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sunlitroom · 6 years

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Gotham – s4e11 – Queen Takes Knight

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

The Pyg fiasco, and the unceremonious ditching of Harvey. Sofia says Jim wanted a gangster,and that’s what he got. I have to hear Pyg fucking oink again. We learn his real name is Lazlo Valentine. Lee likes Ed now. Bruce is not the hero Gotham needs. Sofia used Martin as a pawn, so Oswald faked his death. You wanted a war - you got one!

As always, long post will be long. There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)). There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism. There will likely be inchoate screeching over the angst truck hitting my favourite again. Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

At the Iceberg Lounge, the loyal Mr Penn bustles in with some men, waiting for Oswald’s instructions. Stupid music announces this week’s instalment of Girl Gang Badassery, with Sofia joining them. She stares down her nose at Mr Penn

Where is Penguin, little man?

(An aside, Sofia has evidently inherited her father’s disdain for anyone who doesn’t match her particular pattern of acceptable. No doubt Oswald is also that freakish little man in her mind, too)

Jim and other officers are hunting for the escaped Valentine. They run up some stairs to find an almost dead black market doctor, choking on his own blood. Jim follows his gaze to the wall behind him, where Valentine has left another of his whimsical messages

Toodles Gotham, it was a gas

Jim is wearing an awful beige coat that doesn’t suit him. Given his actions later, he deserves this sartorial punishment.

At the Iceberg Lounge. Tabitha is torturing someone who is wailing in agony, presumably - although I hope not – Mr Penn. Barbara, meantime is complaining that while they’re here, Oswald is out calling on his support amongst the gangs. Don’t worry, Barbara. It doesn’t matter how much ingenuity we know Oswald must have demonstrated on building himself back up after every downfall, the political alliances he created, all the legal trickery – he’ll wind up fucked over when the storyline demands it.

Sofia’s face barely flickers at this. She says that if they kill Oswald, then the gangs will support her. She’s still a Falcone

Barbara rolls her eyes

Yeah – you mentioned that

Tabitha saunters out. Whoever she was torturing doesn’t know where Oswald is. Sofia’s phone rings. Her face shifts on taking the call, and she says she’ll be right there.

Back at GCPD, Harper tells Jim about what happened on the train, and the subsequent meeting under the bridge.

(An aside – this is the first example in this episode of something which became outrageously annoying during the Galavan plotline – communication failure - to create rifts between characters. It’s not a bad thing when it’s sparing and plausible – but Gotham tends to employ it scattergun when they want to shove a plotline in a certain direction by lobbing idiot balls in all directions. Jim literally spoke to Oswald hours ago. He managed to get an agreement from him. Here, he doesn’t even evince puzzlement at why Oswald might immediately break that agreement – he knows that Oswald operates on favours and promises, or wonder if Sofia engineered it somehow. He just rushes headlong in the direction the plot demands)

They decide that Oswald has to be found. Jim says he’ll find Sofia. Valentine’s new face can wait.

We’ve got a war to stop people

(An aside – Jesus fucking Christ Jim – your war. Your war that you specifically requested. Am I supposed to have forgotten this? Or is Jim the biggest hypocrite in the city. If it’s the latter – how can you sustain him as a heroic figure? He doesn’t have the self-awareness or self-doubt to be an antihero. So what is he?)

Sofia, Barbara, Tabitha and Selina are at the Falcone Mansion. Falcone enters, and Babs and Tabs look anxious. Falcone kisses Sofia, and tells her she looks tired. He also tells Ms Kean it’s good to see her again – Barbara having gone to him way back when to plead for Jim’s safety – probably something else that Jim’s conveniently forgotten.

The writers, having seemingly given up on emotional depth for Barbara, don’t really do much with this, just giving her a lame and shallow

So this is weird

Sofia asks why he’s here. Falcone asks her to remind him of what he told her about not being ready, and then angrily remarks that she came back anyway. He said he should have acted then, but he was indulgent, curious

Who is this daughter I raised?

Sofia protests. Oswald is weak, they can take the city from him – Falcone loves this city.

Carmine shakes his head. He used to love it – but he’s dying now. He cares about his family.

Sofia lapses into the entitled princessy behaviour we’ve seen glimpses of before

I want this. I deserve this. Gotham belongs to me!

In a unpleasant scene, Carmine backhands her, and Sofia falls to the floor.

Your actions have disgraced the family.

He remarks on her sleeping with Jim, the man who killed her brother. Sofia is now tearful and sullen. Barbara is wide-eyed at this news.

