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Gotham S01 E17 – New character danger

Previously: A circus murder. For real.
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Red Hood

Marines: A crime van pulls up along a curb. A bunch of people get off, including one dude who was stuffed in the itty bitty trunk, even though there are at least three rows of seats in the van proper. Your friends suck, mate.

The five criminals walk in a line and Trunk Dude whips out his RED HOOD. The boss man asks him WTF is up with the hood and the Sucky Mates wonder if they should’ve gotten hoods too. Boss Man look a little put-off but not enough to stop the heist. They bust into the bank and Red Hood pushes to the front and starts with the dramatics, yelling at everyone that they just want the money and hopping up on the teller desk. We watch an employee hit the alarm button as Red Hood keeps Villain Speeching. An old man security guard reaches for the gun in his boot. He jumps up and fires six shots at Red Hood who laughs because he wasn’t hit. Old Man Security gets punched in the face for his trouble.

Alex: I’m commenting a while after watching the episode so my memory is a little hazy, but I do vividly remember absolutely hating the Red Hood guy who overacts the crap out of every line. I think I said this on Twitter already, but he reminds me of the kid who finally got a speaking part in the school play and totally milks every single line he gets.

Mari: Your memory hasn’t failed you: accurate.

Red Hood and his Sucky Mates run out of the bank as Red Hood says he just knows the Red Hood gave him bullet dodging powers. A bunch of police cars are heading toward them and the Sucky Mates think they are toast. Red Hood jumps on the trunk of a car and makes it rain with fistfulls of his stolen bank money. People crowd the streets with their grabby hands, allowing Red Hood and the Sucky Mates time to keep running.

GOTHAM HAS OMINOUS CLOUDS.

Post-credits, Gordon is at the bank, having a look around and he spots the security camera and looks at it pensively. Like seriously, all these cops arrived on the scene of a bank heist and Gordon just had the thought, “security camera might be helpful.” A+. Good detectiving. (A: That’s why he gets promoted to Commissioner eventually, I guess? He’s the only cop in town who can grasp basic concepts like ‘check security cameras’.)

Gordon watches the tape with a couple of bank workers, including the guy who tripped the alarm. The Lady Bank Worker says that Old Man Security doesn’t like to wear his glasses, which is why he missed shooting Red Hood. TRUE AND ACTUAL PLOT POINT. Lady Worker says that Red Hood seemed almost heroic, since he was only stealing bank money, and he gave a bunch of it back to people on the street like Robin Hood. Gordon, ever the hero naysayer, says Red Hood was just giving money out to assure his own escape.

Next, Gordon notices that one of the Sucky Mates was constantly checking his watch. The thieves knew what the police response time would be. Gordon asks if the alarm was recently tripped for anything else. Lady Worker tells them that a couple of weeks ago, a smoke bomb set the alarm off, though everyone thought it was a prank. Gordon asks for the surveillance footage from that incidence too. He’s on a roll.

Wayne Manor. It’s storming out again. Someone is banging on the door and Alfred loads his gun as he goes to answer. I’m not sure that anyone you’d have to use a gun on would knock? But what do I know. Alfred’s face gets really furrowed and concerned when he recognizes the guy at the front door. He asks Reggie how long it’s been and Reggie helpfully replies, “twenty years.”

We cut to inside the Wayne Manor. Alfred’s got Reggie all dry and bundled. Reggie explained that GCPD picked him up for sleeping outside while homeless (or whatever) but one of the cops was an ex-Marine. The cop took pity on him (A COP WITH PITY, WHAT?) (Editor’s note from the future: I should’ve known it was a lie.) and advised Reggie to look up some guys from his old regiment. Alfred asks what happened to him and Reggie gives us the full sad story of losing someone, losing his house, taking on a few shameful jobs and some level of alcohol addiction.

Baby Batman enters and Alfred nervously jumps up and introduces Reggie. Baby Batman for his part is very cordial and invites Reggie to stay with them for a few days. A random person just appeared on Gotham, so there is a 95% chance this isn’t going to end well. (A: For them or us. Every new character brings with them the possibility of interesting actual plot, followed by swift crushing disappointment.)

