Gotham: Arkham Recap

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHfGI2qMTko]

Gotham: Arkham (1×04)

Synopsis: Someone is going around killing councilmen in Gotham and it’s all related to the upcoming development plans for the Arkham neighborhood and Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile Oswald Cobblepott’s plans start to come to fruition a lot sooner than expected.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Gotham has probably become my favorite Monday night program at this point. So I was very excited to learn that the show had been picked up for a full season order of twenty-two episodes. Could the first season’s story have probably been told in the sixteen episodes that had previously been ordered? Sure. It’s a fast paced show that keeps you wanting more. But we probably didn’t need those extra six episodes.

But you know what? I’ll gladly take them!

Especially if they are more like tonight’s episode.

With the freaks we know so well from Gotham still growing and honing their crafts Gotham has to find it’s villains in the more realistic baddies it has available now. The Falcone and Maroni crime syndicates are starting to butt heads even more than usual and a lot of it has to do with the Arkham neighborhood which has originally been under plans to be developed by the Waynes. But with their “unforeseen” departure the fate of this part of the community is left up in the air.

The episode starts off with a councilman and his assistant in a parking garage late at night. A man comes up to them pretending to be a constituent and kills them with a particular sort of metallic, tubular device that apparently shoots out some kind of knife-y thing. It’s way cooler when you look at it than when you try to describe it. It is not, however, the most practical of weapons if you ask me. Great for a psychopath’s signature means of killing people? Sure.

Anyway, Jim and Bullock get put on the case but not too long after another councilman gets murdered. After talking to Alfred about the Waynes’ initial plans to tear down the old Arkham Asylum and rebuild it into a state of the art mental health facility and turn the rest of the real estate into affordable low-income housing he learns that there are now two new plans. One from Falcone and one from Maroni. It seems like the council members are being offed to keep a balance in the voting between the two plans which could just be the start to a massive gang war.

But then it turns out that the council members? They were all killed with a particularly distinctive weapon. Someone was trying to tilt the balance of power in one direction and Jim realizes they’re going to do anything they can to make that happen – including killing the Mayor. Luckily, they are able to stop that from happening. But the mayor gives in and compromises between the Falcone and Maroni plans allowing Maroni to building a waste treatment plant in the Arkham neighborhood and allowing Falcone to renovate and reopen Arkham and open other real estate ventures.

1 of my Fave images from tonights ep of #Gotham – @robinlordtaylor as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin @Gotham pic.twitter.com/mAHPeieMPT

— TJ Scott (@TJScottPictures) October 14, 2014

Maroni’s got a win there and Falcone takes a major hit. Meanwhile Fish Mooney is for some reason interviewing fierce, talented women for some ploy against Falcone and Maroni’s restaurant gets raided by thieves. Cobblepott seizes the opportunity to get on Maroni’s good side by grabbing a bag of the money the thieves came to take and hiding out. It gets him on Maroni’s good side and since Cobblepott’s boss is killed in the raid Maroni promotes little “Paolo” to restaurant manager. Of course it turns out that this is not just some random robbery. Cobblepott planned it all to get on Maroni’s good side and he kills the men he hired to raid the place by poisoning them. It’s crazy. It’s insane. It’s calculated and brutal.

This is why Cobblepott is seriously the greatest character ever.

A few other things of note happen. Bruce’s detective skills start to improve as he tries to connect his parents’ murder with the Arkham plans. And he finds some home in Jim’s assuring him that the greatest legacy his parents left behind was still on track – him. Jim also learns about Barbara’s previous relationship with Montoya as the two of them start to confront the secrets they are hiding from one another. And Cobblepott tries to get Jim on his side but… it’s not going all that well. Cobblepott just doesn’t seem to understand that he never should have come back to Gotham…

Over all this was a good episode.

I get that Fish Mooney is playing a long game but maybe we don’t need to check in with her ever single episode unless we’re going to actually see some of the fruits of that labor coming up. It was good to see Nygma again this episode though I’m not entirely sure what he actually does for the police. Is he really a forensic scientist? Because all he seems to do is pop up in random places with files and mess with Bullock with his word games.

The next episode looks amazing as always. These trailers really get me.

But, dude. Cobblepott. Keep your damn mouth closed! Seriously! How hard is this? Ajlaksdfjalj.

Anyway. We’ll see how it all plays out next week! I mean, check out this trailer and tell me you’re not excited.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50DykaeQbHw]