Director: Rob Bailey
Writer: Bruno Heller
Cast: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Robin Lord Taylor, Sean Pertwee, Jada Pinkett Smith, Camren Bicondova, Zabryna Guevara, Makenzie Leigh, David Zayas and John Doman.
Synopsis: As violence between Maroni and Falcone continues to escalate, Penguin reveals a new element of his manipulative strategy, forcing Gordon to deal with the consequences of his decision to spare his life.
Verdict:
Carrying on from the momentum of last weeks jaw-dropping conclusion, ‘Penguin’s Umbrella’ takes place moments after Jim Gordon’s secret is revealed to the entire GCPD. With Oswald Cobblepot’s survival now public knowledge, it should come as no surprise that Gordon finds himself in the cross-hairs of near-enough everyone on the mobs payroll in Gotham City. This takes us to some very interesting and pulse-pounding places that the series had not dared to enter until it felt confident enough at a tender seven episodes. ‘Penguin’s Umbrella’ is undoubtedly a large scale episode that decides to put its greatest asset front and centre (officially) for the first time. In fact, the episode actually evokes memories of the shocking twist that Marvel’s Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D. employed last year, when it re-vamped it’s flagging show with the involvement of Hydra and the breakdown of S.H.I.E.L.D itself.
Robin Lord Taylor’s fantastic modern-day interpretation of everyone’s favourite limp-legged villain…The Penguin is somewhat captivating as Gotham hits episode seven, it adds some very interesting layers to his dark and unpredictable origin story. As the title would also seem to suggest, this story doesn’t attempt to shy away from the fact that they’ve already devoted a great amount of time to his character and that the Penguin has much more of an influence over every other character than we previously believed. This does make me wonder why insignificant characters such as Edward Nigma (future Riddler) and Selina Kyle (future Catwoman) have even been introduced at all this early on. After all, the central storyline revolving around Gordon and his battle with clashing forces of the mob (Mooney, Falcone, Maroni and Penguin) is not only incredibly compelling, but is also clearly this season’s focal point. Maybe this is the result of studio pressure to include well-known Batman villains, or it could be that the writers have bitten off more than they can chew. Either way, something interesting needs to be done with Kyle and Nigma before even more future Bat-antagonists make appearances (which are due to happen very soon).
Gordon and Bullock’s friendship takes quite a significant step in the right direction with this story, with Bullock surprisingly deciding to remain loyal to his new partner and ‘join the good guys’. This is some brilliant character development for Donal Logue’s character, and it’s great to see that the shows writers have realised his importance and value to the series as a whole. The Fact that Gordon has managed to recruit Bullock on his quest of heroism also shows that he is having a great moral influence on his jaded partner, which therefore gives McKenzie and Logue some great character development to work with (finally!). Bruce and Alfred also make a small and seemingly meaningless appearance in ‘Penguin’s Umbrella’, which appears to be purely aimed at establishing the two as allies to our favourite detective. Although, the touching hug between Bruce and Gordon that occurs at the thought of the young bat-boy never seeing his new father-figure alive again, is genuinely quite beautiful. This also further references the future friendship between the Caped Crusader and the destined-to-be-Commissioner, that has been portrayed so frequently and lovingly in comics and film since the characters’ inception.
Another talking point is the introduction of Anthony Carrigan’s Victor Zsasz, a well-known criminal from prior Batman comics (and even Christopher Nolan’s BATMAN BEGINS). The famous antagonist to Gotham’s elite is memorably portrayed by Carrigan as Falcone’s right-hand man and neighbourhood psychopath, with his visual characterisation clearly inspired by the recent Arkham video-game series. Overall, ‘Penguin’s Umbrella’ is Gotham‘s most cinematic, action-packed and intense hour yet. McKenzie also gives his finest performance to date, with his Jim Gordon increasingly desperate and alone in his mission to clean up a city with the walls closing in around him. Bruno Heller seems to have a better grip on the world and characters of this series, which leads me to believe that he should be writing more episodes personally if he intends to give Gotham a long life-span. It will be exciting to watch the repercussions of the episode’s twist revealing that Penguin has been working for Falcone all along. Although, I am starting to wonder how the show’s writer’s will approach the inevitable transition between snivelling, cowardly weasel, and one of the most dangerous and terrifying villains in Gotham City.
[usr=4] Gotham airs on Channel 5 every Monday night at 9pm. Check out their official website here.
