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Gotham Recap: “Spirit of the Goat”

By Courtney Key

The sixth episode episode of Gotham is entitled “Spirit of the Goat,” which sounds like the worst scent ever made by Axe. Before we get to that – and because clearly these recaps stopped pretending long ago they were anything but a Robin Lord Taylor fanblog – I will note that RLT did a Google Hangout with Mashable taking fan questions about the show after it aired, which you can watch on YouTube. You might even recognize a certain Twitter name stumping the interviewer with its pronunciation – and yes, I restrained myself when thinking up a question to ask.

Tonight’s episode, however, was really focused on Donal Logue’s Harvey Bullock, as he is confronted with both an old case and the ghost of the cop he used to be. We open after the previously on clips (sidenote: I am going to be super sad when we no longer get Oswald warning us about chaos! Blood in the streets! at the start of every episode) with a flashback to a decade ago. A bald man repeats “I am the spirit of the goat” to himself in the mirror of his dimly-lit apartment. Hey, whatever affirmation you need to get you through the day, pal. I don’t judge. Apparently being the spirit of the goat requires putting on some gloves and a creepy leather mask before smashing the mirror. Goats bleat in the face of seven years of bad luck!

In a penthouse, curtains flutter ominously from open windows as a television blares out the news that the masked killer known as the Spirit of the Goat is loose before name-checking Thomas and Martha Wayne. A richly-dressed woman, standing out on the balcony, is taken by the Goat. Harvey and his partner, played by Dan Hedaya, pull up outside an abandoned building, where they find a van registered to their suspect, Randall Milkie. I can’t believe the writers resisted naming the first Viper victim in last week’s episode Milkie. It’s like they’ve discovered subtlety or something. Anyway.

We learn Dan Hedaya’s character’s name is Detective Dix, and he calls in for backup. I don’t blame Dix. It’s a hard, sticky situation, and Dix needs some strong men to give him a hand. O.K., that’s out of my system now. Harv starts to go in the building after the suspect, but Dix stops him, telling him to wait for back-up. Harvey says he’s not waiting, his latest victim is in there and if they wait they’ll have lost three people to this maniac. Dix tells him Gotham’s golden rule is no heroes. Harvey runs off into the building despite Dix’s warning. He was just like Gordon before Gotham killed his ideals, see?!? I totally called this back in the pilot, by the way.

Inside, Dix says Shelly is already dead. Harvey tells him they don’t know that. Suddenly things get very True Detective, as they find a creepy candlelit altar set up on a make-shift stage, with Shelly hanging, lifeless, by her arms in the center. Something moves in the shadows. Dix says Shelly’s cold, having been there half the night, but Harvey observes that the candles have been recently lit. Milkie’s still there. Harvey goes after him, telling him he’s under arrest. The Goat responds back that Randall Milkie is gone – “this body is moved by the Spirit of the Goat.” Ew.

“Uh, we’re gonna go with Milkie,” Harvey quips back. “I already did the paperwork.” The Goat gets the jump on Harvey. Harvey shoots him and takes off the mask, revealing Milkie. I guess you could say Harvey got his Goat. Get it? Get it? Unfortunately Harvey’s actions resulted in a fall and unconsciousness for Dix, however, and Harvey calls for help as back-up arrives. The title credits take us into present-day Gotham, where Harvey is staring at another young woman’s corpse strung up by her wrists with candles burned in front of her, this time on a bridge.

The cop in back of him is trying to decide which Instagram filter best conveys shattered illusions and regret.
The cop in back of him is trying to decide which Instagram filter best conveys shattered illusions and regret.

Nygma is there ostensibly to do forensics, but he’s more interested in telling Harvey some gawdawful riddle involving a wolf, a cabbage, and a goat which tires me out to even think about writing out. Most importantly for purposes of this episode, Nygma tells Harvey the killer left out the vic’s ID. Harvey realizes she’s from one of Gotham’s wealthiest families, and is their firstborn. It’s the same pattern as the victims the Goat targeted a decade ago. Just a little note here, although we’re told that the Goat has killed male scions of powerful families, the only victims we’ll actually see strung up, lifeless and in nightgowns in this episode are women. Y’know. Just thought I’d mention it. Harvey realizes they’ve got a copycat, and he’s pissed. He already solved this case! He did paperwork, dammit!

Harvey wonders where Jim is, and Nygma says he’s not there yet, and hasn’t been answering his phone. Harvey can’t believe he’s at a crime scene before the Boy Scout, and gives Jim a call.

