Gotham - S1E20 - Under the Knife
Previously on Gotham, ‘Beasts of Prey’
Bruce Gets to Dance With the Cat
We pick up right after last episode with Bruce and Selina on the run from Reggie’s little “accident.” Bruce is having an attack of conscience and Selina has to school him on how reality works. No room for childish ideals. Bruce still wants to find out exactly who Reggie was working for - Bunderslaw - and what he is up to at Wayne Enterprises. Bruce ascertains that all Wayne Enterprises executives will hide their secrets in the safe in their office. Selina tells Bruce to get her close and she will steal the key to the safe. Oh, and before she goes she warns Bruce not to tell a soul about what happened to Reggie. Not Alfred and definitely not Gordon.
Bruce tells Alfred that he will be going to the Wayne Enterprises Charity Ball to show everyone there is still a Wayne at the head of the table. Alfred thinks he is going, but Bruce tells him he has invited Selina. Alfred is thinking, what is that cheeky little minx up to?
Bruce sends Selina a present or two - looks like she is about to play dress up. And when Bruce goes to pick up Selina from Barbara’s place he is clearly in awe. All she can think about is how the shoes hurt.
Bruce and Selina dance at the ball with all eyes on them. Bruce talks about never crossing the line of killing someone while Selina says she would do the same thing over again if need be. Bruce spots Bunderslaw from across the room. Bruce introduces himself while Selina goes to work. And as they celebrate getting the key, Selina sees Barbara leave with The Ogre. The look on her face would lead one to believe her “Spidey Sense” was going off, but she ignores it.
Nygma Finally Gets to Be the Hero
Nygma is playing Sharron Stone in on a bunch of innocent watermelons. Gordon rushes into the medical examiners office and finds that Lee has gone home. I am assuming Gordon is worried his new lady friend may be a target of The Ogre now that Gordon is investigating him.
So what do you do with fresh watermelon you just played serial killer with? You make your own fruit basket, of course. But Nygma walks in on his most favorite girl, Ms. Kringle, kissing another man, Officer Dougherty (Zachary Spicer). As Nygma talks to Ms. Kringle he notices some bruising around her wrist. When asked about them she tells Nygma that they are none of his business and she goes back to work. Nygma suspects someone is beating on his future girl.
Nygma confronts Dougherty. Dougherty attempts to school Nygma on the ways of love. You know, how women need a firm hand to keep them in their place. Nygma says he won’t let him hurt her. What do you think will come of that threat? Dougherty does not seem to be too worried.
Nygma is now following Ms. Kringle home, and yes it is as creepy as it sounds, and yet shows that he does care in his own way.
Dougherty comes over to Ms. Kringle’s house later that night and Nygma is there to meet him. Nygma repeats his vow of stopping Dougherty. He tells him that he must leave Gotham and never come back. Dougherty laughs and hits Nygma and Nygma stabs him in the gut about eleven times. That constitutes as a crime of passion right? Nygma looks at the knife and seems a little worried.
Gordon Tracks the Ogre While the Ogre Tracks Someone Else
We find The Ogre looking at some press clippings of our Gordon. I wonder what he is thinking?
Lee is at her home taking a bath when her phone rings and then there is a sound of broken glass somewhere in the house. She gets out to investigate, as all good danger whores do, but she grabs a knife first. As she passes through the living room with the outside window obliviously open she looks under the bed and out pops a cat. She picks it up and goes to put it outside on the fire escape as Gordon startles her and she hits him with the phone. Gordon tells her she’s in danger due to his investigation int The Ogre. Lee likes being seen as a “loved one” as Gordon tells her that he loves her for the first time.
We next see the Ogre hunting at a bar. Wonder who he is looking for? If it is not Lee who can it be? Barbara better run!
Barbara brings The Ogre back to her place, of course. He is thinking she is still dating Gordon and when she tells him she does not have a boyfriend, he seems to get annoyed. Even pulls a knife and skulks towards Barbara when her back is turned, but he changes his mind about killing her as she tells him no one would care if something happened to her. She continues to talk and whatever she is saying intrigues him (I sometimes tune out when she is talking.)