Sorry, what?

Falcone says he always knew the meaning of honour, but she has proven that she does not.

Children - they can be such disappointments

Oswald enters the room. Sofia is furious, protesting that she was winning. Falcone cuts her off

I came when Oswald called because you were going to lose. Anyone but my daughter would be dead right now.

(An aside. This is true. Sofia is manipulative and clever, but virtually everything she’s achieved has been down to the Falcone name – something she repeatedly comments on herself)

At Wayne manor, we see the aftermath of a wild party which the police have been called to after a noise complaint. As Alfred strolls the room, we see Bruce passed out next to two girls. Alfred throws the melted ice from the champagne bucket over him. As he splutters awake, Alfred tells him that the party is well and truly over.

Bruce apparently did the whole wild party in a black woollen jumper.

Jim arrives at the Falcone mansion. He begins to tell the driver by the car outside that he’s looking for Sofia, but Carmine cuts him off

my daughter

Jim says he didn’t expect to see him. Carmine tells him he arrived this morning and made a deal with Oswald – take her away, and she lives. Jim curls his lip – commenting that he made the same deal with Oswald but he didn’t keep it. Carmine comments that he’ll keep it with him.

(An aside – this right here should also have made Jim stop and think. Why would Oswald make the same deal twice? Why risk bringing Carmine to town at all, given that Oswald is intimidated by his legacy? If he’d wanted to kill Sofia, he could have done it by now. There’s no reason for Oswald to want to lure Carmine back to kill him, either – it would only create more trouble for him from Falcone loyalists. However, Jim is holding armfuls of idiot balls right now, so on we go).

Falcone regards Jim, stone-faced, and says he glad he never killed him. Jim responds with a sarcastic thanks, but Falcone is unimpressed.

Don't thank me. Killing you would be a kindness. You’ve no idea what you’ve brought to your city. When you find out the truth, it will destroy you. And that’s a comfort.

Sofia strolls out, face sullen

Another day, another man sending me out of Gotham

(An aside – those satin coats are very trying, to be honest. The theory is good – but beyond a catwalk, they tend to look unfortunate)

Falcone says that he’s trying to keep her alive

Sofia’s not interested in this

Neither of you believed in me. It could have been so different

(An aside – Sofia will do this again later, excuse herself of responsibility of her actions by saying that she was forced to do A,B or C because she wasn’t adequately appreciated, or respected, or loved enough. There’s something chilling about it. Look what you made me do is a classic abuser’s line.)

As she walks past Jim, she stops to kiss him. This is likely partly to spite her father, but also – as we’ll discover later – because she wants this to look convincingly like a final farewell.

Carmine turns to Jim

I doubt we'll see each other again.

He looks balefully at his old home

The sun never shines here

Sofia talks to him before getting into the car

Everything I did - I did for your love – but it doesn't matter, does it?

Carmine regards her grimly

I still consider you my daughter - that's enough

Sofia decides she wants to take one of the roses her mother planted with her. She pricks her finger on one of the thorns. Jim sees a van approaching in the distance. He yells get down – but it’s too late. Sofia is shot in the hip – and Carmine is killed outright. She screams and sobs when she realises her father has been killed, and Jim hugs her, because he’s a gigantic blond dope.

In the kitchen, Alfred watches the TV news reporting on Falcone’s death while enjoying a cup of tea. A hungover/still drunk Bruce lurches in, and tells him to clean up vomit from the car.

Oswald watches the news, mouth pursed. Victor, standing in the doorway, asks if Oswald would have told him if he was going to kill Falcone. Oswald tells him that of course he would have.

Victor tells him everyone on the street thinks he did it. An exasperated Oswald exclaims

Let them! My hands are clean. You have my word.

(An aside. This is all a bit mystifying to be honest. Yes – Victor seemed to be especially loyal to Falcone way back when. But if he was that loyal, why work for Oswald at all? Why not follow Falcone out of the city, or work to undermine Oswald’s organisation, or just flat out refuse to have anything to do with him. None of Victor’s previous actions make sense if I’m to believe what follows

On top of that – Victor seems most concerned here about whether he’s been lied to. But he has no reason to think that’s the case. He knows Oswald sees him as his most trustworthy employee. Why is he suddenly doubtful? Cynically – Victor also knows where Martin is. Why would he risk pissing him off by killing Falcone and lying about it if Victor could take revenge by delivering Martin right back to Sofia?)

