Comic Vine Review

65 Comments

Gotham #102 - Selina Kyle

4

Review and recap for this week's episode

No Caption Provided

Warning: This recap and review contains spoilers... all the spoilers!

The episode opens up with Bruce Wayne holding his hand over a candle, enduring pain. Alfred busts in and asks him what he's doing and sees the burn mark on his hand. He calls him a "stupid little boy," then hugs him and says it will all be alright.

Selina Kyle is checking out a necklace she probably stole while hanging out in an alley. A woman approaches named Patty, with a truck, and she says they're with the mayor's office and have food and are helping the homeless. Selina doesn't go, but her friends do. The woman injects them with something and they faint. One of the homeless gets shot. The man with Patty has to chase down one of the homeless kids and throws him through a window of a fancy restaurant.

James Gordon stares at the dead person in the street, shot in the chest. He has dog tags. Selina is watching him as he does this. It was the man who was shot the night prior. Bullock tells Gordon that this is a lost cause because "bums" die all the time. Gordon talks to one of the cops on the scene about the kid that jumped through the window. Gordon accuses him of being a bad cop.

Back at the station, the homeless kid tells Gordon and Bullock his story about the homeless being abducted. Bullock doesn't believe anything. The kid tells Gordon to find "Cat" AKA Selina. Gordon wants to investigate further, but Bullock doesn't. The two are not getting along.

Penguin is 9 miles out of Gotham, walking down the road. A car stops to pick him up, but screws with him and pulls forward as soon as he grabs the handle. Eventually, he gets in. One of the guys tells Oswald that he looks like a penguin when he walks. Oswald, who was getting along with them, breaks a beer bottle and stabs the passenger.

Bullock and Gordon are talking to the Captain, and she wants to know if Gordon is with the program. Gordon explains the kidnapping situation to the Captain. Bullock complains about it that it doesn't make sense. Nygma walks in and has info about the drug used, in the kid's blood, and it was used at the Asylum. Edward is awkward and doesn't take cues very well. The Captain wants them to follow up at the Asylum. Bullock said it happens on Mooney's turf and he wants to know if she's still mad at them.

Falcone meets with Fish Mooney. Falcone says he talked to Oswald before he died and that the Wayne's death will bring tough times on Gotham. He says there needs to be balance in the city. He thinks the Maroni family will make moves. Oswald told Falcone that Mooney wants to take over. Mooney says she never said anything like that. Falcone doesn't trust her. Falcone has his men beat up one of her men to show his force. Mooney gets up and tells everyone to leave. They do so.

Detective Montoya and her partner are talking to Oswald's mother. She thinks highly of her son, but knows a woman has her in his clutches. There's a tinge of insanity in her, and it looks like she comes from old wealth.

Mooney talks to her second in command, Butch, and makes her plans to take over. She wants Falcone dead but must bide her time. She says she wishes Penguin was still alive because he didn't suffer enough.

Penguin rolls up in the car that he was a passenger in. He rents a trailer to live in and the guy he's renting it from likes his truck and wants to look in it, but there's some dead bodies in trash bags in there.

There are some homeless kids in a holding cell, somewhere underground. They don't know where they are.

Bullock and Gordon enter Mooney's place. Mooney is no longer mad at them, apparently. Mooney is still trying to figure out Gordon. He asks about the missing homeless kids. She says there's a buyer overseas but no one knows why this is happening. Back at Gordon's place, he discusses things with Barbara. Barbara calls the Gotham Gazette to let them know about the homeless kids being abducted and no one caring. It's in the newspaper next day.

The Captain is furious. She wants to know who did it. Gordon and Bullock have leads on where the chemical that knocks out the kids comes from. The guy who sells the group the chemical is furious because it brings him heat. He wants more money, but Patty doesn't want to pay. She mentions she works for the Dollmaker. They argue, but notice the police have showed up. Gordon and Bullock show up and press the gun running the place, who is being held at gunpoint, off screen. It erupts into a gunfight. The bad guys get away. Gordon makes his way back in and finds the room where the kids are being held.