The cell phone buzzes, unanswered, on a table in Barbara’s penthouse, where she and Jim are having a fight. I thought they broke up but I guess that didn’t take. Barbara is all dolled up for one of the many places she never goes. Jim says that the city is wearing him down. “I came here to be a cop,” he says. “The city needs something else.” Like a caped vigilante! Barbara tells him she understands that, but she wants to share his burden. “Half of what you have to carry,” she asks. Jim tells her it’s dangerous, but Barbara says that if Jim thinks she cares about the risk he’s forgetting who she is. An agoraphobic? Jim swears he hasn’t forgotten who she is, and asks if they’re still fighting. “We’re negotiating terms,” she replies, to a grin from Jim.

The phone buzzes again. Before Jim gets it, he agrees to tell Barbara everything he can.

Down at the docks, Montoya and Allen have arrived to question a possible witness to the shooting of Oswald Cobblepot. The witness turns out to be a drunk, possibly insane homeless Russian man, so totally credible by Gotham standards. They tell him there was a shooting and ask if he saw it. Luckily the guy has a pair of binoculars, so he saw it very well. They pull out a photo of Gordon and the witness agrees it was Jim who shot. “Cold customer,” he observes. “Ice water in the veins.” Montoya is happy – they’ve got Jim.

Speaking of the devil, he’s finally arrived at the crime scene where the vic is being bagged. Harvey tells him about the copycat killer, and asks where he’s been. Jim doesn’t answer, telling Harvey to write him up. Harvey’s pissed – he feels like he’s having a “déjà vu acid flashback,” and says that heat will be coming down hard on the GCPD until this is solved. Jim says they’d better solve it quickly then. Harvey posits that the victim, Amanda Hastings, knew the killer somehow, and they should go talk to the family.

Amanda’s family is in shock, her mother obviously sedated when Jim and Harvey arrive to interview them. Her father tells Jim and Harvey he’s been having dreams about a “dark, overbearing presence” for weeks. Jim asks if there was anyone who might have wanted to hurt his daughter. He says no, and his hand begins twitching. Harvey asks if he’s O.K. A woman sitting with them tells him to take a moment, and then introduces herself as the family therapist, Dr. Marks. She says Mr. Hastings has a delicate nature, and isn’t capable of dealing with this sort of tragedy. Harvey says no one is. Dr. Marks observes that Harvey doesn’t believe in treatment. He says he believes in the tranquilizers she was handing out to Mrs. Hastings and asks if she is handing out samples. Jim steps in, and the therapist excuses herself.

Back at the station, Nygma is entering the Records Annex, which is staffed by the pre-makeover Rachel Leigh Cook from She’s All That. Her name is Miss Kringle, and she wants as far away from Nygma as possible. I don’t blame her, he literally sniffs her hair as she passes him. He asks her for information on the Goat murders from 10 years ago. He asks her if she finds it curious that someone’s resurrected a case from a decade ago, and that two separate people have now killed in the name of the Goat. Kringle is not curious, and starts to leave, when Nygma blurts out that he thinks he would like her parents. Kringle’s all WTF?, and Nygma explains that her surname is so rare, with its associations to Santa Claus, that most people changed it generations ago. Her parents, however, not only kept the name, but named her Kristen Kringle. That is really rich coming from a guy whose name literally spells out enigma. “They must be very humorous people,” he says, with a little giggle. “Humor is so important, don’t you think?” Kringle is a million percent done with him, reminding him he needs to sign out any evidence, but he’s moved on to insulting her organizational skills. She tells him she knows where everything is. Nygma says he can help her. “I doubt that very much,” she replies, leaving and shutting the door. “There’s a much better way to do this,” Nygma says to himself as he stands alone among the boxes of files.

Jim and Harvey are still investigating Amanda’s family’s building. Jim asks if Harvey thinks she was abducted from there. Harvey says he doesn’t know, but it was Milkie’s M.O. a decade ago to take each of the victims from their homes. There was no sign of a break-in, though, Jim observes. Harvey tells him there wasn’t ten years ago either – Milkie worked for an A/C repair company that serviced all three victims’ homes. A light bulb goes off over Jim’s head. The perp had keys. He calls for a list of every maintenance worker who had keys to the building as he and Harvey go to their car to get back to the station for the autopsy results.