Fish’s Random-Ass Storyline. She’s being led through a building to presumably meet the man in charge. As she passes by rooms, she sees people missing limbs and finally a man being iced down in a tub. I DON’T WANT TO WATCH THIS. Fish is brought to an office and the man behind the desk asks her to sit please. She stays sanding and he more forcibly tells her to sit.

More security video on a cassette tape and an old TV because LOL WHAT IS TIME? (A: And yet they have smartphones). Gordon’s identified the dudes casing the joint and even rudely grabs Bullock’s glasses to better see that one of the Sucky Mates was wearing a work shirt on camera.

We cut to Kleg’s Auto where Red Hood and his Sucky Mates are counting money and being prickly. Red Hood is real excited about their front page headline, but the others are less up on giving away some of their money and also press in general. Red Hood insists that this is all good and that his Pinterest project failure of a not-reall-a-hood is good luck. This man cannot read a room, so he keeps on, jumps on another car and says that whoever wears the hood should lead. Boss Man shoots him in the chest and grabs the hood. That was rather easy.

Random. The man behind the desk says he’s the dude managing the facility and “The Doctor” owns it. LOL. NO.

 

Fish gets up because she doesn’t deal with managers, apparently. Manager tells her to sit because he’s totally got permission deal with her. She asks for the doctor’s name and Manager supplies, “Dulmacher.” I SEE, I SEE. This is only kind of a random sub-plot. I vaguely remembered The Dollmaker being mentioned before and a handy Google search reminded me of the child trafficking thing they once did, back in episode 2.

Alex: Look at you! Remembering stuff! This passed me by completely. I’m torn between ‘Actual continuity! Good job, show!’ and ‘Wow, you’re recycling villains already?’

Fish says that the basement is hers and it’ll stay that way until Dr. Dulmacher sits down with her. Manager says they got off on the wrong foot and offers her a shower, fresh clothes and says maybe they can talk after that. People have done crazy things for hot water before.

Penguin’s club. A comedian (A: Another Joker?!) is bumbling through his set and people get up and leave. Penguin spots his bartenders talking. He hobbles over and asks what the problem is. The one with the SAG card informs Penguin that they are out of booze. Penguin tells them to order more, and they have, but…

From the end of the bar, Butch pipes up that it’s Maroni’s booze and he’s a little angry with Penguin these days. Maroni supplies this side of town and nobody is going to cross him to help Penguin. Butch says that his blood, sweat and tears are invested in this club, so watching Penguin fail isn’t as fun as it should be. I feel like that’s another potential tagline for this show. GOTHAM: NOT AS FUN AS IT SHOULD BE. Penguin says he’s off to secure some booze and Butch tells him to be careful, because he might just cross Maroni and find himself in a life or death situation he’ll conveniently escape without a scratch again. He doesn’t say that exactly, but you know.

Gordon and Bullock finally make it to Kleg’s. Bullock starts asking for dirty details about Dr. Inara, because even though they rode the whole way here presumably together, he has to do this kind of thing now, during official police business, so we remember what kind of cop Bullock is. Did you forget? Because now he’s going to drink soda and eat cold pizza just after they discover Red Hood’s body. Bullock figures that since this dead dude was the leader, they probably don’t have to worry about those other thieves now. Right! Great police work there, buddy.

Cut to Boss Man Red Hood and the rest of the Sucky Mates robbing another bank. Boss Red Hood mangles his way through the same speech OG Red Hood gave during the first robbery. He even begrudgingly makes a handful of money rain and then the gang takes off.

GCPD. Bullock says that as long as someone is around to wear the red hood, this thing could go on forever. Very different to five minutes ago when he was all, “that guy’s dead! Game over!” He also thinks catching these guys is going to be tough since people in Gotham like them more than they like the cops. Piece of advice then: BE BETTER COPS. To completely nullify this idea that any part of their police work would be difficult, in a record breaking split second, Maybe-Alvarez walks in with an eye witness. Cool.

Wayne Manor. Baby Batman comes in from a run and grabs his boxing gloves. Sketchy Reggie is there and asks what he’s training for and then sweeps BB into an impromptu lesson. He’s pretty rough on the kid, tripping him up twice. Then things get a little crazy when Reggie keeps yelling at BB to hit him. BB gets a few punches IN THE FACE and then squeals that Reggie’s stomach is too big? I’m not sure but it sounded like “your stomach’s bigger than me.” Rude, BB.

