Gotham Recap And Review - Everyone Has A Cobblepot

So, did tonight’s Gotham episode, titled Everyone Has a Cobblepot, live up to last week’s episode? Not quite, but it still had its moments. As Gordon makes some headway in the fight against corruption, Mooney is also seen climbing her way up the Dulmacher ladder.

Spoilerific Recap

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At the hospital, Alfred Pennyworth is awake and recovering from last week’s stabbing. When James Gordon asks him the details of the attack, Alfred stops short of giving away Reggie’s identity. Gordon finally has to leave when he’s commanded back to the station by Sarah Essen. Bruce Wayne is perplexed as to why Alfred wouldn’t tell Gordon all the details. Alfred tells Bruce that he doesn’t believe in snitching. At that moment, Alfred attempts to leave the hospital to perform his own investigation, but is ordered back to bed by Bruce.

Fish Mooney awakens with one eye bandaged — due to her own “incident” from last week — and is greeted by Francis Dulmacher. He’s humored and impressed by Mooney’s rebelliousness since her arrival. She tells him that she wants to be his second-in-command, and continues on to list her credentials. Dulmacher isn’t impressed and leaves to allow her to eat and recuperate. Mooney goes to a mirror and removes the bandage to find that they have replaced her eye with one that doesn’t match her original color.

Harvey Dent and Essen tell the disappointed Gordon that Flass has been released (from his arrest in The Fearsome Dr. Crane) via testimony from an unknown witness. There’s nothing they can do, but Dent did some research and found that the witness was provided by Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb. What’s even worse is that Loeb is now backing Flass to be the president of the policeman’s union. Gordon storms out of Essen’s office and runs into Flass, who gloats about his release.

Gordon goes to Loeb’s office to air his grievance and accuses Loeb of corruption. When Gordon won’t stand down, Loeb presents a recording of Harvey Bullock confessing to the providing of false evidence against Flass.

Back at GCPD, Gordon confronts Bullock about his confession tape. Bullock defends his actions because he was blackmailed. Bullock, in the past, was forced — at gunpoint by his superior — to kill a mobster. Bullock calls the murdered mobster his “Cobblepot.” Most cops at GCPD have a “Cobblepot” and Loeb uses these to forcefully get his way. Bullock tries to protect Gordon by warning him not to go up against Loeb. Gordon believes it’s his duty to expose this corruption.

Edward Nygma surprises Ms. Kringle in the lab. In his own awkward way, he tries to break news that Flass has been released. Since Mr. Kringle and Flass were dating, Nygma wanted to tell her that Flass is bad news. Touching Nygma’s arm, Ms. Kringle explains that she won’t be going back to Flass and that there are far better candidates in the world. As she leaves, Nygma feels as if he has a chance with her.

Gordon meets with Dent at a diner and reveals that Loeb’s source of power has been the blackmailing of everyone around him. Gordon wants to destroy the evidence that Loeb has been using. He thinks that the information is most likely in the hands of someone Loeb trusts, like an ex-wife. Dent reveals that Loeb’s wife had died over twenty years ago and initial rumors pointed to him murdering her. When Dent asks Gordon what Loeb has on Bullock, Gordon fakes ignorance. As Dent comments about how a cop’s partner can be weighed down by such guilt, an idea strikes him.

Gordon and Dent seek out and question Loeb’s former partner, Charley Griggs. Pressing Griggs, they discover that even he is being blackmailed by Loeb. Griggs, wanting out from under Loeb, hints to Gordon and Dent that they should pay a visit to a Chinese bookkeeper named Xi Lu.

At Dulmacher’s facility, Mooney proposes helping Dulmacher with a steady supply of organs because the prisoners trust her. Dulmacher agrees to a probationary test run of her skills — she is to free the guard that’s in her place and provide him with prisoners. Dulmacher then shows Mooney what would happen if she were to fail. He reveals the Manager, who’s now screaming and horrifically reconstructed with various body parts.

At the hospital, Selina Kyle pays Bruce and Alfred a visit — she found out through Ivy, who was making her weekly rounds stealing food from bedridden patients. She hugs Bruce to cheer him up. Bruce tells her that it was his fault and that he’ll track Reggie down to find out who hired him. She offers her help, but Bruce refuses so as to not risk anyone else getting hurt. Selina still keeps her offer open though.