And now, at nearly twenty minutes into the episode, we FINALLY get an Oswald scene, hallelujah. He’s coming up the stairs to an apartment – his mother’s apartment, to be exact. Yay, we get to see Carol Kane again! He knocks on the door softly, then again, loudly, calling out “Mother!” when she doesn’t immediately answer. Through the door we can hear her complaining about him taking so long to come back. “Hi mom,” Oswald says as she opens the door. “I’m alive.” Mom, wearing the same clothes from Montoya and Allen’s visit days ago, does not look impressed. She thinks he’s been out whoring around. “I don’t know why you think I’m always running off with some painted lady, I don’t even date!” Oswald huffs. You and me both, Oswald.

Mrs. Kapelput is having none of it, chastising him for not calling her. “You got tangled in some hussy’s demon-purse!” she spits, and immediately I wrote that euphemism down for my repertoire. Oswald, with the air of someone who has had this same conversation a thousand times, sinks into a chair and tells her there was no hussy. “Only betrayal, and savagery, and-” He pauses. “All I wanted was a little respect.” Like Aretha! How much do I want to take Oswald out for drinks and karaoke now? SO MUCH. “But they hurt me,” he continues. “So cruelly.” Gertrude is moved by her son’s words, and she falls at his feet. She realizes there was “no other woman,” which, yes, are her exact words, and believe me the ick factor only increases from here.

Just a photo of a perfectly normal, healthy mother-son relationship.
Just a photo of a perfectly normal, healthy mother-son relationship.

Oswald tells her “they” tried to kill him. “The bullies again!” she exclaims. She takes his hand, telling him they only do these things because they resent him. And also because he snitched on them to the cops but we’ll gloss over that for now. “Envy and spite,” she tells him, as pain and rage cross Oswald’s face, “that’s all it is.” He clasps her hand and looks into her eyes. “You watch, mom, I’m going to be somebody in this town,” he declares. She says she always knew this, drawing a smile from Oswald. Just before the scene cuts, though, you see a little twitch like he’s holding back tears, and seriously holy crap Robin Lord Taylor reaches new levels of killing it every week. Can we just rename the show Penguin now Y/Y/Y?

In Gotham’s rather dramatically-lit morgue, Harvey asks the medical examiner to search for an incision at the base of the victim’s skull, sewn closed. The M.E. humors him, and lo and behold she turns out to have a penny sewn into her skull. Harvey says the penny was Milkie’s M.O., and no one knew that detail.

Harvey tells Jim and Capt. Essen that Milkie sewed an 1813 Liberty penny into the heads of each of his victims. Jim asks why. Harvey says the guy bumrushed him wearing horns and he shot him, they didn’t have time to talk about coin collecting. Essen asks if Harvey’s sure no one else could have found out. Harvey says he’s sure – Milkie didn’t have any associates, and he and Dix left it out of the file as an “Easter Egg,” in case the Goat drew admirers. “How the hell did this Copygoat know about this?” he asks. Someone, please make a webcomic of a put-upon animal office worker named Copygoat, I beg you. Jim says the Medical Examiner had to know, but Harvey says he died of cirrhosis years back. Essen points out that Dix knew. “Captain, please,” Harvey protests, but Essen insists that they go interview his old partner.

At Stately Wayne Manor, which is more like Stately Wayne Studio Apartment for all the use any other rooms but the study get, Bruce is listening to a news report about the fear created by the return of the Goat. The rich are leaving Gotham until it blows over. “He’s got them all running like rabbits,” Bruce says. Alfred points out that Bruce is one of “them” – the firstborn son of one of Gotham’s most powerful families. He suggests leaving town for a bit, going to the lake house. Bruce says he’s not leaving, he has work to do. Alfred looks deflated. You know, Alf, you are Bruce’s legal guardian. You could make him leave the house if you wanted to. Bruce tells Alfred the Goat won’t take him anyway. “There’s no one to take me from.” Aw! Poor Bruce.

Back in the Records Annex, Kringle comes in to find Nygma still there, rearranging her files. That is not a euphemism, although I think Nygma wishes it was. She is not best pleased. She wants to know why he keeps coming in there with his “endless notes and suggestions and riddles! My God, the riddles!” Believe me, all of us in the audience feel your pain. She asks if he’s trying to get her to quit. “Do you want my job?” No, Nygma hastens to assure her! “I want you!” he exclaims, before he realizes what he’s said, and quickly finishes, “to keep your job, and to have it, here, for working.” I’m reminded here of Xander’s “to read makes our speaking English good” line from Buffy, which is probably not a coincidence, as episode writer Ben Edlund is a Whedon veteran. Nygma says he’s getting the impression that what he’s done was inappropriate. “You are so odd,” Kringle tells him, and he decides to go, thankfully not taking a whiff of her hair again as he leaves. Kringle, like the audience, is left with a mixture of confusion over what just happened and relief that it’s all over.

