Gotham episode 2; Selina Kyle

Last week I raved about the season premiere of Gotham. I loved the interactions between Jim Gordon and Harvey Bulloch and wanted to see more of their love/hate relationship. This week, I wasn’t disappointed.

As you can tell by the title of the episode this week, the focus shifted to Selina Kyle or Cat, as she prefers to be called. Selina is a tough 13 year old living on the streets and doing her best to survive. When the episode opens, Selina is hanging out with a group of homeless children and teenagers. A truck shows up offering sandwiches to everyone. Instead of sandwiches, the kids are drugged and taken away by a couple played by Lili Taylor and Frank Whaley. One of the teens escapes this horror. A homeless adult is not so lucky and is killed by the couple.

The police are called in to investigate the crime scene and Jim Gordon isn’t making himself any new friends. He calls out a cop on the take for being late to the scene and has words again with his partner Bulloch. It’s very clear that Bulloch is not a fan of Jim, and their scenes together are full of tension.

We are also re-introduced to the Penguin as he hobbles his way out of Gotham City. Jim Gordon faked Penguin’s death and told him to never come back. He is picked up by a couple of troublemakers in a truck. He’s not a fan of their insults and soon he is stabbing them with a broken beer bottle.

During the investigation, Gordon finds out that the kids being kidnapped are part of a human trafficking ring. The criminals are using a compound to drug the kids. The drugs were previously used at Arkham Asylum.

Selina has her time to shine in this installment. The kidnappers hijack a bus headed for a juvenile detention. Selina is on the bus and manages to get away. Gordon then shows up to save the day. After the kids are taken into custody, Selina demands to speak with Gordon. She tells the arresting officer that if he refuses, she will tell everyone that he touched her. She eventually gets face to face time with Gordon and tells him that if he lets her go she’ll tell him what she knows about the Wayne murders. That’s how this week’s episode ends. Don’t you just love those cliff hangers?

So what did I enjoy this time around?  The acting between Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue continues to dominate. At times you really think that punches may fly. It’s great to see how a good cop and one not-so-good play off of each other. It’s a wonderful contrast. This relationship is really what’s selling the series for me so far.

Also worth mentioning is that it’s great to see Gordon becoming a role model for young Bruce Wayne. We get a few glimpses of Bruce clearly not dealing with his parents murder. He has some nice scenes with Gordon.

The Penguin continues to steal the show. I can’t get enough of watching his story play out.This is the first time I’ve loved a live action version of the Penguin. Sorry Danny DeVito. Robin Taylor plays him in such a fantastic way. For the first time ever, I find myself being fascinated by the story of ol’ Oswald Cobblepott. More Penguin please.

This week I’ll even give kudos to Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney. I wasn’t that impressed with her on the premiere . This week, as she schemed to take over the underworld in Gotham, I found myself digging her portrayal of the character.

A good solid effort for Episode 2. I was absolutely happy for more Gordon/Bulloch conflict and am really enjoying the origins of Selina Kyle and the Penguin. I’ll give this weeks episode 4 bat signals out of 5.