Now that Penguin has been reunited with his father on Gotham 2×15 “Mad Grey Dawn,” they’re one big happy family, right?
Hugo Strange must have really messed with Penguin’s mind, because he thinks it’s a good idea to swing by to see Butch and Tabitha. They’re pretty confused by his behavior and actually feel bad for him, so Butch decides to let him go. Tabitha still thinks he deserves a punishment though and they end up giving him the tar and feather treatment.
Penguin goes to see Nygma next and tries to tell him that violence is not the answer. Nygma quickly ushers Penguin out of his apartment so he can get back to working his plans against Gordon. With no where else to turn, Penguin goes to his mother’s grave. There he meets a man named Elijah Van Dahl who is confused to hear that Gertrude had a son and claims to be his father. Sound fishy to you?
With nothing left to lose Penguin goes home with Elijah, and apparently he’s loaded with money. Penguin is surrounded by elegance as Elijah explains that Gertrude used to work for his parents. When Elijah’s parents found out, they forced them apart and promised to take care of Gertrude. Whereas Penguin was told that his father had died.
It’s quite obvious that Penguin feels like he’s getting all of the love he’s been missing since his mother died. What he does’t notice is how his step mother and siblings really feel about the situation. I’m definitely concerned about the outcomes of this little reunion. No doubt there’s a large inheritance in play and the step family doesn’t seem like they want to share it. Maybe Elijah is genuine in his feelings, but the rest of his family is already up to no good. With Penguin’s new attitude towards life it doesn’t appear that he will have enough wit to take care of himself.
As Bruce is learning street smarts, Selina brings Bruce to where Ivy is working for a mob growing magic mushrooms. All Selina and Bruce have to do is wait for the mushrooms Ivy slipped the gang to kick in. When they hear the gang members pass out, Selina and Bruce slip up stairs where they easily make out with a ton of cash — that is until some more members show up. Despite the odds, they manage to beat up the thugs and escape. Later, Bruce tells Selina that in the moment of the fight he knew that everything would be alright and all the emptiness he had been feeling was gone.
For me, the highlight of this episode was seeing these two working together. They’re not only adorable but they make a good team. It’s also clear that they really care about each other even though they’ve lived completely different lives up until this moment. It also gives an interesting look at what Selina’s life on the streets is like. She always said her life wasn’t easy, and it’s hard to watch her have to defend herself against grown men, but it only makes me like her more. The inner Batman in Bruce is really starting to peak through, especially how he seems to feel more alive by fighting the thugs.
The Riddler really starts to make his debut in this episode, as Nygma leaves clues for Gordon at the museum by defacing two paintings with question marks and stealing one. From the names of the painters Gordon is able to figure out that the next target is the train on Market Street. In a locker marked with a question mark there’s a bomb which Gordon manages to throw before anyone near is hurt. Ironically, Gordon assigns Nygma to run the forensics on the case in hopes he can turn up some more clues.
Nygma’s next move is much more violent, as he beats another officer to death with a crow bar and then sets it up so that Gordon is sent to check out a lead. After Gordon arrives, Captain Barnes shows up because he got a message from the officer that he wanted to talk about Gordon. Obviously this looks super suspicious, especially since Barnes still believes Gordon killed Galavan. Despite Gordon’s pleas that he’s been set up, Nygma stacked up too much evidence against him.
Gordon is sent to trial and is found guilty with the maximum punishment. Bruce and Selina can’t believe what they’re seeing on TV, and at Arkham Barbara finally wakes up. Leslie wants to fight the decision, but Gordon tells her to move on.
I’m actually surprised that Nygma took it this far, I thought that he would just want to spook Gordon somehow or distract him from Kristen’s case. Instead Nygma went all out and decided to completely destroy Gordon’s life. Maybe he had it coming that Barnes learned the truth about Galavan, but not being framed for killing one of his fellow officers. I’m beginning to like Nygma less for this, and maybe that’s the point that the writers of Gotham were trying to make.