Gotham - S2E14 - This Ball Mud and Meanness

Previously on Gotham, ‘‘A Dead Man Feels No Cold’

We begin with a “wait, what?” moment. Granny from the Addams Family is back? Oh. never mind, it’s just Oswald having trauma dreams thanks to Hugo Strange’s get-well sessions. But I don’t think Penguin going all Negan on his mama is going to rehabilitate anyone. I wonder how long he can hold out? Not long if he keeps getting ice cream for dinner. Later in the episode, Professor Strange feels like he is making progress and to prove it, Penguin is given the opportunity to show if he has changed with the ice cream man. He passes and is declared sane by the city. He is being released from the care of Arkham. He has a certificate and everything.

Selina is hiding amongst the trash and she brings Bruce what he asks for: a gun. Then the writers give us a public service announcement about gun safety:

“They ain’t for show and they ain’t for protection. Guns are only for one thing.”

Now that he has a gun, Bruce is ready to go hunting with Alfred for the most dangerous game. And that game is called Cupcake. No joke! Cupcake is a man who knows where to find “Matches” Malone. They find Cupcake in a place called Mutants, which looks more like fight club with sticks to me. At Mutants, Bruce talks too much and gets Alfred in a fighting match with Cupcake as the extras from MJ’s “Beat It” video look on. Alfred gets to teach Bruce how to outlast a big man…then he gets to take a nap. And then we learn that fight clubs take checks… I guess.

Next, Bruce goes against Alfred’s wishes and goes to find Matches. Alfred figures that would be Bruce’s play and calls in Gordon and Bullock for assistance. Bruce finds himself in a club that looks to be dedicated to Jerome the maybe-dead Joker. The lead singer of the band playing knows Bruce is there to see someone named “Jerry” and she is happy to show him the way.

Turns out she is Jerry and she likes playing god, but she does lead him to Matches. Bruce attempts to hire Matches to kill someone. I was not expecting that.

Gordon arrests Jerry attempting to find Bruce. Then the show did a very interesting thing. It channeled The Dark Knight while Gordon interrogated Jerry. In the end, Jerry tells Gordon where to find Bruce and after talking to Matches, Bruce determines Matches is not a monster and decides not to kill him. Still, Bruce’s gun does kills him when Matches uses it to commit suicide, and as such, Bruce still feels guilty for his death.

Gordon and Dr. Tompkins are not on the best of terms right now. Dr. Tompkins is worried about Ms. Kringle. No one at the GCPD knows where she is and HR just gave Dr. Tompkins her last paycheck. Really? No direct deposit? If you work for any government agency you know you have direct deposit. And I really hope they are weekly checks for $522.12? GCPD does not pay much. But I bet she was not in it for the money. I can say that being a public servant myself; please, no hate mail. 

Anyway, Gordon goes to Nygma to see what he knows. He explains he had not heard from Ms. Kringle outside of the note she left saying she left town with Officer Dougherty. Gordon asks to see the note but Nygma says he threw it away. Nygma thinks Gordon is trying to play a game with him to see who is the smartest. And I don’t think that Nygma’s ego can pass up a challenge. 

Best Scene: Jerry and Gordon doing their best Batman and Joker from The Dark Knight interrogation scene.

Gordon: “Trying to make me angry. Do you want me to hurt you?”

Jerry: “ Could ya? I have nowhere else to be.”

It was gold, Jerry!

Most Proclitic Scene: This show is supposed to be about the creation of Batman and his villains. Bruce questioning Matches as to if he remembered him or not, and seeing the anger and sorrow in Bruce’s face really spoke to that.

Best Line: Selina brings Bruce the gun he asks for. He asks, “Is it loaded?” She replies with her most snarky gangland voice, “Ain’t no point in an unloaded gun.”

Most Ridiculous Scene: When Penguin is given ice cream for dinner and his table mate is unhappy he didn’t get any. I can relate. I think we all would like ice cream. What flavor you ask? Mmm… Moose Tracks!

Honorable Mention 1: Nygma is literally pulling from the comics and doing his internal dialogue out load for all of GCPD to hear and no one hears him!

Honorable Mention 2: Bruce’s walk of crime and debauchery. He walks by what is supposed to be a prostitute and an assassination as a car drives by. Too on the nose for me. And the adventure begins.

Most Geeked Scene: Dr. Strange mentioned they are using a variation of Dr. Crain’s (aka the Scarecrow) formula on Penguin.