Falcone’s funeral, which is a very grand affair. Actually, is this the funeral or the vigil? I didn’t see a priest.

Oswald and Victor sit in a pew. Oswald looks anxiously at Victor. Sofia is wheeled into the church in a wheelchair, wearing hilariously obvious scarlet gloves of guilt. She might as well be wearing a t-shirt with ‘#1 dad killer’ on it.

Jim makes sorry noises and accuses Oswald of having carried out the murder based on, well – nothing. The same level of conjecture as that on the streets. Truly, he’s worth whatever GCPD pays him.

Sofia’s crocodile tears in response are neatly highlighted by costuming choices: a veil is lip service when combined with bare shoulders.

Oswald fumes at the sight of Sofia. As he does so, a tearful Victor stands and walks to Falcone’s coffin, putting a bullet in his pocket. Sofia watches this, and watches as Victor strides past Oswald, who is left hissing his name from the pew. It’s a clear message, Victor is offering allegiance to Sofia and quitting Oswald. It makes no fucking sense, but it’s a clear message.

Jim broods in another pew, but notices Harvey. He comments that his leave is almost up, and it’ll be good to have him back.

(This is a really disorganised funeral – why are people just chatting and changing seat?)

Harvey is infuriated, asking why Jim hasn’t arrested the little weasel. Oswald apparently still owns the judges. This detail will fly out the window later, but anyway.

Harvey is still incredulous. Jim – not able to look him fully in the eye, tells him that it was Sofia who paid off the mayor to make him captain, but he didn’t ask for it. Hmmm. Let’s not be disingenuous here, Jim. You wanted the Pax gone by any means, and didn’t rule anything out. You also repeatedly remarked that you deserved the captaincy.

Harvey is triumphant about the fact that Jim did have to do something to get the captaincy – but also comments that it’s a hell of a debt to owe.

Jim acknowledges this – saying that she’s pressing him to act on Oswald, even before the recent mess, but he can’t allow her to make GCPD her personal army. Harvey says Jim needs to incite Oswald to do something and convict him for it. Jim starts to make protesting noises – but Harvey clarifies. He doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about Oswald – but as far as he sees it, everything that’s happened here – right up to Falcone’s death is on Jim’s initial decision to go after Oswald. He should finish what he started.

(An aside – Harvey’s not wrong in remarking that this is all on Jim. Everything here goes back to Jim’s decision to go to Falcone to fix his problem. What doesn’t really make sense is his advice to see his plan through… just because. There’s nothing rational about continuing with a terrible plan just because you started it. It takes more backbone to admit you fucked up, accept blame, and work to remedy it.)

Oswald views Falcone.

Goodbye old friend. I will not forget all that you taught me

Stepping back, he approaches Sofia. He tells her he had great respect for her father, but she….

Jim yanks him away as he threatens Sofia, and then pushes her back down the aisle.

Sofia asks what he’s doing.

Finishing what I started

Oswald storms into GCPD. Tapping the microphone, he calls Jim out. He wants him to hand over Sofia, but Jim refuses. Oswald, wide-eyed, asks if he’s seriously going to go to war for her. Jim – without a blush – says he’s upholding the law, no-ne gets to decide who lives and who dies.

Oswald is irate – he protests that Sofia has manipulated Jim, lied to him. Jim smugly tells him the law is the law – get over it or face the consequences.

Oswald just about reels at this.

(An aside – I am, I always admit, nakedly biased. Oswald is my favourite by a country mile. Here though – I think just about anyone could empathise with his frustration. We know that Jim is bullshit, just going through with this to see his own shitty choice through to the end. We know that Sofia has lied and manipulated him. Oswald is just about seething with confused frustration at Jim’s refusal to acknowledge this, and it’s easy to empathise with him)

Oswald changes tack and offers a bribe, telling the officers that Jim is risking all their lives to protect a gangster. GCPD has turned virtuous within weeks, apparently, turning their noses up at Oswald’s bribe. Two officers ask if they can throw Oswald out. Jim nods assent, and Oswald is dragged from the station – screaming to Jim that blood will run, and it will be on his hands.

The cops all turn to look at him. Jim puffs up for a grand speech.

From the first day I put on the badge, I was told things could never change - Gotham and GCPD are corrupt. Criminals ran things. You just showed me different.

He tells everyone to suit up – which I think means ‘grab lots of guns’

(An aside – so Oswald is apparently the convenient scapegoat for everyone’s sins? The corruption Jim found when he arrived, Falcone’s reign, Sofia’s deceit – we decide Oswald can be the representative of all that? Not only is this horribly unfair, but given part of Oswald believes, albeit in a very twisted way, that he is good for the city, and given – also - that he genuinely cares about it: this is just ugly. Fuck and off.)

