Gotham NR Podcast – Rise of the Villain: Strike Force review

Oswald has found that Jerome’s short-lived reign of terror has been bad for business. Penguin refuses to be Theo‘s lapdog, but has a change of heart when Theo reveals that he’s holding Gertrud hostage. A frustrated Penguin, knowing that he himself has the upper hand, reiterates the deal that allowed Jim to be reinstated. His first step is to flush out the rats in the GCPD.

Synopsis: Captain Barnes (Michael Chiklis) is called to duty to create a law-abiding task force, with the help of Gordon. One of the officers he fires is named Coulson – coincidental? Barnes makes it clear there will be no more corruption, and any officer who doesn’t follow the straight and narrow will not only lose their job but face criminal charges as well. No more infighting and no more apathy.

On the other side of the arc, the new captain, Barnes, is finally introduced and he is an over-the-top, cliché hardass. I can’t help but think that Barbara will be his ultimate downfall. The encounter gives away Theo as the mastermind behind the Arkham breakout. He meets Tigress (Jessica Lucas), who has an invitation from Theo Galavan (James Frain). He thinks the city is a shit hole and he wants to rebuild. A new plan is to have Penguin murder the other candidates so that Theo can run unopposed. He needs someone to eliminate his competition. Which, based on last night’s episode, seems to be the direction Gotham is going in. Then the Penguin sends Victor Zsasz after the final candidate, but the newly-minted strike force intervenes and manage to save that one in the nick of time, though not a host of his bodyguards. But Gordon rightly still has worries that they can handle the streets of Gotham. Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) has another boss who believes in him, but will his past dealings with Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) come back to haunt him?

Theo receives a Medal of Valor for his bravery at the benefit. With the former, the billionaire is receiving an award for his heroics and a drive by limo fires at him. He’s also got that Mayor campaign running smoothly so far, and there are few obstacles in his way. She approaches the butler with her usual bravado, and he pops her in the chops. While waiting, Alfred sees Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) and slaps her for killing his friend last season. When no one answers, he orders the group to remain quiet: any move or action has to be approved by him. There’s the never-ending story of Nygma and his descent into madness.

She shows up at Nygma’s apartment for dinner, and things go well at first. Nygma’s imaginary double appears again and argues with him.

I not-so-correctly predicted that the young blonde girl shown in previews would be Talia al Ghul, future love interest/sexy-time partner of Bruce Wayne. Oops. Nygma tries to cover his tracks by saying he didn’t mean it literally, just that Kringle’s boyfriend was dead to her. The vibe gets weird, and Kringle excuses herself to go to the restroom. He also informs Selina that Bruce will be much better off in his life if she’s not around. The two then share a kiss. Penguin punches holes in Theo’s prospects. Butch may have worn a mask, but Penguin didn’t go to any great lengths to disguise himself, and there’s that pesky walk that is his obvious tell. Theo brings Bruce to meet Silver and they hit it off immediately. Bruce’s is pure: he simply wants to thank the man who he believes saved his life. Before he can torture the poor kid anymore while dredging up old history, Bruce spots a pretty girl playing in the fountain outside the restaurant. He asks Bruce if he’d like to meet Silver, and Bruce says yes.

Finally, Wayne returns to school, begins training and meets with Theo Galavan. The bald baddie strolls into Hobbs’ campaign headquarters and then goes all Terminator. Hobbs makes a run for it, but Zsasz catches up to him outside just as Gordon and his unit arrive. Zsasz takes a bullet and is forced to retreat but not before he’s spotted by Gordon.

The bigger problem is no one seems to know who is responsible for springing the psychopaths but Tabitha Galavan’s arrival at the meeting certainly gives Penguin an idea. He knows right away that this is Penguin and seeing his feared hitman chasing Hobbs out of the building only confirms his suspicions. Furthermore, I was completely distracted by the fact that Gordon should be extremely anxious about the new captain: especially since he just fired a ton of corrupt cops.

Gordon says he’ll face whatever is coming to him, and Penguin says he’ll do the same. Gordon soon surmises that Penguin was behind the assassinations and confronts him.

Fox continues Season 2 of the Batman prequel series, Gotham.