Jim and Harvey are at what appears to be a nursing facility to talk to Dix. Jim tries to talk to Harvey about what happened, but Harvey tells him it’s in the black box, “and we don’t open the black box – ever.” Harvey tells Jim to sit down while he talks to Dix. Jim says they’re both on this case. Dix is sitting in a wheelchair at a table, playing solitaire when they come in. He says Harvey’s out living the high life while he’s in this home with his broken liver. Harvey tells him the liver’s not on him – he’s just the one who busted his legs and put him in that chair. “The first rule of Gotham, no heroes, Bullock,” Dix tells him, and Harvey repeats “No heroes” as Jim looks on. Harvey tells Dix that they need to talk about the Goat. Dix says he was wondering when they would come to him for help. Harvey asks if Dix told anyone about the pennies, because the new killer is doing the same thing. Dix says he didn’t tell anyone. They were wrong about Milkie, he wasn’t working alone. They don’t have a copycat, or a lone killer. They have a conspiracy. Harvey doesn’t believe him. Dix tells Jim Harvey always thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. Harvey says that’s because he’s always in a room full of idiots, and leaves. “Watch out for him,” Dix tells Jim. “He’s a loose cannon. He always thinks he’s a white knight, jumping into the breach, like some idiot in the movies.” Jim asks if Dix is sure he’s talking about Bullock.

Out in the hall, an administrator is settling the details of Dix’s medical bills with Harvey. It turns out he’s been paying for Dix’s care all these years. Aw, Harvey. “Is he still getting those magazines I ordered?” Harvey asks. She confirms that he is. “Those are awful magazines, detective,” she says. Funny story, my mom used to manage senior housing and there was porn on the computers in the community computer room all the time. The elderly are pervy too. Jim overhears the exchange as he walks toward them, and he and Harvey exchange a glance.

In another ritzy home, a wealthy woman is talking to her mother on the phone and confirming her travel plans. Unfortunately for her, the Goat is waiting in the shadows. He chloroforms her maid and kidnaps her.

Harvey calls Jim about the newest kidnap victim, Amber. He tells Jim that Milkie’s ritual took about 8 hours. If their killer is doing the same thing, he reasons, they have little time left to find her. Jim has pulled maintenance records and is looking for an employee with access to both buildings. Harvey says that’s a lot of people. Jim agrees, but thinks that the killer’s been busy, so he must have called in sick the past couple of days, making him easier to find. Harvey tells Jim to get Nygma in to help him. “He’s freaking good with puzzles,” Harvey says. Please don’t encourage him, Harvey.

On the PD steps, Barbara is accosting Renee, telling her they have to talk. Renee doesn’t want to talk to her, telling Barbara she shouldn’t be seen there. Barbara insists that Renee has Jim wrong, that he’s afraid of someone and is trying to protect her. Renee says Jim is right, that what and who he knows will kill Barbara. They’ve got a judge to issue a warrant for Jim’s arrest. When Jim gets arrested, Renee tells her, you have to get out of here. Come on, Renee, Barbara just now figured out how to leave her apartment. You can’t expect her to be able to leave the city yet. Barbara says if Jim gets arrested she needs to be by his side. Renee tells her she needs to get out of Gotham, just until this is over. “And don’t come to me again.”

Jim, Harvey and Nygma are going over the four possible suspects. Only one of them is able to have done it in the time allotted, and they have a name and location for him – Raymond Earle, who’s been squatting in a place in the 1100 block of Cannery Park. Harvey recognizes the address, and is sure they’ve got their guy. Nygma raises a coffee mug with a question mark printed on it to them as they go. Oh, show.

This happened, because of course it did.
This happened, because of course it did.

Jim and Harvey pull up to the abandoned building that was the scene of the crime at the start of the episode. “Deja vu-doo all day long,” Harvey says. He tells Jim this is where they got Milkie. He and Jim go in. Inside, the new Goat has tied up Amber and lit the candles, unscrewing a bottle of chloroform and telling her she has to go to sleep now. He says she’s lucky to be the sacrifice. He dips a rag into the chloroform, but is interrupted by Harvey and Jim’s arrival. Harvey instructs Jim to free Amber while he goes after the Goat. The Goat jumps on him and goes after him with a hammer, telling Harvey the Goat will never be stopped, but will always come back. “Quit saying that!” Harvey yells, tackling him. They both fall down the staircase, and Jim joins the fight, knocking out the Goat with a final punch and placing him under arrest.