Gotham’s favourite pastime: shooting in random warehouses. There follows a tedious scene whereby the Sirens, tied up, manage to escape. I am bored by everything to do with this plotline. Does Selina utter more than two words this episode? She doesn’t have to, I suppose. Her character has been diminished now to an eyeroll in a catsuit.

Sofia and Jim in the Captain’s office after his big speech about how GCPD is all shiny and clean now. Sofia is complaining that the gangs all owe Oswald allegiance, and tells Jim to arrest him. Jim says that Oswald is using proxies, and he can’t. Sofia sits back and regards him coldly, and then observes that Jim is baiting Oswald into committing a public atrocity. Jim visibly flinches a little, blinking, because – as I commented elsewhere – he doesn’t like people to notice and voice the grubby things he does.

Sofia is still in those murder gloves. She asks Jim what if Oswald has already committed an atrocity, and tells him about Martin. Jim has apparently forgotten Oswald flinging himself between Jim and Valentine to protect a child – and only asks why Sofia didn’t tell him this sooner. She said she had no proof, but smiles – saying that Oswald never understood how people cared for her father, and one of those people just called her.

At the Iceberg Lounge, a frustrated Oswald is ranting to Victor about how Jim has every cop in Gotham behind him. Victor comments that he must have good leadership skills, at which Oswald says – after all this – they need to have a chat about the chain of command, and screeches at him to go do something horrific.

Jim arrives. Oswald asks if he’s lost his mind, and reminds Jim that the armed men here work for him. Jim says he’s here to arrest him. Oswald asks on what charge? He didn’t kill Falcone. Jim says it’s for Martin – which makes Oswald laugh. Jim asks what’s so funny – but Oswald says it’s that Martin’s death was only faked to stop Sofia using him

(An aside – this still doesn’t give Jim pause. Fine. Fine, Jim.)

Oswald evades giving an answer on Martin’s location, but says Victor can confirm his story. Jim looks smugly to Victor – who equally smugly lies through his teeth, calling Oswald a kid killer.

Oswald has to be held back and then dragged away, calling Victor a lying traitor.

Jim walks up to Victor and tells him that this doesn’t give him a free pass. Possibly just a couple of free murders in Jim’s stainless new GCPD.

Victor looks down at him

Jim - not now

Oswald is taken to the cells in GCPD.

Harper looks proudly at Jim

You did it, cap. You won

The assembled cops applaud Jim

(An aside - I hate everything and everyone la la la la la)

At Sofia’s home, Victor says Gordon doesn’t know the kid is alive. Sofia tells Victor he played his part, and that Oswald showed he was weak. Victor shrugs.

At the end of the day - he's a Cobblepot, you’re a Falcone

He gets down on his knee and kisses her hand

Sofia smirks at the Sirens.

Smile ladies. It’s a new day

(An aside – the question could be asked here: does Victor know, and plan to get close to Sofia for revenge for Falcone’s death, seeing Oswald’s incarceration as acceptable collateral damage? Does it matter – given whichever writer deals with episodes later might totally forget what was in this one, as happens in Gotham?)

At the Iceberg Lounge, Babs is pleased to have the club back. Tabitha is less enthused, and leaves to go do something on her own.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce is looking through some documents. Alfred enters, and tries to be jovial. He’s packed cases – Operation Save Bruce Wayne. He jokingly says he’ll kidnap Bruce if he won’t come willingly, but then says he’ll appeal to his better angels. He’ll beg.

Please - do it for me

Bruce – with his back to him – says that he’s not thought about Ra’s or his parents these last weeks. Alfred tries to sell him on no life without pain – no love, no joy, and tells Bruce he’s miserable.

Bruce tells him to stop what he’s doing. Bruce isn’t what anyone thought he was. He tries to leave, saying he’s going to see Tommy.

The situation deteriorates, and a physical fight breaks out. In the course of this, Bruce headbutts Alfred, and Alfred punches him in retaliation. He’s aghast the moment he does it, and apologises, but Bruce leaves the room quickly.

In the Narrows, Ed is engaged in a familiar battle in the mirror, trying to gain the upper hand over his reflection. He repeats that he is in control, but RiddlerEd asks why he would want that – they had fun when they were him. RiddlerEd’s face falls.

