[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his week on Gotham, our favorite crime-fighting duo scope out a vicious fight club that guises a nasty (and deadly) interview process candidates are force to take if they want to land an entry-level spot at a Sionis Investments.
The episode begins with a fight scene that quickly turns fatal when one of the men ends up dead. Bullock and Gordon are called to investigate the death of Coleman Lawson (the man from earlier) was abandoned under a bridge. Ed Nygma looks excited as he assesses the body and finds ink, as well as a thumb in the victim’s mouth. Gordon tells him to run all the fingerprints.
Elsewhere, we see Oswald approach a rich lady and manipulate her in giving him her brooch. Her then pays a visit to Fish Mooney because he wants to be friends. Yea that’s not going to happen. Mooney would rather see him ten feet under. She tells him the only reason he is alive is because of the deal between Maroni and Falcone, and introduces the man who took his place. As a parting gift, she stabs Oswald in the hand and says, “peace, friend.” Oh right, real peaceful.
Like the good son Oswald is, he gives his Mama the brooch since Mooney didn’t need it. Oswald’s mom sees his hand and wants to know who did this to him. She then gives Oswald a hint about secrets just after we see her trap a rat. Not sure what to make of this, but we’re guessing some foreshadow.
Back at the precinct, Gordon and Bullock are asking questions to the Black Market doctor about the body. He is not truthful enough for Gordon, so he has him arrested. The cops, mostly Alvarez is freaked out. Bullock tells Gordon to let Doc out. It seems like everyone is scared of breaking any deals with Falcone.
Gordon leaves the precinct and goes home to find Barbara aiming a gun at him, but once she realizes it’s only him, she puts it down. She is feeling paranoid, and wants to hear Gordon say that there are no monsters. Alright, we can sort of get the paranoia, but when you live in Gotham…expect the monsters everywhere.
Bruce goes to school where deals with nasty bullies. They even have the audacity to start talking about his parents’ death. They want to know all the gory details of his mother’s body. Can anyone say future serial killers, yikes! Bruce ignores them and heads to class.
Guess who decided to meet at a confessional booth, Mooney and Liza of course. Falcone can’t possibly have eyes in there. Mooney wants Liza to get some papers from Falcone’s private office. She tells her to get the keys off his key ring and open the bottom drawer. That is after she puts some liquid in his cup to knock him out. Liza doesn’t look like an eager pupil, but agrees to do it.
It is investigation time as Bullock and Gordon enter a building looking for Mr. Richard Sionis (Todd Stashwick). It looks like they are in the right place when they spot a bunch of beat up men walking around. At last they find Sionis, and proceed to question him about Coleman Lawson since Lawson had the firm’s business card on him. Sionis says anyone could have his card on them. He believes being a warrior is an inspiration, and he needs it to succeed. But Gordon believes you need to be a good businessman to succeed, and having a mask just means you have something to hide. Gordon knows Sionis is guilty now he just has to prove it. He walks off to follow some blood prints on the floor and ends up the men’s bathroom. There we find the man with the missing finger. He tries to flee but runs right into the door. When Bullock comes in, the guy is already down.
Nygma tells them it wasn’t black ink, but rather printer toner and staples found on the body. We find out there have been four deaths so far, and all the victims were killed with office supplies. However, Bullock and Gordon already knew these details. Just when they thought they could have a statement, a lawyer for Adam (the guy with the missing finger) says his statements are not usable. Looks like they’re going for that signed under duress nonsense.
Essen wants to why the Waynes are so important. Gordon tells her they were decent people and represented hope for Gotham. Essen wished she would have stayed with Gordon, but he tells her to go. Essen can see that Gordon is fighting for the good guys.
The bullies continue their reign of terror as they keep nagging Bruce about his mother. Rightfully angry, Bruce punches one of the bullies and tells him to stop. When Alfred picks him up, Bruce is sad because he didn’t have the strength to punch the bully hard enough. Later in the episode, we see Alfred give Bruce a watch that belonged to Bruce’s dad. He then takes him to the bully’s home where Bruce uses the watch on his knuckles and punches the bully hard. Now scared, the bully accuses him of trying to kill him. However Alfred made sure the bully knows that he let Bruce punch him. We love Alfred!
Gordon decides to go on his own to find out more information on Sionis. As he is walking towards a man in a cage, he gets zapped from behind. He wakes up later on to Sionis voice, offering victory and a million dollars to the person who kills Gordon. There are spectators watching the fight. Gordon is beyond angry, as he is forced to and knocks out all the men fighting him.
Meanwhile Bullock is at the precinct trying to get the cops to help out and search for Gordon, but no one wants to help, until Essen says, “Give it to me.” Gordon is fighting Sionis, and is able to knocks him down. He then holds the sword above Sionis just as Essen comes in calling Gordon’s name. Gordon turns and Sionis grabs the sword and is about to stab him when Gordon punches him out. Gordon is tough and he means business.
We head back to Mooney who is listening to an old lady singing as Liza walks in. She wants out, but Mooney says no. She tells the girl a story about when she was small and Falcone’s men killed her mother. Liza understands Mooney’s desire for revenge. But, it’s more that. Mooney never wants to be powerless. Liza gives Mooney the papers she managed to get from Falcone’s office doing exactly as Mooney asked. Later on we see the old lady come up to Mooney and tell her she heard the story she told to the other woman. It turns out the old lady is Mooney’s mom who just so happens to be alive and well.
Oswald, once again, has the upper hand on Mooney. He has taken the man who replaced him, and beat him up and tortured him until the man spilled the secret on Mooney. Oh you know, the big secret about Mooney having her inside person working close to Falcone. Thorough as always, Oswald will have the man killed and his tracks covered.
The phone rings in Gordon’s apartment. Barbara sees it is Gordon, but she doesn’t pick up. She has decided to leave.
Meanwhile, Bruce admits he enjoyed beating up the bully. He also confesses that he is always angry, and enlists Alfred to teach him how to fight. It is good to see our future Batman in the making.
See you next week for another episode of Gotham on Fox.
[Photo credit: Fox]
