BWW Recap: This Cat Can Scratch and Kids Get Snatched on GOTHAM
By: Jeffrey Walker Sep. 30, 2014
James Gordon digs deeper into the city of Gotham as we learn more about Selina Kyle and child-trafficking. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne tests himself and Oswald Cobblepot rises from the deep. Those are just some of the highlights of this week's episode of GOTHAM, "Selina Kyle."
This week, we find Master Bruce Wayne in stately Wayne Manor holding his hand over a lit candle, just as trusty butler Alfred walks in and catches the boy (literally) red-handed. The relationship pattern of tough love mingled with parental tenderness continues to build.
The teenager Selina Kyle is seen in Gotham's smoky streets, hanging out with street people. A truck pulls up and a jaunty couple emerges to tempt the street toughs with sweets. The nefarious duo, Patti (Lili Taylor) and Doug (Frank Whaley) quickly serves up syringes to subdue the kids and a homeless man is caught in the crossfire. Selina narrowly escapes. The next morning, Det. Gordon is on the scene to investigate the dead homeless guy. Mackie, another street kid, escaped the snatchers by crashing through a restaurant window. Being questioned by police, Mackey confirms that other homeless kids have disappeared.
In the station, Gordon continues to clash with partner Harvey Bullock, who reminds the rookie that he did something dirty the week before - shooting Oswald Cobblepot and dumping his body in the river.
Which segues nicely to the sight of Cobblepot hobbling along the side of the road across the river from Gotham. He is picked up by a pair of young bros who taunt Oswald with the Penguin nickname and face his bloody wrath.
As the investigation into the abductions continues, Bullock and Gordon meet with Captain Essen while forensics techie Ed Nygma creeps nearby. Nygma informs the detectives about the knock-out drug contained in the syringes. To keep public panic at bay, Essen insists on no press, as Gordon and Bullock head back to Fish Mooney's neighborhood.
Before the police return to Mooney's club, crime boss Don Falcone pays a call. He confronts his female crime lord wannabe with her bragging to Oswald that she wants to take over as the big boss in Gotham. Fish grovels appropriately and Falcone accepts her apologies. The Don shows his superior strength by having his goons rough up her one of her waiters, her pretty boy-toy. Once Falcone and his crew exit, Mooney sits with her right hand man Butch and vows that she will kill Falcone herself. Her intensity is fierce.
We find the two cops from Major Crimes, Allen and Montoya, investigating Oswald's murder. They interview Oswald's eccentric mother, Gertrude Kapelput (guest star Carol Kane) among her musty memories of her lamented son. Of course, Oswald is alive and is moving forward with new resolve. He finds a farmer with a trailer to rent but the poor guy is suspicious and Oswald leaves another body in his wake.
Waking up in a dirty and dingy warehouse space, the abducted homeless kids meet another captured youth. Things look bleak.
Harvey and Jim return to Mooney's to ask about the child abductions. She alludes to the old days when pretty girls were enough in the trafficking trade and now tastes are wider. Fish also refers to a "new overseas buyer" but claims no one knows the identity. Later, James is at home getting cozy with Barbara. He mentions the lack of attention for the child abductions and Barbara decides to make an anonymous tip to the Gotham Chronicle. The next day, headlines scream about the cover-up of the missing kids and Captain Essen screams louder at her detectives. Bullock and Gordon look into several companies that make the knock-out drug , including Pharma Supplies. At the Pharma office, the nervous Morry Quillan (guest star Wayne Duvall) faces Patti and Doug and demand more money to provide the drugs and hiding place for the missing kids. For the first time, the child-snatchers refer to their client as the "Dollmaker." (See Sidebar at the end of the recap.)
The COPS arrive and subdue Morry and his janitor and are able to rescue the kids, but not before a brief gun battle and the escape of Doug and Patti. Mayor James commends the detectives for finding the missing children and then unveils a plan to place all of Gotham's homeless youth (and petty thieves, he posits) into the juvenile system. Gordon is not impressed.
Buses are loaded with as many street kids as the authorities can round up, including Selina Kyle, who tells everyone to call her "Cat." She keeps insisting she needs to talk to James Gordon but is placed on a bus anyway. She advises one of the other kids to protect himself by going for the eyes first. Just as she resigns herself to going to juvie, guess who highjacks her bus? The gun-wielding Doug and Patti drive off with a busload of fresh meat for their client.
Good detective work (and old time muscle) lead Bullock and Gordon to Trident International Shipping just in time for Doug and Patti to load up the passel of lost kids into a shipping container for points unknown. Before COPS arrive at the shipyards, Selina escapes once again from the snatchers and has time to incapacitate a guard by scratching his eyes out. (Cat, indeed.)
Gordon visits Wayne Manor at Alfred's invitation and learns the Bruce has been hurting himself. Bruce tells James, "I'm testing myself," as Jim insists it's ok to share pain with others.
With only minutes to spare in the episode, a semi-desperate Oswald is on the phone trying to get ransom money for one of the callous youths he met in the car. The presumed parent clicks off the phone without giving in to the ransom demands and things do not look good for Cobblepot's captive.
At the police station, Selina finally gets to meet James. He points out she is quite a survivor. Selina mentions she has something he may want since he is "a friend of the boy," i.e. Bruce Wayne. Gordon's interest is peaked. Selina says she knows Mario Pepper was a fall-guy for the double shooting of Dr. and Mrs. Wayne and she saw who committed the murder.
Superhero Sidebar: In the DC Comics universe, Barton Mathis is a gifted surgeon, who goes by the name Dollmaker. It seems Mathis witnessed his father's cannibalistic ways as a child, and ended up being a serial killer who makes dolls out of human body parts. We will see if this aspect from the DC canon ends up in GOTHAM.
Also, check out TV Critic Matt Tamanini's article about whether James Gordon is too good to be a modern TV hero, in his latest Spoiler Alert! Column.
See you next week: Same GOTHAM time, same BWWTVWorld location! Let me know what you think in the comments below, and follow me on twitter @jeffwalker66. Before you go, check out a preview for next week's episode:
PHOTO CREDIT: Fox
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