Gordon and Dent seek out Xi Lu at the basement of a Chinese restaurant where the bookkeeper is running a money laundering operation. The two ask about Loeb, but Xi Lu pretends not to know him. After answering a call, Xi Lu confirms the identity of Gordon and Dent. Exiting the area, he commands, in Mandarin, his other accountants to kill them. The accountants arm themselves with various knives and chase Gordon and Dent out of the establishment. The two are saved when Bullock crashes his car through a fence.

Driving to a safe area, Bullock tells Gordon and Dent to let him handle Griggs, who originally told them to seek out Xi Lu and almost got them killed. Quickly apprehending Griggs, Bullock scares the information out of him by hanging him out of a rushing car with his head close to the pavement. Griggs reveals that Carmine Falcone has the evidence they need. Knowing that Loeb and Falcone are the only ones who actually know where the evidence is, Gordon proposes using someone that’s close to both of them — Oswald Cobblepot.

Visiting the club, Oswald happily welcomes Gordon and Bullock. After discussing what the two want, Oswald proposes a deal due to the high-risk nature of going behind both Loeb’s and Falcone’s backs. He wants a future favor from Gordon and ten minutes of access time to the files where he gets to take what he wants. Gordon agrees to five minutes and will only allow Oswald to take files not involving cops. Throughout this negotiation, Bullock plays Gordon’s Jiminy Cricket and tells him that the deal is a bad idea.

At the prison, the prisoners are growing wary and losing faith in Mooney, thinking that she’s abandoned them. Just as they’re suggesting killing the guard, Mooney returns. She tells them about her deal with their captors and demands that they release the guard in a show of good faith. To meet the second requirement of the deal, she sacrifices two prisoners — a woman and Kelley, the man in the suit who had stayed loyal to Mooney.

Gordon, Bullock, and Oswald pull up to an old farmhouse, a location Oswald overheard Falcone saying to Loeb as being “secure.” Oswald doesn’t want to go in with the two because someone might identify and report him. As the three argue, an old man, Jude, approaches the car. Oswald pretends to be on an errand from Loeb, and the three get invited in by Jude.

Inside, the three meet Jude’s wife, Marge. The couple are taking care of the house for Loeb. The meeting is innocent enough as they question why Gordon and his friends are here. When a noise is heard from upstairs, Gordon is persistent in wanting to check it out. Marge leaves to get the keys. As Jude keeps the three occupied, Marge reemerges with a shotgun. A shootout ensues and Jude is shot. Marge, about to shoot Oswald, turns and tries to run when Gordon takes aim. She trips over a table and knocks herself out as a result. Gordon has Oswald watch the two as he and Bullock go upstairs.

Accessing the attic which has been secured by a padlock, they find a woman dancing and singing to herself like a little girl. She greets them and introduces herself as the daughter of Loeb — Miriam.

At GCPD, Nygma attempts to ask Ms. Kringle out on a date by surprising her with a bouquet of flowers. He’s heartbroken when he finds out that she’s already dating one of the officers, Tom. As the couple leaves, Nygma angrily destroys the bouquet.

Back at the farmhouse, Gordon and Bullock speak to Miriam, who turns out to be mentally stunted at a teenager’s level. They try to ask her about Loeb’s hidden files, but she has no knowledge of them. She offers to show them her hobby — jewelry made out of the bones of birds she catches and kills. Gordon digs deeper into the death of Loeb’s wife and finds out from Miriam that she killed her own mother out of jealousy. Miriam felt that her mother’s singing upstaged hers so she bludgeoned her to death with a candlestick holder. Loeb covered up the killing as an accident — this is his “Cobblepot.” A noise is suddenly heard downstairs. Gordon and Bullock run down to find Oswald on the ground, and Jude and Marge escaping in their truck.

Gordon confronts Loeb about Miriam. Loeb acknowledges that Miriam is mentally ill and he welcomes Gordon in exposing him. Loeb accuses Gordon of using Miriam to blackmail him, and offers to resign immediately if Miriam is kept a secret. However, Gordon has his own plans. If Loeb resigns, another corrupt commissioner will only take his place. Gordon would rather keep Loeb where he is, considering Gordon now has leverage over him.

To start, Gordon wants Flass to be tried fairly, and he also wants all the evidence Loeb has on Bullock and every single cop turned over to Dent. Loeb knows he’s a dead man if he does that, so he only agrees to Flass being retried and letting Gordon have Bullock’s file. However, Gordon isn’t finished and wants one more thing. In a press meeting, Loeb publically endorses Gordon as a candidate for president of the policeman’s union.

