Gotham: Damned If You Do...

"Damned If You Do..." is the premiere episode of season two of the crime drama series Gotham, and the twenty-third episode of the series overall. This season is billed under the subheading of "Rise of the Villains". The episode was directed by Danny Cannon with a script written by Bruno Heller. It first aired on the FOX Network on Monday, September 21st, 2015.

Synopsis
It's been a rough couple of weeks since Fish Mooney took the plunge into Gotham River. Jim Gordon has been booted down to a traffic cop due to the machinations of corrupt not-so-bosom buddy, Commissioner Gillian Loeb, and Harvey Bullock has been driven into quitting the force and now works as a bartender (as least he's not drinking any more). The Penquin however, is doing just fine. As the self-proclaimed King of Gotham, he now rules the Falcone crime family like a scrawny Don Corleone. He even has that bald weirdo Victor Zsasz as his murderous enforcer and even Selina "Cat" Kyle has been hanging around (at least she got a better hairdo since hanging around with Fish).

Meanwhile over at stately Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred are still befuddled over the mystery behind the fireplace. They discovered a secret underground passageway, but it leads to a locked vault door with a key code. Bruce has been trying endlessly to guess the code but to no avail. Forgoing traditional methods, he decides to just blow the damn thing up. Alfred finds him lugging a bag of fertilizer into the living room and loses his cool. Since he doesn't trust Bruce to not blow his head off, he decides to help him.

Over at Arkham Asylum, things are business as usual. Barbara Kean is fitting in nicely with the other crazies and is rocking the 1930s era black and white striped prison garb. She even starts paling about with Jerome Valeska and befriends a big stupid bald guy, whom she convinces to serve as her protector. She manages to get to a telephone and calls Jim Gordon, and then Lee Thompkins, whom she calls a "bitch" and says she's going to die.

Through the course of all of this, Jim Gordon has an encounter with a dangerous so-called costumed villain who calls himself Zaardon. While arresting this lunatic, Gordon "lays hands" on another GCPD officer, which is technically a no-no. Commissioner Loeb uses this as a means by which to fire Gordon.

Jim Gordon really wants his job back, and is determined to oust Loeb. To facilitate this, he finds himself in the uncomfortable position of getting into bed with the Penguin. Figuratively speaking of course, not literally. That would just be icky. Cobblepot is more than willing to do Gordon a favor, but he must do one in return. He turns Jim into a random debt collector and sends him to the house of a rival gangster who owes the penguin money. Gordon handles the job, and gives the Penguin the money owed to him.

Meanwhile, another high ranking Gothamite named Theo Galavan springs some of Arkham's finest from imprisonment with the intent of bringing them together as his own personal super-villain team. Not all of the villains play nice with each other however, and Galavan makes it very clear who is in charge.

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred finally succeed in blowing up the vault door, which leads them down into a cave. Bruce finds an old dusty computer table (with a magnifiying glass on it for some reason) as well as a letter addressed to him. It is a letter from his father.

The Penguin makes good on his word, and pays a visit to Commissioner Loeb. With Zsasz accompanying him, they violently convince Loeb that antagonizing Jim Gordon has not been in his best interests. The following day, Gillian Loeb officially announces his retirement as Commissioner. Sarah Essen takes his place and Jim Gordon is reinstated.

Oh yeah... almost forgot. In the beginning of the episode, Edward Nygma is having psychotic conversations with himself in a bathroom mirror. But then... we already knew he was nuts.

Notes & Trivia

 * Gotham was created by Bruno Heller, based on concepts originally developed by Bill Finger and Bob Kane for DC Comics.


 * This season is billed under the subheading of "Rise of the Villains".


 * This episode is rated TV-14.


 * This episode is production code number 4X6201.


 * This episode had a viewership of 4.569 million people, which is down by .361 from the last episode.


 * Actors Morena Baccarin, Cory Michael Smith, James Frain, and Jessica Lucas now join the cast for season two.


 * Remember Victoria Cartagena and Andrew Stewart-Jones from season one? Yeah, they're no longer in the picture.


 * This is the fourth episode of the series directed by Danny Cannon. He also directed the premiere episode from season one.


 * This is the sixth episode of Gotham written by series creator Bruno Heller. He previously wrote the season one finale, "All Happy Families Are Alike".


 * This is the second appearance of Jerome Valeska, who is insinuated to one day become the classic comic villain, the Joker. He appeared last in "The Blind Fortune Teller".


 * This is the second appearance of Richard Sionis, aka The Mask. He appeared last in the kick-ass Fight Club inspired episode, "The Mask".


 * This is the first appearance of Theo Galavan, who is now a regular character on "Rise of the Villains".


 * This is the first appearance of Tabitha Galavan, who is now a regular character on "Rise of the Villains".


 * This is the fifth appearance of Anthony Carrigan in the role of Victor Zsasz. He appeared last in "The Blind Fortune Teller".


 * This is the first and only appearance of Ogden Barker, who is shot and killed by Jim Gordon.


 * This is the first appearance of Zaardon, who later becomes a crony of Theo Galavan.


 * Behind-the-scenes appearance of Thomas Wayne (posthumously).

Story notes

 * Harvey Bullock says that he has been sober for thirty-two days, indicating that it has been at least a month since the events of last season.


 * The code on the vault door, which Bruce was unable to figure out, is 27823 (BRUCE).


 * Ogden Barker was in debt to Carmine Falcone to the tune of $70,000. When the Penguin took over Falcone's enterprises, all of debts owed to him transferred to Cobblepot.

Incongruities

 * Logistical inconsistency: Even in a psychiatric hospital, the inmates would be separated by gender. It is inconceivable that Barbara Kean would be allowed to mingle with the other male patients. But then, this is Gotham after all...


 * Logistical inconsistency: Bruce Wayne has always been shown to be exceptionally bright. It is unlikely that he would have not been able to figure out the vault code on his own.