Sketchy Reggie tells Baby Batman to go for the ankles or fight with whatever is available around him. Reggie grabs two canes rich people like to keep on hand in case they are ever limping (IDK, I’m poor. Don’t look at me), but Alfred finally interrupts the fight (A: He let it go on for an awfully long time first though). He tells Baby Batman to go shower because these sketchy fighting methods aren’t their style. They are training for discipline and skill not ankle biting and hair pulling. BB looks rather pissed but takes off anyway. Alfred tells Reggie that BB makes him a better person and to leave the past in the past.

Penguin and some henchmen pull up near some dock. Penguin laughs because there are only two workers unloading an alcohol shipment. He tells his henchmen to go get the booze, but just then, a couple of cop cars pull up. Penguin is cursing his luck, but then Butch appears to smile and say the cops are in his pocket. Having shady cops grab the booze is much better than going in guns blazing. And when sketchy cops come a dime a dozen, why wouldn’t you go this route?

Babara is sad and drinking. Barbara being on my screen makes me sad and want a drink. Selina asks if she’s okay, because apparently she’s still hanging around this apartment because there is nothing weird about this. Barbara changes the subject to how pretty Selina is, I mean, if you get rid of the dirt and crappy clothing that are an unfortunate side-effect of poorness. Barbara gets an idea.

Inside, she’s grabbed a bunch of clothes for Selina and Ivy to have, including cocktail dresses and evening gown: for the street urchin who doesn’t think lack of a closet should mean lack of style. Ivy picks up the green sparkly jacket. Barbara grabs a dress and leads Selina to a mirror. She tells Selina that’s she beautiful and she can use that beauty as a weapon. Selina turns around and asks how far that strategy has gotten Barbara. BURN.

Alex: UGH. As if I didn’t hate Barbara enough already, here she is telling a teenage girl ‘Appearance is everything! You just need to be pretty!’ Go away now please Barbara.

Mari: Line-up. There’s a really tall dude in the line-up and they even make a point of drawing attention to this fact, and I have no idea what’s going on. The witness easily identifies Boss Man Red Hood. Bullock wants to book him, but Gordon suggests letting him go, tailing him, and catching the rest of the Sucky Mates.

Semi-random plot point. Fish comes back all showered and in a white get-up. Manager tells her that she’s got very lovely eyes and they are going to take them from her. It’s either that or kill her. Fish says he forgot option C. She grabs a spoon nearby AND GOUGES OUT HER OWN DAMN EYE. OH MY GOD. HOW MANY TIMES CAN I TAG THIS POST EYEBALL TRAUMA?

Ew. And the eye is just on the floor and Fish smashes it with her foot before she passes out.

Alex: Credit where credit’s due, this was probably the first time the show’s made me sit up and yell ‘OH MY GOD WHAT WHAT WHAT NO WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!’ rather than semi-dozing through each episode.

Mari: Wayne Manor. Baby Bruce has brought an old bottle of wine for Sketchy Reggie and Alfred to share. Alfred is a little unsure at first, but it’s wine, so why the heck not? Later, Reggie is telling stories about the past. It’s all jokes and chuckles until Reggie brings up that one time they didn’t complete a mission and Alfred was captured. Alfred’s had just enough of this memory lane thing and says he should tidy-up before bed. Sketchy Reggie laughs at him, but Baby Batman stands also and says it’s time for bed. He leaves, but stands just outside the door so he hears when Sketchy Reggie calls Alfred a killer. Reggie wonders why Alfred is trying to hide his deep, dark past from the boy. It’s all very mysterious-lite, because I think the depth and the darkness of Alfred’s past is just that he killed people while in the military? IDK. Maybe not! Prove me wrong show!

Boss Man Red Hood gets back to his apartment (Gordon and Bullock are parked downstairs) and the twitchy Sucky Make waiting for him. Twitchy says that he needs the Red Hood because his girlfriend is about to break-up with him. Boss Man says no, so Twitchy shoots him. Gordon and Bullock lightly jog their way upstairs. Bullock starts questioning Boss Man and won’t call an ambulance until Boss Man gives up the names of the other Sucky Mates. Gordon calls the ambulance himself, but Bullock consoles himself by not applying pressure to Boss Man’s wounds.