At Stately Wayne Manor, a window opens, and curtains flutter into the study where Bruce lies sleeping on the couch. It’s Selina, sneaking into her crush’s room, presumably to read his diary or leave a secret admirer note, maybe lift a few family heirlooms. Just crazy teenage stalker things! She hears Alfred walking upstairs and is momentarily distracted, then she sees the articles and photos Bruce has pinned to the wall. She takes a look at them. A silver box on the table catches her eye, and she snatches it. I feel like we’ve seen this box before and I’m supposed to remember what’s in it but I can’t be bothered to look it up right now. She hears Alfred’s footsteps getting closer and disappears through the window, closing it behind her as Bruce continues sleeping, unaware.

And now we come to the bathtub scene, aka the part where the show actively tried to kill me. O.K., deep breaths. Here we go. Oswald is sitting in a bathtub. So, that happened. He’s playing that game where you make a fist and shoot a jet of water through your thumb and forefinger, which is something I used to amuse myself doing in the pool way too much as a child, and is having a pretty awesome time doing it. “Accentuate the Positive” is playing in the background, probably on an old gramophone given that time seems to have stopped in Mrs. Kapelput’s apartment around 1920. Speaking of Oswald’s mother, she comes in while her son is in the bath, and whoo boy, it’s only going to get weirder from here. She’s carrying his suit, which she’s washed and pressed for him, and hangs it up. So far, so not incestuous. But then she decides to kneel down beside the tub (!!!), reach in (!!!!), and pick up a sponge (!!!!!!!111!!KEYBOARD EXPLODES). Seriously, this whole scene is such a troll of all of the Oswald fangirls, and I include myself in that. But I will soldier on.

Gertrude tells Oswald she’s worried for him, he looks anxious. Um, and this is just a wild guess, but maybe the fact that he’s a grown man and his mother is sponge bathing him might be the cause of some psychological issues? She wants to be sure that he’s not doing anything illegal. Oswald assures her it’s just business. Gertrude says business is fine, but to always remember he can trust no one. No one, that is, except his mother. All during these lines, she is rubbing the sponge back and forth along his chest. This is a thing that is happening onscreen.

Tumblr had gif'ed the entire bathtub scene less than half an hour after the episode aired.  Thanks, Tumblr!
Tumblr had gif’ed the entire bathtub scene less than half an hour after the episode aired. Thanks, Tumblr!

Oswald smiles at his mother. “I know, I know,” he says, as he takes her hand. “But you know what? I think I’ve finally found someone I can trust. A policeman.” He separates out the syllables of policeman to police man, kind of like Cillian Murphy did with “The Bat-man” in Batman Begins, which will forever be one of my favorite things. Gertrude is skeptical, saying that the police are all liars. “Not this one Mom,” Oswald tells her. He so doodles Mr. James Cobblepot with hearts around it in his journal. Obvs Jim would take his name, Oswald could never have a last name as pedestrian as Gordon. Oswald tells his mother that Jim is a real friend. “He’ll help me come out right in the end,” Oswald says, looking forward with a smile on his face while Gertrude slinks back, hurt and jealous.

Did we all get through that together? Good! Originally that part was just going to be a .gif of me running around and flailing, then dropping to the floor and rocking back and forth while hugging my knees, so I think I did well to use actual words.

Back at the station, Earle’s not talking. Essen thinks they got him, but Harvey is troubled. He thinks something happened to change Earle, just like Milkie. And they still don’t know how Earle knew about the coin. Harvey’s worried that they’re missing something, and if they keep missing it, they won’t be able to stop it. Jim suggests going back into Milkie’s file and looking for possible accomplices. Harvey says he needs to think, and tells Jim to go get some rest. He watches Earle in the interrogation room, and notices his hands twitching, just like Amanda’s father. “Holy Ghost on a bicycle,” Harvey exclaims. I love the way Donal Logue makes all his ridiculous one liners sound completely natural. He cracks me up.

Jim comes in to Barbara’s apartment. She’s packed up, and tells him he has to listen to her. Montoya has a witness who can identify him as Oswald’s killer. Jim says he didn’t kill Oswald, but Barbara says it doesn’t matter anymore, they have a warrant for his arrest. She wants him to go with her. But before they can go, there’s a knock at the door. “I can’t run,” Jim tells her, and goes to answer it. Montoya and Allen place him under arrest and take him away.

