Gotham comes out with a crazy second episode in “Knock Knock.” The first episode did a great job introducing various new moving parts in the world of Gotham, and this episode delves into those new cogs with gruesome intent.
The episode opens with Theo Galvan kicking around a man, later known as the mayor, with a steel box on his head. If he doesn’t follow Theo’s demands, Theo will put a spider in the cage within him. Alas, there is no spider, but the Mayor didn’t known that before he relented.
Theo’s posse of Maniax are at it again, and we get to see their somewhat comical brutality. They put a handful of people in straight jackets and painted letters on them. Then, he proceeded to toss them off a building. The banter amongst the group is funny, but what really made this scene was the people talking about what to do about the mayor and seeing body after body fly past the window. Once they are finished, the group of bodies spells Maniax.
As if we didn’t think they were absolutely clinical already, Jerome starts fighting with one of them, chainsaw vs samurai sword. You know, a typical fight between a group of crazies. Galavan comes up with the idea of playing Russian Roulette to see who should be the leader of the group. In atypical Russian roulette fashion, but very Joker Fashion, Jerome pulls the trigger the second, third and fourth time proving he is indeed the leader. But, where they are excited about their entrance, they have something much bigger in store in the second half of the episode.
I love the inclusion of this group into the Gotham universe. They are ridiculously dysfunctional and evil, but I still feel myself kind of rooting for them solely for the fact of just to see what would happen. As for Galavan, he is obviously playing the long game with the Maniax. He wants to take over Gotham, but the reasoning is still uncertain.
The other large story arc presented in the first episode unravels a bit further here, and we get to meet a dear friend-to-be of Bruce Wayne. Just as Bruce is about to boot up his father’s old computer, Alfred smashes it with a crowbar and just about destroys it. The banter between the two is genuine because, as Alfred describes it, he is just looking out for Bruce. You can just feel the emotion between the two. Besides, Bruce may not like what he finds. With his emotion at defcon1, Bruce fires Alfred. Thankfully, we know we will see Alfred shortly.
The scene where Bruce apologizes to Alfred and asks him back does a great job of showing young Bruce’s maturity. His ultimatum to Alfred that he’s either with him or against him furthers this point. Later in the episode, Alfred meets Lucius Fox and cheekily asks him if he knows how to fix computers. This is a pivotal moment where Lucius Fox joins a life in which he will create devices to help save Gotham.
As things are becoming patched up at Wayne Manor, the same cannot be said for the Gotham precinct. After the bodies were tossed off a building, Jim heads the investigation, but he can’t seemingly connect two points to save his life. So what do you do when you’re a C-Tier cop in Gotham? Go ask your partner turned bartender for some help.
It’s quite clear that he wants to recruit Harvey back into the precinct, but his girlfriend fiance is having none of it. But, he does break the case wide open, which leads to some huge dominoes crashing down later in the episode. Through Harvey, (and not Jim’s detective work) they get a lead that the victims that were thrown off the roof were from the same shipyard. Bingo! They discover a gas tanker missing and realize that’s the key to the investigation.
In typical Gotham fashion, The Maniax target a bus full of cheerleaders. They stop it and begin dousing everything and everyone in gasoline. But, as Jerome is doing this, we get to see his joker-side show through. The best quote of the episode was when Jerome said, “it’s between you and a senior citizen bingo party, youth won the day.” Jerome can’t get the lighter to light which was very reminiscent of when the Joker from The Dark Knight tries to blow up Gotham General but the button doesn’t work. The cops show up, and Jerome and his rag tag group of Maniax fire with reckless abandon, since they know that the cops can’t shoot at the bus. All but one of the Maniax does escape, and just as Jim is about to question him, he gets shot by none other than Tabitha Galvan. Jim saves the day…for a moment anyway.
While the cheerleader barbeque didn’t go quite as planned, they have quite the killing spree in the precinct. Naturally, Baraba phones Jim, and he realizes that she is actually inside the precinct. Instead of wondering why she’s there and thinking something fishy may be happening, he chases after her, a perfect move to get the only half-useful detective away from the precinct. He tries to tell her that he can get her help, but she says that she’s already free, and her henchman continues to pummel him. She then gives him a kiss.. Typical. Creepy. Barbara. I kind of like it though. Â
Back at the precinct, once again, in a scene pulled by the Joker in various forms of media, the Maniax and Jerome are dressed as policemen and simply walk through the front door to kill everyone. Jerome saves the new anointed commissioner for last kill. They banter back and forth, and the commissioner tells him that no one will even care when he dies and spits at him. Of course, Jerome says in an odd way that kind of turned me on. Typical Jerome… The final line he was to deliver was, “we will spread across the city like a virus, and there’s nothing more contagious than laughter.†But, the camera man stole his line, so he shot him and killed the commissioner. Â
So, instead of it being like there are no cops in Gotham, there actually are no cops in Gotham. The killings in this episode were ridiculous and definitely set a tone for the season to come. I’m  interested in how quickly they will turn Jerome into the Joker because he is well on his way.  Bruce’s maturity is definitely a plus, and with Lucius in the fold, things can definitely get interesting.
As Jerome’s tape roles, it ends with, “Hang onto your hats boys. Be surprised you ain’t seen nothing yet.†I seriously can’t wait to see where this wild ride goes, and it’s nice having Bullock back in with the GCPD.Â
