If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: Carmine Falcone comes to town, making things complicated for Gordon, Sophia and Penguin. Alfred tries to get through to Bruce once and for all, Nygma struggles to gain control over the Riddle persona, and Tabitha attempts to make Grundy remember his past. Meanwhile, a familiar smile resurfaces in Gotham. (IMDB)
Writer: John Stephens
Director: Danny Cannon
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 42mins
So this is the midseason finale. It had a lot to cover, touching all the characters and their storylines. Since the beginning, the series has had too many characters which muddles the story and doesn’t make it as easy to follow but who cares at this point?
Before Sofia could get back to Penguin, Carmine takes control and demands that she return home. As she was about to enter a van, a vehicle drove by and shot at all of them, killing Carmine and injuring Sofia. Penguin denied to Zsasz, a man who was still loyal to Carmine, that he was responsible. Bullock returned at Carmine’s funeral and told Gordon that he should bait Penguin into doing something that he could arrest him for.
After keeping Sofia away from Penguin, Penguin came to the GCPD looking for her but was denied before he and his goons were escorted out by some cops who no longer worked for him. This inspired Gordon to call on the GCPD to suit up for a show of force. Meanwhile, Gordon needed something to pin on Penguin so Sofia told him about blowing up Martin who wasn’t dead, however, Gordon didn’t know that. When Gordon came to arrest him, Penguin claimed he wasn’t dead and moved somewhere else, however, Zsasz as revenge told Gordon that Martin was dead before joining Sofia.
Gordon later warned Sofia not to unify all the gangs in Gotham or he would go after her. Pyg, or Lazlo Valentin, escaped at the end of the last episode but he showed up here and it was revealed that Valentin was a contract killer who impersonated other serial killers who may have taken the Pyg act a little too far.
Sofia also confessed to arranging to have Carmine killed with Valentin shooting her to avoid suspicion. Sofia then killed Valentin. If Gordon were to arrest her, she’ll the authorities about how he was responsible for all the cops Valentin murdered. Sofia could have killed Gordon but she needed him to run the GCPD and control him. Bullock later stopped by the GCPD to drop off his gun and badge.
Bruce had been going on a dark path this season, becoming an extremely unlikable character since killing Ra’s al Ghul and this continued here. To try and change his mindset, Alfred packed him some bags to go to Switzerland. Bruce wanted him to stop whatever he was doing but Alfred couldn’t. Alfred didn’t want to stop him, however, Bruce wasn’t giving him much of a choice. Alfred beat him pretty handedly so as a response, Bruce fired him.
In other news, Ed was still fighting his former self because he may or may not be in love with Lee. On the other hand, Tabitha abducted Grundy to try and get him to remember her but didn’t seem to until several shots in the head with a metal pipe.
The last scene of the episode was a surprise, an unwelcome surprise but still a surprise. Jerome is back and began to plot with Penguin who has become unhinged once again.
Overall, this was a decent episode that lost momentum around halfway through as it felt obligated to cover all the lesser characters. So Sofia is in charge now. The writers have given her far too much credit by making her some sort of mastermind. The Pyg reveal took his impact away after not knowing his real motivations for so long. Bruce is annoying and Jerome should go away but both don’t appear to be happening anytime soon. This midseason finale did not create much hope that back half of the season would be anything more than the mediocrity we’ve witnessed so far. Maybe things will change though it’s not likely.
Score: 7/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.