Review: ‘Gotham – S1E7 – Penguin’s Umbrella’ From The Editor

   Gotham’ is a continually maddening show, and not solely by virtue of the fact that its content chronicles an entire city’s descent into madness. Where earlier today we gained further confirmation the Batman prequel drama intends to succumb to its worst instincts in highlighting yet another pint-size portrayal of a future villain (seriously, has anyone heard from Ivy Pepper?), mere hours later “Penguin’s Umbrella” unfurls as the show’s most on-point and exciting episode to date. There’s a palpable sense of energy throughout, whether by the increased focus on musical cues and camera work, or by the many conflicts of the first six episodes exploding off the page, and I’m left to wonder why the series has such difficulty keeping a consistent tone. It’s still messy here and there of course, but tonight’s hour afforded a thoroughly clean sweep of its major conflicts, positioning ‘Gotham’ in a much better place going forward.

   The series plays to its strengths with “Penguin’s Umbrella,” not necessarily in alluding to future characters or examining any particular aspect of Batman psychology, but rather in allowing its established characters to live and breathe in their own messes, finally providing a bit of catharsis and accountability. Gordon is finally brought to task for his unanimously-terrible decision to spare Oswald Cobblepot’s life, and in doing so strives to set right as much as he can before an assured suicide mission to bring down either Carmine Falcone, or the corrupt Mayor Aubrey James.

   Gordon’s primary concern right now is the welfare of his fiancee Barbara Kean, a vulnerability exploited more than once in this episode. Thus far, Barbara’s been one of the show’s least sympathetic characters (and in a story of crooked cops and criminals that’s really saying something) in that she’s given us no reason to believe she does anything beyond worry about Gordon and lounge about her lavishly over-sized apartment. Barbara doesn’t get much more to do this time around, but at least Erin Richards proves she can project fear when a gun’s pointed at her head.

   Somewhat less effective through the hour was Gordon and Bullock’s brazen raid on the Falcone compound, though however admittedly ill-conceived as their plan may have been, it was nice to see the two settling their differences and committing to the endgame, if only to strengthen their partnership moving forward. It’s a damn sight better than what the narrative arranged for Barbara this week, hitting a fine trifecta of threatening her with rape, literally putting her on a bus, and yet somehow still endangering both her life and Jim’s big plan by the end, all because she loved Jim too much to stay away for good.

   The episode’s true fulcrum is Robin Lord Taylor’s awe-inspiring Penguin, who plays Maroni, Falcone, and Gordon like a master pianist. After killing Maroni’s suspicious second-in-command, Cobblepot convinces the mob boss he’s too valuable to turn over to those who wish him dead, advising him instead to offer Falcone a worthless warehouse full of toxic waste built atop a Native American burial ground. (Maroni’s obviously seen Poltergeist.) Then comes the episode’s closing scene, in which Cobblepot approaches Falcone on his estate, informing him that all is going according to plan, and revealing an alliance which we learn was formed in the pilot.

   Overall, “Penguin’s Umbrella” felt like something of a reboot episode for the series, now that all of Gordon and Cobblepot’s deceptions have been thrust out into the open, and the major mob and precinct dynamics seem largely to have returned to the status quo. There’s still the murder of the Waynes to solve, and whatever next maneuver Fish concocts in her war against Penguin and Falcone, but it was nice to see tonight’s hour bringing such strong catharsis across the board, along with a few especially electric action scenes. There were of course more than a few LOL moments we’ll look back on tomorrow, but “Penguin’s Umbrella” clearly had a lot of love and planning around its source material.