Gotham’s sixth episode, “Spirit Of The Goat,†sees Gotham’s one percenters being picked off by a supposed copy-cat killer from 10 years ago, The Goat. His signature? Sewing a Liberty Penny into the necks of his victims while wearing a mask that looks eerily similar to the Scarecrow’s. Will Bullock be able to solve the case again?
A show that is surprisingly light on flashbacks utilizes one well at the beginning of the episode. It shows Harvey Bullock in his prime, hunting down a killer that is ravaging Gotham’s finest. Bullock and his partner track the killer to a theater, and his partner tells him to remember Gotham’s only rule, “No heroes.†And very unlike the current Bullock, he rushes in to save the victim. In doing so, his partner is seriously injured, but Bullock is able to put a handful of bullets into the killer thus killing Randall Milkie, the suspected Goat.
These scenes served as a great contrast of what Bullock used to be showing us that he was essentially who Gordon is right now. The way the scene played out was great because it showed that he was the hope for Gotham, that he really believed that he could make a difference. The copy-cat killer lead to a reinvigoration of his police work, and he is actually the much stronger detective in this episode. By carefully taking notes of various mannerisms throughout the episode, Bullock cracks the case once and for all and realizes they were all treated by the same psychiatrist.
While Bullock is the ace in this episode, we finally see holes in Gordon’s game. Throughout the episode, Gordon is off of his game because his fiancee, Barbara, got word from Agent Montoya that they have a warrant out for his arrest for the murder of Cobblepot. The news causes him to be late, which obviously never happens, and really drags down his entire demeanor throughout the episode.
The two leads were great as they usually are, but there was some great characterization amongst a few of the side characters. Cobblepot, yet again, makes great use of less screen time than in past episodes. The scenes with his mother are eerily suspenseful, and those with him uttering the words, “I’m going to be somebody in this town,†with his sinister smirk were perfect. His closing remarks were also vintage Cobblepot.
Edward Nygma was the other character that had a great showing after being the awkward one with a joke or two here and there. Not only did we get more insight into his psychotic mind through his various jokes and awkward mannerisms, we were also given a look into his obsessive behavior when he tried to organize the filing room as he saw fit. Where Cobblepot is an eerie awkward, Nygma is the strange awkward. Just seeing and hearing him on screen makes everything feel weird.
As usual, there were two characters that really rubbed me the wrong way. It appeared Selina Kyle was thrown in there just to say, “hey look, it’s catwoman stealing stuff.†I also don’t really understand Barbara. It seems every episode she is just trying to get information from Gordon to feed to the press or be the liaison between Gordon and the Feds. I feel like they could just do so much more with her, and she is just a standby character.
The Verdict
The cliff hangers in the show are usually pretty “meh†thus far, but this episode left us with a huge face off between Bullock and Gordon after Cobblepot made a grand entrance. As the two finally began to click, things are turned upside down as they are both in handcuffs and at each others’ throats since Bullock assumed Gordon killed Cobblepot. This was one of the better episodes of the season and it finally appears that the runners know who and how much screen time to give to each character.
+ Great seeing a flashback for Bullock
+ Nice scenes with the ever so awkward Edward Nygma
+ Cobblepot’s eerie vibe gets eerier by the minute
+ No Mob stuff
– Barbara’s dialogue with Agent Montoya seems forced/out of place
– Selina Kyle is in this episode but for no apparent reason
