Photo Credit: Nicole Rivelli/FOX
Penguin is King of Gotham and after a shakeup at the GCPD, Detective James Gordon’s moral compass wavers, as he seeks help from Penguin. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne continues to explore the secrets from his father’s office, while GOTHAM newcomers Theo Galavan (James Frain) and his sister, Tabitha (Jessica Lucas), make friends with some unlikely allies, a group of dangerous inmates from Arkham.
Gotham is back! In the premiere episode, we find that Gordon has been demoted (a sad but hilarious state of affairs, you’ll see) and it isn’t long before that demotion becomes something else. Gordon just can’t help himself. We do also find out what’s become of Bullock but I’m sure his current position won’t last long either because that would be too easy.
But back to Gordon. He goes to Penguin for help, yes the Penguin for help. Because Gordon saved Penguin so he’s cashing in on the debt that needs to be paid. Lucky for him, Penguin respects him enough to stand by that debt. But getting Penguin to help isn’t that easy. After all, Penguin is the new king of Gotham, so, any chance he gets for someone else to do his dirty work, he’ll take. Who wouldn’t? Which is why we find Gordon crossing a line he wouldn’t have crossed in the first season. Wow! I love this because it shows just how much this episode is about the exploration of the desperation for belonging.
And the desperation for truth. Gordon is still with Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Yes!!! Though Gordon is being harassed by Barbara who is right where she belongs, the best place for her to be until she’s hopefully killed off because…enough with Barbara already! Dr. Leslie Thompkins is ten times more complex than Barbara will ever be. I can see the complete makeover they’re trying to do with Barbara’s character but is it too little too late? The performance is great but I still have season one’s terrible arc in my head so it’s going to take a lot for me to care for Barbara. Anyway, Gordon thinks it best to hide this harassment from Leslie but she can handle it. She can handle the truth. Of course she can. I like that we see this side of Leslie because it opens up so many dark possibilities.
Also on the search for truth? Bruce Wayne. And boy does he find it! The last scene of the season premiere is my favorite. Without a doubt. So much development here! Oh! You won’t be disappointed if you’ve really been hanging on for Bruce’s story line. And hopefully we’ll get much more of it than we did last season. So far, oh so good!
Finally, also worth mentioning is that Selina is working for the Penguin now. Not exactly a shocker. She’s a loner but she does what it takes to survive and if that means bouncing around behind the villains of the city, that is what she’ll do. So I’m interested to see how this portion of her life with Penguin plays out, however long this will last. And it seems we’ve got newcomers to Gotham, Theo Galavan (James Frain) and his sister, Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) which we don’t get to see a ton of here but they’re making their mark. So far, I’m not all that moved by these two but it’s only the beginning so I won’t completely reject these two. So overall, I can’t say that the premiere was absolutely amazing. But it was a solid premiere and I’ve been given enough reason to tune in next week which is exactly what I can’t wait to do! For Bruce alone, really!
Will you be watching?