Oh no - tell me it’s not that

He gives Ed a riddle – the answer to which is love

You're in love with Lee Thompkins - you pathetic loser

Ed yells in rage at his own reflection.

A confused Butch approaches.

Ed angry at mirror?

Ed says that he isn’t

Ed angry at Ed?

That is… surprisingly perceptive

Ed leaves to go get some air.

(An aside. I don’t find this implausible. Ed had a little crush on Lee way back when – the new medical examiner who was kind to him, and who smelled nice. Now the good part of him has been admiring her altruism for the last few weeks, while the bad part has been impressed by her newfound power and attitude. He regards her intellect highly enough to think that she would be able to cure him. He’s gratified by her trust in him, and touched by her friendship. It’s more explicable than his ‘love’ for Kristin, which was more fixation and projection)

Butch hears the Solomon Grundy nursery rhyme playing and follows the sound to a gramophone. When he gets there, Tabitha quickly approaches, and knocks him out.

When Butch awakes, he’s tied to a chair. Tabitha is essentially going to beat him around the head until he remembers her. She’s frustrated by his frightened plea to return to ‘friend Ed’ – reminding him that Ed electrocuted him, and cut off her hand.

She kisses him before resorting to the clubs –

Remember me, Butch. I’m Tabby. Your Tabby.

He can’t though – and apologises.

He pleads with her

Pretty lady

As she approaches with a club.

In her home, Sofia sits before the fire, malignancy dripping from her.

(An aside – CR has done an excellent job with Sofia, particularly evident in this episode when you compare her to the Sirens, who are – bluntly – woeful. She’s very beautiful, but there’s a frightening stillness to her quite frequently in this episode. She’s like encountering one of those big fat black spiders – the terrifying ones that don’t scuttle away)

Jim enters the room, and says that they need to talk. She agrees. He asks her not to do what she’s about to do – unify the gangs, put Falcones back in charge

(An aside – Jim, what the actual fuck? You are the definition of wanting to have your cake and eat it. If you wanted a gangster who would just do you random favours, you had that in Oswald)

Sofia looks askance at him.

That was the deal. You law, me order

Jim says if she takes over, then he will come after her. Jim believes his own hype, and Sofia laughs at how predictable he is. She asks if he’ll hear her proposal. He says he’s not interested, until another voice cuts in.

I think you are

Valentine is here. Jim is slack-jawed.

Valentine asks if he can tell Jim, but Sofia has probably been looking forward to this for weeks.

You came to me because you had a problem. I’d heard of a contract killer impersonating serial killers. I thought, what if he could be a cop killer? You needed the police to turn on Penguin – so I sent a monster to the city and let him improvise

Valentine cuts in and says he got carried away with cooking folks

The only hiccup was the mess with her daddy.

(An aside – that means that Oswald did temporarily outsmart her with that move, and force her to think on the spot. Crucially, though, the notion that Sofia could kill her own father is likely one that Oswald, who put parental love on a particular pedestal, couldn’t even fathom, and thus did not factor into his plan.)

Jim turns, horror written across his face.

It was you

Sofia’s justification for killing her father is pretty chilling. She gave him a chance – if he’d only appreciated her, then he would be alive. We saw her react similarly when Oswald wasn’t sufficiently impressed by her advice, or Jim appropriately grateful for her favours. It produces an almost immediate fit of temper.

Jim slowly muddles through the details. Gawd help the GCPD, at this rate. He saw her shot, but there must have been another shooter.

Valentine cuts in boastfully – he took care of that shot, couldn’t leave it to random thugs.

Jim does what he often does when he feels out of control of a situation, and decides to start punching. He tells a reeling Valentine that he will go to Blackgate this time, and he will rot there.

There’s another shot, and Valentine drops. Jim turns, open-mouthed, to see Sofia – now pointing the gun at him.

Jim is still open-mouthed. Sofia turns on him.

That was his moment of truth, this is yours. How many cops died under Pax Penguina? None. It was you who couldn't stomach it. You who came to the Falcones for help. There’s direct line from your decision to a dozen murdered cops.

Jim hits out with a truly bewildering

You're insane

(An aside – that would maybe have been a bit more convincing after she said she murdered her father, not after she’s detailed exactly how Jim is as guilty as sin. But then, Jim is quick to ascribe insanity to anyone he can’t bear to understand. Arkham is his personal oubliette.)

Jim asks why she doesn’t just kill him, and then realises she needs him at the top of GCPD.