This whole Red Hood thing is just… Fine, I’ve been waiting until the end of the episode to say my piece about it. I just almost broke here at the idea that this piece of scrap would be so coveted, when everyone with a pair of scissors and a few red scraps COULD MAKE THEIR OWN. But okay.

Alex: Excellent self-restraint, Mari! You hang in there!

Mari: Gordon finds a bunch of loan rejection letters from the banks that were already hit. From his bloody puddle on the floor, Boss Man is all:

 

But about opening a bakery. Gordon notices that there’s a third rejection letter, meaning there is a third target. Boss Man is like, “OMG. WHERE IS MY AMBULANCE?”

Penguin’s. Butch pours a drink for Penguin and he sniffs it suspiciously. Butch says he’s not trying to poison Penguin. He wants the club to succeed and for Falcone to trust him, primarily because he’s tired of being a side-kick. They toast to that. Penguin asks if Butch misses Fish, because he does, even though Fish mostly wanted to kill him. Penguin proposes a toast to Fish, but Butch say she got what she deserved.

Wayne Manor. It’s storming again. Alfred catches Sketchy Reggie creeping and stealing. Alfred tells him to leave and Sketchy Reg apologizes before STABBING HIM. Alfred goes down and then in slow, I’ve-Just-Been-Stabbed-O-Vision we see Baby Batman run in. He calls 9-1-1 and tells them his “friend” has been stabbed. Thas cute. Baby Batman freaks out and I just want to get real close to the screen and whisper, “don’t worry. Alfred lives.” I mean, that’s what I’m saying to myself.

Sucky Mates. One of them is scared that now that they are down to 3, they might not be able to control the situation. Twitchy, appearing to be much less Twitchy now, says they don’t need to worry. He dramatically dons the Red Hood.

The Sucky Mates don’t get far, though, because the GCPD has them surrounded. Twitchy Red Hood decides he’s going to shoot himself out of this situation. The police open fire and his mates go down. Somehow, Twitchy Red Hood doesn’t get hit, but he does run out of ammunition. Gordon calls for the cops to hold their fire as he gets closer to Twitchy Red Hood. TRH puts his gun down but then just pulls out another. Every cop present puts 2-3 bullets in him and he goes down.

Gordon and Bullock approach his body. Gordon roughly pulls off the red hood and Bullock looks at him, dead serious and says, “I need a danish.” I PROMISE YOU, THAT’S WHAT JUST HAPPENED. I hate this show. (A: brb getting a danish)

Gordon gets a call and runs off. Baby Batman is at Alfred’s bedside. When Gordon walks in, BB says he can’t lose Alfred and ends up crying against Gordon’s chest. This would be a lot sadder if the music weren’t screaming at me, “OMG ISN’T THIS SO SAD?”

Wayne Enterprises. Sketchy Reggie gives a report to the board. He tells them that Baby Batman doesn’t have anything concrete to come after him. BB’s evidence board is replicated before them. Reggie says that if Alfred lives, he’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks, so this is the time to make a move on the kid. The board thanks him and pays him. Sketchy Reggie adds that BB is a Very Good Kid, but no1curr.

Crime scene. Apparently, when Gordon was running to get to Alfred, he tossed the red hood/evidence aside. IDK. Some random kid picks it up, puts it on and makes a finger gun in the direction of the cops.

As far as I know, the red hood is associated with the Joker so ha ha ha, more Joker non-leads or something? I don’t care. I thought I would have a larger rant here about this, but I’m all tuckered out. They tried to set up this whole thing about it not being about the person behind the mask but the ~*idea*~ of the mask. COOL STORY, GOTHAM.

And here’s something that’s actually cool: Everyone still playing along with #gothamsnark! We’re one episode away from being all caught up, meaning I’ll be ready to join in again when the show is back from break in April. Snark is the only way to survive.

 

 

Next time: Fish tries to work her way up the prison system in Gotham S01 E18 – Everyone Has a Cobblepot.

 

Marines (all posts)

I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.





Alex (all posts)

I'm a thirty-year-old postgrad living in Scotland. When I'm not writing (which, between my degree and Snark Squad, is almost never) I watch entirely too much TV, and live in constant fear of the day that I run out of things to watch.





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Marines

I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.