Gordon hands Bullock the files containing evidence of Bullock’s corruption. Taking it, Bullock makes a comment to Gordon that he may convince himself that he can do good to make up for any past transgressions, but there will also be that one corrupt thing that stands out. Bullock tells Gordon to be careful of Oswald when he comes asking for that favor.

At the club, it’s revealed that Oswald had a previous acquaintance with Jude and Marge and he purposely allowed them to escape. He tells them that he only has one ticket for the trip to Arizona and that they’ll need to decide among themselves who’s going. Marge immediately chokes and kills Jude. When she asks for the ticket, Oswald tells her that he has no ticket — he only needed her help in murdering Jude because he only has one shotgun shell left. He proceeds to shoot and kill her.

At the prison facility, Dulmacher is impressed that Mooney followed through in getting him more prisoners. He brings her on board as part of the team. He then reveals where they’re housed — on an uncharted island.

Good Moments

Commissioner Loeb’s creepy adult daughter explaining what she does with the birds she catches.

Bat Signals (References and Giveaways)

Ms. Kringle’s new boyfriend is named “Tom.” This could be a reference to Thomas “Tommy” Burke, a detective in the Major Crimes Unit who appeared in Gotham Central (December 2002 – April 2006).
The birds that Miriam Loeb killed were starlings. This could be a reference to the character Starling who was part of the Birds of Prey.

Riddle Me This … (Predicting the Past)

Since Loeb is, in a way, being blackmailed by Gordon, how will events play out in the future when Batman is introduced? In the Batman: Year One (February 1987 – May 1987) story arc, Loeb blackmails Gordon with evidence of his affair with Essen after discovering that Gordon was secretly helping Batman. Will this future event be erased from the show’s canon?

Final Thoughts

Everyone Has a Cobblepot was a so-so episode that had some good scenes which were well-played by the actors. In a rare instance, this episode did surprise me with the ending — I never suspected that Oswald knew Jude and Marge all along. Then again, my mind may have been preoccupied with wanting the next shocking scene involving Fish Mooney.

I think one of the biggest issues I had with this episode was the scene involving Xi Lu. First, let me set the record straight. This complaint has nothing to do with being politically correct, or being offended because I’m Chinese. I am not offended at all. I just feel that the writers could’ve done a much better job in setting up the character and conflicts. I found it rather humorous that every Chinese character they’ve introduced works in Chinatown and runs a restaurant that has Peking ducks hanging in the window. Also, for this episode, all the assailants wielded knives when they could’ve just wielded firearms. Now, this could also be an homage to old kung-fu movies. If it is, then well-done.

The way this scene could’ve been elevated was not by introducing the character in some grimy Chinese restaurant laundering money. What if he was just a man sitting on a park bench? And Xi Lu isn’t even the man on the park bench. The man would just be someone who relays information. Xi Lu may be a woman or someone you would never suspect. If they had to stick with the restaurant scenario, Xi Lu could also be the hostess or some lowly waiter. They should’ve taken a page out of Breaking Bad where Gus Fring was introduced as a mundane boring franchise owner.

These little details are things that would keep the audience on the edge of their seats when watching Gotham — always surprise your viewers. The case was the same with Jude and Marge. Yes, the revelation that they were in cahoots with Oswald was a surprise, but the initial twist that they were actually luring Gordon and Bullock into their home wasn’t. I saw it a mile away. The story twist of having the sweet old granny actually be a killer has been done way too many times.

Onto awkward moments. One that really stood out for me was when Edward Nygma asked if Tom was Ms. Kringle’s new boyfriend. Coming from Nygma, that’s an expected odd question. However, it was strange how Ms. Kringle confirmed it. It almost felt like elementary school. Ms. Kringle should’ve been surprised by that question because normal people don’t become boyfriend and girlfriend with only a few dates. Also, did they not see the bouquet behind Nygma’s back? He did a really bad job of hiding it, the flowers were literally peeking over his shoulders.

Everyone Has a Cobblepot was well-acted, but because of mediocre story decisions, the episode didn’t shine. The writers need to see what has been done in other shows and see if they can surprise the audience. Try to break the mold and give us something new. It’s already a comic book, so going wild would not make things unbelievable.

Next: Catch up on Gotham with a recap and review of Red Hood

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Gotham Recap And Review – S01E18 – Everyone Has A Cobblepot

By Steve Lam | Mar 3, 2015