Gordon and Bullock bring in an old cop, Detective Ben Mueller (Laurence Mason) to ask him about a case he ran. Turns out the case was The Ogre’s first victim. Mueller attempts to discourage both of them from pursuing this further. His wife was murdered and he has a daughter. Pictures of other victims get Mueller talking. He points them in the direction of a cosmetic clinic where the original victim worked. As Gordon and Bullock go run down the lead they just received, the Ogre is watching them and taking pictures as they leave the GCPD.
Gordon and Bullock are at the cosmetic clinic and interview a Dr. Darren Cushman (Michael McCormick). Unfortunately, Dr. Cushman cannot give them any information without a warrant. As they walk out of the clinic, Gordon sees a car he recognizes from the front of the GCPD building. The Ogre is in the front seat and proceeds to try to run them over. Gordon and Bullock report back to Captain Essen. During the meeting, Gordon gets a phone call. It is The Ogre! He tells him that he needs to stop before he hurts someone he loves. As we all know, Gordon does not do well with threats and in Gordon fashion, he proceeds to have a press conference calling for anyone who knows The Ogre… let him know that he is coming after him.
Bullock turns up a lead that points to one of Gotham’s oldest families, the Van Groots. After finding the house, they come across a man being hanged. They cut him down and Gordon handcuffs him to a table. Guess you can never be too sure. Bullock goes into a bedroom looking for Ms. Van Groot and finds creepy pictures with a particular person’s face scribbled off and Ms. Van Groot not looking too good lying on the bed… or what was left of her.
The hanging man is Jacob Skolimski (Daniel Davis) and he is not talking. The boys do find out he was Ms. Van Groot’s butler who has been lying about her death so that his son could use her money to fund his son’s escapades. Skolimski does say that his son has made one mistake, everything else is a lie. Turns out, Ms. Van Groot lead Slolimski’s son on by letting him believe he was her son. When the son wants to be legitimized, Ramsay Bolton style, Ms. Van Groot laughs at him. The son in turn kills her and becomes The Ogre, a killer with mommy issues. Oh, and did I mention he was deformed at birth and had plastic surgery to make him all suave and stuff? Well he did!
At the ball, Barbara is watching others dance as The Ogre comes up and asks her to the dance floor. Of course, Barbara dances with him and they bond over stories of how no one really knows them and rejects who they really are. Pretty people problems!
Gordon figures out that it isn’t Lee the Ogre is going after, but Barbara. He races over to her place and finds Selina, who tell him Barbara was at the Wayne Ball but left with some guy.
Back at The Ogre’s place, the two misfits are having a drink. Barbara is nosey and asks about a couple of double doors.
“What’s through there?” she asks.
“Go find out,” he responds.
And just like that, Gotham is transformed into 50 Shades of Grey!
Don and the Penguin
Penguin is interviewing people to help him take out Don Maroni. He talks to the second best hit team in Gotham led by a guy named Conner (Clark Carmichael). He maneuvers Conner into moving up in the world by killing Maroni for Don Falcone. Not sure how Falcone will feel since he is not being consulted on this business transaction.
Penguin might have made a mistake, because Don Maroni shows up at his club and has a drink with his mother. After some banter back and forth, Maroni decided to spill the beans on Penguin and his psychopathic ways. Mommy Penguin is not all that happy and Penguin threatens Maroni, who is the second person in this episode who does not seem to be all that afraid when someone threatens their lives.
Penguin’s mom tells him that she is not some “bumkin” and confronts him on what Maroni said. He lies, of course,which I think mommy realizes before she decides to go to bed. Penguin is distraught and the nice flower delivery guy that was bringing Penguin’s mother flowers pays the price.
Wrapping Up
This episode was good with some iffy acting at times, but entertaining just the same. The best storyline was Gordon chasing down the Ogre while The Ogre chases down Barbara, which was surprising to me because usually Gordon’s storylines are the least entertaining. The funniest was Penguin’s mom getting a dose of the truth about her precious son, ridiculously laughable with Penguin’s mom fawning all over the place. And no Fish this episode. Guess she is still flying around the ocean bleeding all over the place. Only 3 more episodes until season one is over. Are any of us really excited? I will try to be.
