Caged Cat and a Penguin on the loose - Review of Gotham S1E2 ' Selina Kyle'.

After a brilliant start to Gotham last week, expectations from me was soaring! And I am glad to say that Gotham is on the right track right off the gate. So let's not waste any more time and let's get on with the review:

Episode 2 starts of at the Wayne Manor, where we see Bruce trying to test his limit by holding his hand over a candle. This coupled with last weeks roof escapades, we are slowly seeing the first signs of him controlling his fears, and growing in to the man who will later become Batman. But of course Alfred is not pleased with how Bruce is handling the murder of his parents, and he is even less pleased with how he is handling the role of the sole guardian of his young master.
The episode is then thrust into the main plot and 2 side plots all beautifully coordinated. The main story of the episode is that 2 unknown assailants are kidnapping homeless kids off the street, posing as part of the mayor's reach-out program. Selina "Cat" Kyle witness this but manages to escape. Gordon and Harvey are assigned to the case, but it is clear that Gordon is not pleased with the general police work of GCPD - the corruption goes as high as the chief of police and the mayor. Frustrated, he tries to keep up his appearence of a saint, but everybody thinks that he killed Cobblepot, so it is hard for him to keep his image without seeming like a hypocrite.

The story's first subplot is following Cobblepot, as he is picked up by two young men along the road, who gives him a hard time. Of course they end up crossing that fatal line when they commented on the way he walks, as it looks like a penguin. He ends up killing one of them and ties the other person up and stores him in a trailer, which Cobblepot buys to lay low. And while that is going on, Renee
Montoya and Crispus Allen from the Mayor's Crime Unit of GCPD is investigating the disappearence of Cobblepot, angry that they have lost their snitch. Their search brings them by his mother's appartment, where we get to see the scewered vision she has of his son.

Second subplot is set in Fish Mooney's nightclub, where she is visited by Carmine Falcone about certain rumours, that tells of her upcoming betrayal. Using her charms she manages to misdirect the
allegations, but one of her waiters at the club does pay the price.
This scene showcases what will most likely be an ungoing plot of the show, the power struggle within Gotham City's underworld, and I find it interesting, how two seemingly civilized people in a blink of an eye just turns ruthless - and I love it!


Back at the mainplot, Gordon and Jim follows up on a lead after they've raided a pharmacy, due to the kidnappers unorthodox method of 'sedation rods/pens', which instantly incapacitates the victim. These instruments are said to have been used back when Arkham Asylum was still running, over 15 years ago. This particular information is very interesting, as Arkham Asylum in the Batman universe, is a central location, as it houses every villain Batman catches. So to know that the asylum has been out of commision for so long is poses a lot of questions, that I can't wait to get answered.
Gordon finds a lead, that leads him and Harvey to the harbour to stop this child trafficking. But in the mids of all this is Selina Kyle, the titular character of this episode. As she herself was almost captured, she is rounded up with the rest of the homeless kids to be transported upstate, to a youth correctional facility (which she knows means juvenile hall). As she does not want to go there she tries to plead, to speak with James Gordon, but she is quickly dismissed. One of the busses that were supposed to drive upstate is hijacked by the kidnappers - the bus where Selina was in.
She manages to dodge them, by showing her stealth abilities to escape the bus when they arrive at the warehouse by the harbour. She even manages to dispatch one of the guards by clawing his eyes out. Ultimately she is almost shot if not by the intervention by James Gordon.

When they get back to the police station Selina ends up bargaining her freedom with Gordon, in return for some intell on the Wayne murder case.




The episode was clearly ment to showcase Selina Kyle, so I guess I can forgive the showrunners for their overuse of her in the first episode. Now I understand that they needed to have her seen the murder to have Gordon follow up on the case, and possibly still keeping his promise to Bruce.
I also liked the fact that Gordon's seemingly murder of Cobblepot has made his position at the police department that more unsure, as he can no longer abide by the same moral compass as before - not without bumps in the road.
The power struggle was also excelently showcased in this episode, and it leaves me wanting more.
An interesting tidbid was quickly mentioned, that the kidnappers was working for a guy called the Dollmaker. The Dollmaker appeared last season of Arrow, as a character who kidnaps beutiful people and making them into everlasting puppets. It is interesting that the show allready uses this guy this early in Gotham, but perhaps it is because of his appearence on Arrow, that they think more people might be familiar with him.

There were also a few things from with this episode. First of all, I feel that Bruce's emotions are perhaps a bit over-acted in certain scenes, varying from one extreme to another. And once again I am not sold on this rendition of Alfred yet, but I am still keeping my hopes up.
I also feel like Selina's constant incisting on people calling her 'Cat' feels like a shoehorning to me. We get that she becomes the Catwoman later down the line, there have been more than a fair share of subtle hints. I feel it's important not to underestimate the viewers intelligence, espeacially when it comes to such an established franchise as Batman.

All in all another great episode with a lot of set-ups for future episodes. I only hope that they do not rush certain characters profiles as they seem to have with Selina this episode.