The mystery of the perpetrator who orchestrated the Arkham breakout resonates within the criminal underground. The Penguin stakes his claim as the King of Gotham now that Fish Mooney, Carmine Falcone, and Maroni are out of the picture. This new gang of criminals known as the Mainiax is trying to muscle into his territory and he needs to know who is controlling them. Unfortunately nobody knows. Oddly Theo wants to see him. To peak his curiosity he meets with Theo to find out what he wants. He needs his criminal expertise to rig the mayoral election by eliminating the competition. The Penguin figures out that Theo is behind the recent events; the breakout, the death of the mayor, and the massacre at the GCPD. When the Penguin refuses, Theo then resorts to blackmail. By using his mother as leverage, the Penguin is forced to do whatever Theo wants. “Kill the mayoral candidates, and your mother lives,” Theo tells him.
Back at the GCPD, Gordon meets the new captain in charge of the GCPD. Michael Chiklis plays a no-holds, take no crap from anybody former Marine, Captain Barnes. His aggressive behavior is a reflection of his character on The Shield. To prove his dominance, he cleans house by firing all the corrupt cops right on the spot. One of the dirty cop tries to go toe to toe with him, but gets schooled by Barnes and throws him out of the precinct. He immediately puts Gordon second in command due to his recent actions trying to clean up Gotham. Gordon is thrilled but Bullock is concerned with Barnes shaking up the GCPD. He believes that the old ways of doing things is the only way to survive in Gotham. Barnes goes one step further and starts up a new unit headed up by Gordon with several police academy cadets that have not been tainted from corruption. Barnes call them Unit Alpha GCPD Strike Force.
Theo’s plan to take over Gotham takes shape when he stages a failed assassination attempt on his life to get the public sway their support for him to run for mayor. The Penguin successfully kills mayoral candidate Janice Caulfield, but unfortunately leaves witnesses for Gordon to question and identify him as the killer. Gordon confronts him about it, but the Penguin reminds him that his hands are bloody as well, and threatens to rat him out to his new BFF Captain Barnes.
Alfred still tries to protect Bruce from harm by convincing Selena to stay away. His method is somewhat alarming to me and Selena. He slaps her for the murder of his friend Reggie and tells her she is no good for Bruce. She gets the picture and leaves crying. Unbeknownst to him about what Alfred did, Bruce gets invited to have lunch with Theo. Grateful for Theo saving his life he gladly accepts. He meets with Theo at the Regency Hotel, there he meets Theo’s beautiful niece Silver St. Cloud who immediately has a connection with. I’m not sure if this part of his master plan, but it seems that he wants Bruce’s friendship so that he can have some influence in Wayne Enterprises.
On a side story, Nygma is having great success wooing Ms Kringle. He successfully asks her out and prepares dinner for their date. Unfortunately, his alter ego is trying to take over. He almost spills the bean about Mr. Kringle’s former boyfriend’s demise, but quickly recovers. Their romance is slowly developing, but he needs to control his alter ego, or it will destroy him.
Barnes gets a tip that the other mayoral candidate is targeted. Gordon and his strike force race to save the last mayoral candidate, Randall Hobbs. Victor Zsasz beats them to it, but fails to kill Hobbs, instead he gets into a gun fight with Gordon and his Alpha Strike Force. Zsasz escapes and Hobbs is alive, it’s a good day for the GCPD. Barnes tells Gordon and his team that they have a new mission. He tells them they are going to take down the Penguin. Normally Gordon will be thrilled to do so, but with his connection to the Penguin, it can get very ugly for him if Barnes finds out what he did
This episode reminds me of a puppet show with a puppeteer pulling all the strings. Theo Galavan’s manipulation and deception is something the Emperor would do in the Star Wars saga. Playing the hero, eliminating any threat or competition, and manipulating others to do his dirty work to achieve his ultimate victory. Gordon is in a sticky mess with the Penguin holding his secret over him. Alfred is playing a dangerous game by threatening Selena in order to protect Bruce. Theo may have made a mistake by threatening and blackmailing Penguin by exploiting his mother. You can do mostly anything, but never mess with someone’s mother.
