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Gotham season 4, episode 1 review: Pax Peguina

By Priscilla Yecora

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Reviewing the premiere episode for season 4 of Gotham.

Season 4, episode 1 of Gotham opens with a masked Bruce Wayne fighting some bad guys. Just when we think that the day is saved, one of the goons whimpers about having a license to commit crime from Penguin. As Bruce takes off, we see Ra’s al Ghul watching from the shadows.

Next, a Gotham City wedding celebration. All is fun carefree at this over-the-top celebration until a small band of outlaws show up and crash the wedding. Victor Zsasz appears to enforce the license rule, which these outlaws lack, and chases the unlicensed outlaws away.

Penguin meets with the new mayor and police commissioner to make a deal for his “licensed crime union”. They take the deal making sure that the GCPD will not interfere. However, James Gordon didn’t receive this update when he stops a stick-up at his local bar/cafe.

Harvey Bullock tells Gordon how this new license is good news for crime in Gotham City. Even the other officers at the GCPD are convinced that Penguin’s licenses are saving the city. It still doesn’t convince Gordon, or Bruce who is thinking of a way to best Penguin.

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The outlaws from the wedding go to Arkham to buy Jonathan Crane. With Crane’s fear formula, the outlaws hit a bank to send a message to Penguin. At the crime scene, Gordon knows where to look and they head to Arkham to question the warden. This leads Gordon and Harvey to the outlaws’ apartment where a trap had been laid for the detectives.

Next, we see Selina in training as she walks into a dark alley and takes on a couple of thugs. With some victory pizza, Tabitha and Selina head back to their hideout where Zsasz waits for them with an offer from Penguin.

Bruce visits Gordon at the precinct. We start to see Bruce and his detective powers shine as he gives Gordon a bit of advice on how to catch the outlaws.

Penguin holds a press conference to discuss the opening of his new nightclub. It isn’t long until Gordon shows up unannounced to rub in Penguin’s face that the outlaws aren’t scared of him. Playing into Gordon’s plan, Penguin calls the outlaws out over the nightly news; and the outlaws take the bait.

The night of the grand opening, the outlaws gear up with fear gas and lock up Crane in a closet with the scarecrow telling him to “face your fear”. Face his fear he does, indeed, as he becomes his fear: The Scarecrow.

At the grand opening of the Iceberg, Bruce confronts Penguin on his license policy, Selina and Tabitha agree to join Penguin’s team, and Bruce finds Selina on the roof to apologize. More importantly was Penguin’s one-on-one time with a frozen Ed right before the festivities begin. Ivy interrupts Penguin’s reflective moment and he rudely dismisses her.

The outlaws think they have the upper hand before Penguin and his goons detain them. Before a public execution can take place at the Iceberg, Bruce stands up to Penguin declaring that the outlaws should be turned over to the police. Then, Ivy sabotages Penguin’s plans by cutting off the lights to the club.

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At the end of the chaos, Penguin is hit with fear gas. The episode ends with a masked Bruce locating the list of criminals with Penguin’s licenses.

The biggest highlight of Thursday’s episode is Scarecrow. We saw the beginning of his story in season 1 and how his father was obsessed with perfecting the fear formula. We felt sympathetic towards Jonathan Crane, but excited for the transformation that was to come. Now that the Scarecrow is loose in Gotham City, what deepest, darkest fears will he bring out of our heroes?

We should keep our eye on Ivy as she is the biggest lowlight for me in this episode. She’s not someone with a goal like Selina, rather she is driven with getting even. Selina mentions at the end of season 3 that Ivy has no loyalties to Penguin, and we clearly see how she sabotages his grand opening simply because he was rude to her. Keep an eye on Ivy as the season progresses.

The biggest takeaway from this episode is what Penguin revealed to be his darkest fear: The Riddler. Now that he’s under the influence of fear gas, and is making enemies in the crime world, Penguin is left vulnerable. Who will take advantage of this information and defrost the Riddler?

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Episode Grade: 3.0 out of 5 stars

It’s been an amazing hour of Gotham, but this first episode was the set-up for more to come later this season. Because I wasn’t at the edge of my seat, I graded this episode a solid 3 out of 5 stars. I felt this episode was the appetizer round and next week we start to dig into the main course. In a preview of next week’s episode, we see Lucius Fox equip Bruce with a bulletproof suit. Dodging bullets, spreading fear, now it gets exciting in Gotham.

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