BWW Recap: Colm Feore Guest Stars as 'Dollmaker' Doctor on GOTHAM Episode 19, 'Everybody Has a Cobblepot'
By: Jeffrey Walker Mar. 02, 2015
Colm Feore - seasoned actor of stage and screen - guest stars tonight as Doctor Dulmacher, the physician who harvests body parts from the captors sharing dungeon space with Fish Mooney. Det. James Gordon goes into action pulling back the secrets of the Gotham police commissioner and meets guest star Nicholle Tom as a girl with a secret. Bruce Wayne offers clues that point to Wayne Enterprises' corrupt board of directors. And D.A. Harvey Dent makes his return to GOTHAM.
Just four episodes from the end of season one of GOTHAM. We will see what gets wrapped up and what wounds will still be open tonight.
Opening: Alfred is still in hospital, recovering slowly, under the watchful eye of Bruce and Jim. Alfred and Bruce also lie to Gordon about the attacker. "You don't set coppers on your mates," Alfred tells Master Bruce and tells his charge we needs to work on the case. Bruce orders him back to bed.
Mooney awakens after surgery to repair her ripped out eyeball to be greeted by Dr. Francis Dulmacher - guest star Colm Feore - who is very impressed by Fish's tenacity. After a brief talk, the doctor leaves Fish and she examines what should be a gaping eye socket but finds a shiny, new blue eyeball looking back at her.
At GCPD, Captain Essen urges Jim to use caution after the police commissioner reinstates Det. Flass after he was arrested weeks before for murder. The commissioner is confronted by Jim but the bureaucrat has new evidence that says false testimony was given against Flass. Gordon is shocked to hear his partner Harvey Bullock's voice on the recording.
Gordon confronts Bullock who says he had no other choice other than to lie to keep his job. They have dirt on him - "My Cobblepot never came back," he tells Jim - and that is what the commissioner does to his cops, J. Edgar Hoover style. In the crime lab, Ed Nygma talks to the little cutie who works in the police department about Arnold Flass being released.
Gordon meets with D.A. Harvey Dent to let him in on Commissioner Loeb's cache of dirty cop secrets, which must be well guarded and squirreled away. Dent has a big idea and takes Jim to the police locker room. They meet Loeb's old detective partner Griggs to ask him about the secret files. The old cop warns them they are in too deep, but Gordon and Dent press him on the dirt. Griggs says they should ask Shi-Lu, and old Gotham bookie.
Back at the institute, Dr. Dulmacher shows Fish around the facility and some of the patients while she still works on him to use her as his right hand. He agrees to her proposal conditionally, but she must pass a test first. The good doctor shows off his office manager behind a curtain, revealing his newly transplanted forearm and hand - that of a dainty female. So, if she fails the doctor's test, she might end up with the legs of a lumberjack.
Selina pops back in to Bruce's life and has a slightly tender reunion with Bruce. He tells Cat who stabbed him and knows it is connected to the Wayne Enterprises board. Bruce knows if he can prove the connection it will help and she offers to help.
Jim and Harvey Dent head to see the Chinese bookie in the secret backroom counting house. Shi-Lu denies he knows Commissioner Loeb but receives a phone call urging the bookie's helpers to go after Dent and Gordon and they barely escape with Bullock's help. They know Griggs tipped off the bookie and Bullock knows he can get Griggs to tell more. Griggs is roughed up but spouts the name: Falcone. He tells Bullock and Gordon they are dead men now. Since Falcone is involved in the cover-up of Loeb's secrets, Jim thinks that Oswald can help them. The cops head to the club to meet their Cobblepot.
Oswald is reluctant to help, knowing the danger is high. Gordon says if Cobblepot helps them, he will owe him a favor. He will help, if he can also take some of the files. They agree.
Back in the body donor dungeon, the other inmates are restless and Fish returns. She insists they return the guard unharmed for starters. And they give the doctor one of the inmates.
Bullock and Gordon are taken by Penguin to a big old farmhouse where the secrets are kept. The detectives are skeptical about the information. Inside the house, they meet an old couple who look like they stepped off of the "American Gothic" painting. The couple chats with the cops and they are somewhat suspicious of them. They hear a weird noise and start to investigate when the woman pulls out her shotgun and starts shooting. Gordon and Bullock investigate the house and find another resident of the old house: a seemingly crazy, young lady living it what looks to be a child's nursery. Miriam Loeb is her name and she asks the cops if her father sent them. The commish has his own secrets. BTW: TV's own Nicholle Tom played Miriam to a hilt. She is remembered as a regular on THE NANNY as a teen and has grown into an intense actress making her name in many guest roles, plus the star of the CBS TV film, THE BOOK OF RUTH.
Back at the police station, Nygma asks Miss Pringle on a date, but she has a new boyfriend, a handsome and affable fellow. Nygma does not take it well. Back at the old farm house, the cops question Miss Loeb. She talks about her dad's visits but doesn't know anything about anything else stored in the house. She also talks about her mother, who died under mysterious circumstances. Maybe Miriam witnessed Loeb kill his wife. Miriam shows off her hobby: jewelry made from the bones of starlings she kills in her attic/loony bin. She rambles some more, and reveals she took care of her mother with a candlestick. (No word about the conservatory or Prof. Plum.) The old couple overtake Oswald and get away just as Miriam gives Penguin the stink eye. "You look just like a bird," she whispers. And we just learned how she loves her birds!
In the final moments of tonight's GOTHAM, Gordon returns to Loeb's office and brings the commissioner one of Miriam's hand made necklaces. Loeb admits she is sick and that he could weather the scandal. Gordon doesn't want Loeb to step down, since now he has leverage. Jim wants Flass and the crooked cops tried fairly. Loeb says he will give up Bullock's secret file and Miriam will stay put. Gordon agrees on the condition that Gordon be commended publicly. Jim hands Bullock his secret file containing all the dirt. Bullock is not proud of the bad things he did. Harvey also reminds Jim Oswald will return for the favor. At the club, Penguin says he can let either the husband or the wife go but not both. The old lady is kills her husband and then Oswald shoots her.
Back at the institute, Dr. Dulmacher is impressed by Fish and agrees to her joining upper management. He also knows he has her at his disposal, showing her that the facility they are in is located on a remote island, surrounded by the ocean.
ABOUT THE EPISODE: I am disappointed we only saw two scenes with the injured Alfred and Bruce following up on the big ending from last week. My guess is, next week or the week after, Bruce will pursue trying to gain more evidence against the crooked board members. I was pleased that Harvey Dent (the future Two-Face) was back in action. And now the "Fish-trapped-somewhere-dangerous-but-right-up-her-alley' subplot has at least progressed to the point of understanding the big picture. Dulmacher - a.k.a. "The Dollmaker - was brought up way back in episode 2 ("Selina Kyle") when the street kids were being rounded up. Glad they finally came back to that plot thread.
Speaking of plot: We have to wait until April to begin wrapping up season one. Episode 19 will not return until April 19. Check out the preview below. And tell us what you think about GOTHAM in the comments below or head to Twitter and follow @BWWTV World #Gotham.
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