not being able to tell the person they care for their true feelings.
This leads Bruce to decide to tell Selina his true feelings later on at Penguins party. It’s cute because it’s puppy love. We know Bruce is Batman, the “world’s greatest detective,” but in Gotham, he’s just a shy awkward teenager. Even though the conversation is incredibly awkward, it reaches Selina and the two share their first kiss.Elsewhere, Captain Barnes is trying to research The Mad Hatter’s sister’s blood, since he got in it his eye. Not much really happens there until the end of the episode where he gets angry after Butch’s escape ad runs over to the phone, not using his crutches. The Mad Hatter is also going through his own therapy where he kidnaps some poor woman, but on a wig and pretends she’s his sister before he kills her.
Barns has powers, Nygma is getting in good with Penguin, and Bruce is getting in good with Selina. What could possibly go wrong? Enter, The Mad Hatter once again!
