Law Enforcement Bromance and Strike Force Gets Bitten By The Penguin #Gotham #FOX

Law Enforcement Bromance and Strike Force Gets Bitten By The Penguin #Gotham #FOX

All pictures courtesy of FOX 

After the crazy villain uprising and anarchy that was the arc of the first three episodes (especially last week's misguided murder of Jerome) this week Gotham restored a bit of calm to the show as they got back to the basics and began to unravel more of the newest bad guy's true plan. So, let's dig in shall we and pose a few theories on what will happen in the coming weeks.

As most viewers witnessed, Gotham started its season with a bang. You had an Arkham Asylum break by some new billionaire and we saw the triumphant return of Jerome. Though I didn't write about it last week because I was so busy with all of the posts about the new shows, I have to take time to finally mention it here. The fact that they teased Jerome as being the Joker last season was at first unfavorable to me. Outside of one or two instances the character had always remained a mystery. His background and how he got to become this malevolence was one of the best parts of the villain, hell, of the entire Batman mythos. Unlike every other comic book, novel, movie or TV show, his creators dared make him evil because that's what he was. No traumatic childhood, no mental frailty to make us pity him, not even the notion that he believed himself the hero in his own story. No, he was the villain who caused chaos because it was fun. The fact that most people believe that evil is generated from past trauma, yet The Joker had none to identify with is what made him so great. He did bad to see if he could do it.

When they introduced Jerome and said he was beaten and abused and all of that as a child, I cringed. Why explain the devil? Mad no sense. However, I came around to the idea only because I think the kid they got to play him was fantastic in the role. Like, seriously, this guy was darn good. Even though they gave him a background, he had an aura to him that suggested he would be crazy even raised in a loving home. He had both charm and a classic "something's snapped, Mary, and I don't know how to fix it" look about him that fit perfectly into the show. So, I accepted it. Then last week they killed him off which I thought was the worst idea they could

have ever pulled, even worse than giving him a background in the first place. Why? Because now whoever comes after him is a copy of him, a cheap knockoff who, no matter what he does, will always pale in comparison. This was seeing Anakin turn into Darth Vader again. The producers explained that no one comes from nothing and everything is created from a mythos or is just a copy of something before them which on its face is false. Not saying that there are still new ideas in the realm of entertainment because I don't believe there are at the moment, only unique combinations. But the way they set this up is that the real joker will be a carbon copy when he could easily have just been someone created from the madness of the city. He didn't need a rubric on how to walk, talk, laugh, etc. But they've made the decision and no use in dwelling on it.

Anyway, back to tonight's episode. After the shock of killing Jerome, the city returned to a little quiet. With the asylum break and the live TV Jerome fiasco on everyone's mind, Penguin set out to discover who was the puppeteer behind such feats. Luckily (or unluckily), the purple-suited man found him and proposed a business deal. He wanted Penguin to kill two mayoral candidates before he himself entered the adjunct race. Why does he want to be mayor? So he can build some massive skyscrapers on residential land. Huh? So, wait a minute, this guy released loons from prison and had them create chaos that would make him into a hero so he could become Gotham's next Donald Trump? Isn't being the mayor enough without the construction project? Dude, I don't know about your plan. Seems fishy.

In any case, Penguin wants no part of it until it's revealed the man has his flighty mother chained to a bed somewhere. Motivated, he dons his 1930s The Shadow costume and goes to kill one of the candidates himself. One of the witnesses talks even after he threatened them and Jim hops to it.

Speaking of Jim, he finds himself in a budding bromance when the precinct gets a new captain. In what was surely an erection-inducing speech about true justice, honor and bringing the bad guys down, Jim listens to his captain fire about ten cops and threaten to arrest any others doing illegal stuff on the side. I was quite surprised when they both didn't rip their clothes off and go after each other when Jim learned that his captain was also a former jarhead military dog like him. Just what he's been waiting for, a man unafraid of doing his job.

Together they build a team of fresh from the academy topnotch police officers too young to be jaded or corrupted. Named the GCPD Strike Force they answer only to Jim. A first clash comes with Penguin's bald hitman guy in the middle of trying to kill the second candidate. He gets one in the bulletproof vest before escaping but this just reminds Jim of how sticky a situation he's in as his previous deal with Penguin lingers over his head. Even worse, after their scuffle the new captain assigns the force their first official mission: bring down The Penguin. But how will Jim do that when old Cobblepot knows he killed a man as a favor to the crime boss? This is looking to boil over before Christmas break.

There was also a tertiary plot concerning Bruce forming the genesis of a love triangle with him, Selina and a new classmate named Silver. After Alfred punched the crap out of Selina, she got scared away from seeing her not-yet-official boo allowing Bruce to be captivated by the new girl who also happens to be the ward of the new big baddie. This won't end well and will most likely be one of those things that keeps Bruce's relationship with the Kitty contentious for years to come as young hearts may mend easily but don't soon forget. Oh, and E. Nigma finally went on an at-home date with that woman he works with and she actually likes him. He'll probably be cutting her up and stuffing her into a suitcase soon enough.

What do you think? Did you like the way this week's episode felt calmer considering the chaos of the last few weeks? How do you think Jim will handle his secret with Penguin? Who do you think will kill the new villain first: Cobblepot or Jim? Or are you going through Jerome withdraws like I am? Let me know in the comments below.

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “it ain't easy bein' cheesy! "

P.S. I was just eating some white cheddar Bag of Bones Cheetos and I just thought of that. Why do I find Chester Cheeto so cool? Is that weird? It's probably weird. I'll think of a better sign-off next time.  

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