You’ve been planning this since the first day we met. This is revenge for me killing Mario

Sofia puts her gun down

You want to arrest me, then arrest me - but I will talk and the cops who died and the friend you betrayed will have been for nothing

She goes on to tell him that GCPD will crumble and that

Penguin or someone worse will take over

(A bitter aside – gosh, can there be anyone worse than Penguin, repository for everyone in town’s contempt?)

Or you can keep GCPD - let them think you’re a hero, but live knowing who you are and what you’ve done. That is my revenge.

Sofia has tears in her eyes – presumably from the emotional catharsis of revenging her brother. She calls GCPD and hands Jim the phone. He takes it. She angles her body away from him in the chair, signalling both her lack of interest and confidence in what he will do next. He only pauses for a moment before doing exactly what she expects.

This is Gordon. I'm at Sofia Falcone's. I just shot and killed Pyg.

Sofia smiles into the fire.

Wayne Manor. Alfred’s relief at Bruce’s return is short-lived. He’s drawn up emancipation papers, and fired him, telling him to get the hell out of his house.

An exhausted Tabitha is still beating Butch. We see a vision blur like it did back when he recognised her. Tabitha, though, is about to give up. She asks Butch to say something. When he can’t, she apologises, kisses him, and then leaves

I’m sorry. I tried.

Alfred is leaving Wayne Manor. He turns the lights out, but leaves that one window with the billowy Total Eclipse of the Heart curtain open. This is spliced with images of Bruce at the club, finishing with a long unhappy stare out at the audience.

Jim arrives back at GCPD, just as Harvey exits his office. Jim is clearly pleased to see him, hopeful that he’s returning, but Harvey tells him he’s just dropping something off. Before leaving, he tells Jim that he heard he got Oswald and Pyg – so everything turned out well.

You didn’t even need me.

Jim asks, with a little desperation at the edges, if he’s got a second to stop and talk. Harvey’s not stopping, though, only telling Jim

They believe in you - don't let them down

He walks away. Glancing into the darkened office, Jim sees Harvey's badge and gun on his desk.

Back at the warehouse, Butch is coming round. Slumped forward, he sees his reflection in a puddle and frowns. He looks up, and looks around, confused.

What the hell happened to me?

Arkham, where vaguely circus-like music while Oswald is ranting, voice cracked with rage. He’s going to kill Sofia – flay her alive, Gordon and Zsasz too. He’s interrupted, and spins, ordering the random voice not to talk to him

I get it, pal. This place is full of looneys. We could help each other out

Oswald is disbelieving, and asks how they could possibly help him.

Not to toot my own horn – but I’m very resourceful. Toot toot!

Laughter follows and a wide-eyed Oswald clicks

I know that laugh!

What do you say, pal? I’ll be your best friend. Gimme a smile!

Hi, Jerome.

General Observations

I’m not who anyone thought I was

Bruce can’t deal with the Ra’s murder – neither the act itself or the fact that it did nothing to salve his grief for his parents. He’s anaesthetising himself now with excess.

He’s also trying to be another Bruce Wayne, a Bruce Wayne of whom no-one has high expectations, because he can’t bear to have fallen so far from who he thought he was, from who his father, mother, Alfred all expected him to be.

Jim isn’t who anyone thinks he is, either. GCPD see him now as their bright, shining new captain – but it’s all a lie. He’s a walking farce, a mockery of everything he thought he stood for. He’s betrayed anyone and anything that mattered.

Oswald might be many things – but he’s not what others would paint him as: a child murderer, Falcone’s killer, the source of all Gotham’s woes.

Sofia wasn’t who anyone thought she was – ingenue, or dutiful daughter, or ally. She’s in it for herself entirely – Jim only a dupe in a bigger game. She has Oswald’s old problem, now, though. She’s shown her hand. The most ominous plot point for her right now is Victor’s loyalty. I think if he suspects she killed Carmine, then she’s toast.

Ed’s struggling with his old problem. Who is he? The man in the mirror? The man in love with Lee Thompkins?

Butch has just awakened, having regained some sense of himself – ironically enough, in his reflection, where Ed’s sense of self tends to fracture.

Sofia is being set up for a huge fall of Galavan proportions. She murdered her father, stitched Oswald up (using a child the audience knows Oswald acted to protect), duped Victor, effectively got rid of Harvey, and has Jim as a puppet. The audience is actively being encouraged to hate her and eagerly await her downfall. If I have to guess at this point, I think Lee will be the architect of her destruction – the ‘good woman’ punishing the ‘bad woman’.

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #gotham s4e11

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