Gotham 2×18, “Pinewood,” had lots of information to reveal, like the fact that Gordon is more fun when he’s not a cop.
The episode picked up right up where we left off last week with Barbara visiting Gordon. She revealed how she woke up from the coma and remembered all of the things she had done like it was some nightmare. The person, who did those things, isn’t her, Barbara explained. With everything else going on, Gordon couldn’t seem to care less.
Bullock arrived just in time to see Barbara leaving and looked as horrified as Gordon should have been. Even though Gordon is determined to solve murder before joining the force again – Bullock warned him not to take too long. Without his badge, Gordon was able to use force to track down The Lady. It was actually kind of fun to watch Gordon get to operate without having to worry about being moral.
Barbara kept her sassy side and showed up at the club Gordon thought The Lady might be at. She offered to help Gordon and go inside for information on her. He clearly still didn’t trust her but didn’t seem to have any other choice. Plus Barbara really understood his determination to solve the case.
The Lady isn’t too hard to find after all, Barbara was able to stroll right up to her. Barbara told the story of how she lied her way out of Arkham. Barbara even made it look like she was delivering Gordon to The Lady. Instead, uses the situation to get information out of The Lady anyways. It’s still hard to tell who Barbara is playing. It’s almost like her two different personalities have merged together.
Gordon didn’t think Barbara’s plan was good though – he genuinely thought she was going to kill him. He doesn’t know what to think of Barbara either. Barbara revealed to Gordon that her whole purpose now is to get him to look at her like he used to. Gordon said that will never happen, but he also seemed to regret having to leave when Bruce called.
Bruce and Lucius were still working on decrypting his father’s computers when they discovered information about Pinewood and Karen Jennings. Bruce thought it might be a connection to the murder and wanted to go there – but Alfred was worried. So, what else is new?
Back at creepy Indian Hill, Hugo Strange and Ms. Peabody were working on bringing Galavan back to life. Apparently, Karen was their experiment as well – and one that went badly.
Despite seeming dangerous at first, Karen recognized Bruce and advised him to stop looking into Pinewood. He’s definitely heard this all before though and didn’t listed. She explained it was a bio-engineering program at Wayne Enterprises that was kept secret. Karen volunteered to join the program because she had been at jail for defending herself against her father.
They said they would fix her crippled arm but instead turned it into something else entirely. Thomas Wayne shut down the program after he found out was happening. The program started up again right around the time that the Wayne’s was killed. Karen brought them to the lab where the experiments happened but it was completely empty. Except for the guys who followed them in to kill her.
Bruce and Gordon caught up on all the information that they learned. They believe that The Philosopher who hired Malone was also behind Pinewood. Karen was sent to prison again so they need to break her out before moving any further in their investigation. Too bad Strange also heard she was sent back to prison and let Victor try out his new suit to go after her.
After Bruce rescued Karen, she admitted that Thomas Wayne was the one that started Pinewood. It ended up being changed by The Philosopher who took advantage of him. Only then did Thomas Wayne try to shut it all down. Before she can give them any more information though, Victor arrived and killed her. Lucius managed to track down an old company photo though that listed Hugo Strange with his nickname The Philosopher.
Apparently after Gordon left, Barbara went to see Tabitha. Viewers don’t get to see the actual interaction but Tabitha seemed convinced the old Barbara was home. This could be another trick of hers, or she could really still have the criminal mind.
Whatever, Hugo Strange did to Galavan made him much stronger and crazier. He woke up and immediately killed everyone in the room.
Gotham 2×18, “Pinewood,” managed to balance out the action while still moving the plot forward at a nice pace, which it can sometimes struggle with. However, this episode kept the viewer at the edge of the seat and offered up some juicy information. The added bonus of having Barbara Kean made it even more entertaining to watch.
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what will happen with Galavan now that he’s back, and how much longer is will be until the others are brought back. Plus, will Barbara try and reunite with her old crime buddies? Or is she just putting up a front that she’s still bad? Someone is definitely getting lied to and I can’t wait to find out who!