Mayor James talks to Gordon, Bullock, and the Captain about what's happening with the kids. As always, he's shady, like all tv mayors. Alfred is at the police station and tells Gordon he needs to come to the Wayne Manor because Bruce respects him.

Bruce is drawing some screwed up stuff and listening to Black Metal. It kinda sounds like Cradle of Filth. Bruce Wayne loves Cradle of Filth.

Selina Kyle is on a bus with other homeless kids going upstate (Juvie), thanks to the mayor. She tells the lady taking count that she needs to talk to the police. She eventually gets on the bus and Patty gets on and takes the kids away. Looks like Selina is going to meet her maker.... Dollmaker. See what I did there?

The mayor finds out that a bus of kids are missing. Bullock beats the info out of the chemical guy they arrested earlier. They get a new lead on where the kids are going.

The kids exit the bus, but one is missing, it's Selina. Patty heads back on, gun in hand, to search for her. Selina sneaks her way out. Patty searches around, Selina keeps evading her. Patty catches her and holds her at gunpoint, but Gordon comes in and saves the day.

Gordon heads to the Wayne Manor and Alfred tells him that Bruce is becoming a cutter and in so many words, a disturbed young man. Bruce and Gordon chat and Gordon teaches him a valuable lesson that money can't buy everything. Bruce wants to buy the kids new clothes.

Another officer is about to send Selina upstate, but she wants to see Gordon.

Penguin's new place us small and cozy. A phone rings and he answers it. It's the mother of one of the people he attacked, whom I assumed were dead. Penguin wants money or he's going to kill the guy.

Gordon makes his way to the precinct. Selina says she has something Gordon wants. She knows Gordon is different from other cops and that she's been watching him. Selina says she knows who killed the Waynes.

No Caption Provided

Review time! Let's get right to it an discuss a few things that really bugged me with this episode.

Selina being everywhere is tiresome. It's only episode two, but seeing her in the background of so many shots is a bit much. Its really feels like, combine with the Bruce Wayne stuff, like they're shoving a lot of this "kids of Gotham" stuff down our throats.

My other big complaint about this episode, which was probably the same complaint from Tony's review of last week's episode is the criminal holding cells in the station. That seems a bit ridiculous. Holding cells should be in a separate area, especially for a police force that is as large as the GCPD.

Although it wasn't as bad as last week's episode, they still play the "name game" a ton in this episode. Remember, call Selina "Cat" because she said it a ton in this episode. Edward's name was also said a ton. However, when it came to Detective Montoya's partner, his name wasn't said at all.

You know what's awesome about this show? The Penguin is awesome. Cobblepot's tale is easily the most intriguing in this episode. Sure, the main story kicked a lot of butt, but watching this man slowly become the eventual monster he turns out to be is pretty rad. In addition, Robin Lord Taylor (whose name is quite awesome) just kills it in this role. He makes Oswald his own and has this eloquent way of delivering his lines that is filled with innocence, even though at any moment he could stab you with a broken bottle.

Dollmaker? Awesome! There's lots of awesome in the whole episode but adding Dollmaker is wonderful and makes us hopeful for Zsasz to show up. While we never see Dollmaker here, we get to see what he's up to. He's a very weird character, but one that could easily work for this show. I hope they go back to him. They have to, right?

Finally, Donal Logue and Ben McKenzie are straight up fantastic. This is the Harvey Bullock fans know, but you can see the essence of the current character there. He's emotional, over-dramatic, and extremely stubborn. His back and forth arguments with Gordon are great. We could talk all day about how great these actors are, especially Jada Smith as Fish Mooney, but this piece would already be a lot longer than it already is.

As it goes for almost every series, the pilot is weak compared to the rest of the series. If you told yourself that you weren't going to watch this show because you hated the pilot, then you're missing out. This was a great mystery mixed with familiar elements. To be 100% honest, I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this because like many comics fans, I didn't think it could live up to the world of Gotham. So far, though, it really does. Make sure to check out Gotham. I