Monday, October 10, 2016

Gotham 3x04 Recap: “New Day Rising (Butch v. Nygma: Dawn of Overacting) [Contributor: Jon]


“New Day Rising”
Original Airdate: October 10, 2016

The Mad Hatter began to take his first steps into darkness, Penguin and Nygma finally became the dream team I’ve been waiting for, and Nega-Bruce did... things, I think?

Let’s begin with our main story from last week, which is the continuing tale of the Mad Hatter.

IMPULSE


In the wake of Alice’s arrest last week, we see Bullock is interrogating Alice about her story. Bullock, who does not believe Alice’s story about Hugo Strange — even though he was JUST hypnotized by Mooney two episodes ago — is still adamant that she killed her landlord.

We then later cut to Tetch as he finalizes a deal to obtain an abandoned amusement park, all while hypnotizing and immediately killing the owner of the park, as he wants no witnesses to his plan. Tetch is on the verge of going fully nuts. He’s getting there, but he’s not there, YET. Perhaps he needs to have a bit of a push.

Speaking of a push, it seems the hypnotizing Tetch put on Gordon last week hasn’t fully left him. Tetch still has a hold on him in some sense, tempting Gordon to end his life. This is evidenced by Gordon nearly walking out and getting destroyed into the path of an incoming truck.

Later, Gordon goes with Barbara to find Tetch, only to find he’s recruited some local wrestlers to his cause. These trio of wrestlers are known as the “Terrible Tweeds,” aka the show’s interpretation of Tweedledee and Tweedledum from the comics (they really went for broke with the “Alice in Wonderland” references in the comics).

This leads to what might be the most Tim Burton-like sequence in the show thus far: to the tune of carnival music, the wrestlers invade the GCPD, where Alice is located.

BREAKING FREE


Gordon and Alice attempt to escape the GCPD, but the impulse Tetch left in his brain rears its head the moment Tetch appears. Tetch proceeds to kidnap Alice (who, as it turns out, never liked her brother all that much to begin with) and leaves Gordon with a gun at his temple. Gordon looks like he’s about to pull the trigger before Barnes hits him with a fire extinguisher.

Gordon wakes up restrained, where he is being checked on by Lee. This leads to yet another subplot being wrapped (for now) as Lee and Gordon discuss why Jim left. Gordon states he wanted her to be there for him after the madness died down, but she justifies leaving, saying he was never there when she needed him most. Mario was there when Jim was not.

The youngest Tweed brother is then interrogated by Bullock, who gives up the location of Tetch. Tracking him to the amusement park, Gordon and the other members of the GCPD confront Tetch and Alice, but Tetch uses that impulse in Jim yet again. This time, however, Jim is able to fight through the impulse and break it, reminding himself to let go of his past with Lee.

A gunfight ensues, and in the fight, Alice attempts to escape Tetch’s clutches. Tetch attempts to regain control of her, but, not wanting to let herself be a pawn in his game, Alice proceeds to impale herself on a wooden spike, killing her instantly. Heartbroken, Tetch runs, swearing vengeance.

Finally, as Barnes is investigating the crime scene, a drop of Alice’s blood drops into his eye, causing his veins to bulge and his eyes to turn red…

BAD MEETS EVIL


Meanwhile, Penguin’s bid to become Mayor of Gotham is now in full effect, with both Butch and help Nygma along the campaign. However, both men have different methods of running it. Butch wants to do it the dirty way, through bribes and threats, but Nygma wants to do it in a legitimate way, in order to make Penguin legitimate and well-liked in the public eye.

Nygma catches Butch paying off a campaign official and immediately checks the envelope. He lets the man leave, but Butch orders his men to follow Nygma’s movements.

It is revealed that Cobblepot is aware of Butch’s movements, but allows it to happen. A little girl then comes up and says how inspired she is by Penguin. Penguin’s heart is touched, but it’s revealed the whole thing was a ruse by Nygma to prove a point. Penguin angrily tells Nygma to leave.

Later, while waiting election results, Butch holds Nygma at gunpoint, revealing to Penguin that Nygma took back the money from the official that was bribed earlier. Cobblepot orders Nygma to be killed, but it’s then shown that Cobblepot is now the official new mayor of Gotham. Nygma then tells Penguin that he always knew he could do this, and that the people really wanted HIM, Oswald Cobblepot all along.

At his inauguration speech, Penguin announces Nygma as his new Chief of Staff, surprising Nygma and angering Butch. Something tells me that at some point, Butch is going to want his vengeance on Nygma.

FACE/OFF


Not much happened in regards to Bruce and Alfred this episode, with the exception of the temporary wrap up of Five/Nega Bruce’s arc. Bruce and Alfred discover the location of the car in the Narrows, deducing that Nega Bruce is with Selina.

Selina and Five make their way to a bar where Selina briefly separates from him in order to rob the place, but she immediately gets caught by some thugs. Just as she’s about to get her finger cut off, Five comes in and beats down the thugs with his immense strength (remember kids, eat your veggies). Unfortunately, Five gets injured in the process.

Selina begins to dress Five’s wounds when she discovers the scars Five has, deducing that he is not the real Bruce (the super strength or the random “Hey, I’m a 15-year old billionaire who’s driving a car let’s go for a ride” shtick didn’t tip you off?). Five then reveals how he wants to be his own person, and, while Selina is attending his wounds, he kisses her.

Bruce and Alfred later find Five on a rooftop. Five berates Bruce for not knowing what he wants in life, which may or may not be alluding to Selina. This is further suspicious when Five tells Bruce to thank Selina for their kiss before jumping off a rooftop parkour style. This comment seems to affect Bruce deeply, which may hint towards something more with Selina

ONE FINAL THING


While escaping Gotham and doing his best Elliot Alderson Halloween costume, he’s followed by a limo, which happens to contain Kathryn, leader of the Court of Owls. She immediately sedates and captures Five, stating that they have big plans for him.

What’s the Court got planned for Five? Will Barnes go full on nuts after getting a hit of Alice’s blood? And what happens in the ongoing fight between Nygma and Butch? What I’m enjoying consistently about Gotham this season is how quickly the storylines get wrapped while still leaving enough room to possibly continue it further. Yes, not every storyline is perfect, but everything is moving at a brisker pace, something the show desperately needed in the beginning.

NEXT EPISODE: The fight between Butch and Nygma heat up, and a certain gang make a return appearance.

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