Harvey returns to the Hastings house to question Dr. Marks about her hypnotherapy practice. “Funny word, therapist,” Harvey tells her. “It can mean therapist or it can mean ‘the rapist.'” That joke really needs Darrell Hammond doing Sean Connery to land, though. He asks her about Raymond Earle, who was one of her pro bono patients. He mentions that he noticed Mr. Hastings clenching his fist over and over. Dr. Marks acknowledges that Mr. Hastings does that. Harvey says he’s been reading that if a patient has a bad idea, a compulsion, a hypnotist can put them under and suggest an action like clenching a fist instead of performing the compulsion. Marks confirms this is correct. He asks her why Raymond Earle clenches his fists. And what about Milkie? He knows she treated him a decade ago. Harvey thinks she hypnotized both of them, until their own identity was the bad idea and they weren’t clenching their fists anymore, but the Spirit of the Goat was. Marks says she underestimated Harvey, who is thrilled at being right. He wants to know why. Marks says it’s an act of therapy for Gotham. The rich and powerful destroyed Gotham’s hope and are eating it alive. Believing that the goat is real and wreaking vengeance on the powerful gives Gotham hope again. Harvey arrests her for conspiracy to commit murder, coercion, “and quite frankly a few other things we’re probably going to have to name after you.” Mr. Hastings comes in and asks what’s going on. Marks signals him to kill Harvey, and the two grapple on the floor before Harvey punches him out and shoots an escaping Marks at the bottom of the staircase.

Back at the station, Essen is confused by how Marks could have been the Spirit of the Goat, but they’re interrupted by Montoya and Allen bringing a cuffed Jim in for booking. Essen demands to know what’s going on. They tell her he killed Oswald Cobblepot and dumped him in the river. Harvey bellows that’s a “damn lie!” and Jim says that’s right, he didn’t kill Cobblepot. “I lied, I didn’t shoot him Bullock,” Jim says, to which Harvey agrees “Of course you didn’t, partner,” and Jim is like, no, really, I lied, but Harvey isn’t catching his drift. Harvey gets arrested as an accomplice to the murder, and Essen is righteously pissed about two of her detectives getting arrested in her station. Montoya tells her they aren’t trying to take down the GCPD, just Harvey and Jim, but Essen says Harvey and Jim are GCPD, so if the MCU is taking them down then the GCPD and MCU will have a real problem. Acronym fight! Harvey gets into it too and everyone’s shouting, when suddenly they hear an arrival, and everyone turns to see Oswald at the entrance to the station. He really has the most impeccable timing. “Hello!” he calls out cheerfully. “I am Oswald Cobblepot,” breaking into a delightfully demented laugh as he continues to be THE BEST.

HASHTAG AMAZING
HASHTAG AMAZING

“You son of a bitch,” Harvey spits at Jim, repeating it as he has to be restrained from going after Jim and the episode closes.

Overall, I think this was one of the strongest episodes so far, and did a nice job of humanizing Bullock and bringing him and Jim a little closer together before driving a Penguin-shaped wedge between them again at the end. I do wonder how Don Maroni is going to react to Oswald’s revelation to the PD, since he was so excited about having a secret weapon in the last episode. Also, I suppose this is a good time to mention the whole Robin Lord Taylor is really playing the Joker theory that popped up on Reddit. Honestly, I hope it’s not true. I mean, I like the Joker and obviously he’s an iconic Batman villain, but I’m kind of over the idea that he can be the only interesting villain, and if you have a fantastic actor in a part clearly he must be playing the Joker and not some second-rate villain like Penguin. If you haven’t gathered by now, I love what RLT is doing with Oswald, and I want to see him continue to develop this character, to see how he becomes the Penguin and what he does when he gets there. To pull the rug out and go, a ha!, he was playing the Joker the whole time!, feels like a cheat to me. That’s probably more airtime than a fan theory really needs but it’s been popping up all over the place including in the livestream Robin Lord Taylor did after the show, so I thought I’d address it.

Next week’s episode is titled “Penguin’s Umbrella.” I kind of hope it’s just an hour of Oswald picking out an umbrella. That would immediately become my favorite episode of the series. And as always, I welcome your thoughts on the show and recap on my Twitter, @Dachelle, in the comments below, or on the forum. See you here next week for another recap, same penguin time, same penguin channel!

Courtney is a returning reader to the world of comic books, drawn back in by the power of Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of Loki in the MCU and her attraction to broken antagonists with questionable hair. Favorite titles she's currently reading…

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