'Gotham' Recap: The Ogre Finds a Partner — Barbara

Warning: This article contains story line and character spoilers for this week’s Gotham.

Gotham has its most successful episode in weeks. Fish Mooney is not in this episode. Coincidence? Hard to say: With five main stories that almost never overlap (Gordon, Mooney, Cobblepot, Wayne, and Nygma rarely interact), the show’s split focus makes it difficult to care about any of them. But with one story missing, the rest clicked and ran with the steady build of tension that Gotham’s always been capable of but hasn’t often shown.

The Plot

Bruce continues his investigation of the Wayne Enterprises board while continuing to struggle with Selina’s decision to murder Reggie. Gordon uncovers the past of The Ogre’s (Milo Ventimiglia): A butler’s son duped by a rich, old woman into thinking he was actually family. He tries to kill Gordon’s loved ones, only to find his research was out of date: Barbara’s no longer his loved one. Maroni tries to turn Penguin’s mother against him, while love drives Nygma to his first kill: Miss Kringle’s abusive cop boyfriend.

Related: Get Caught Up With Our ‘Gotham’ Recaps

Emotional Stakes Please… Well-Done

Maroni confronting Penguin’s mother, Gertrude, works on so many levels. Despite her somewhat deranged behavior, Carol Kane has always conveyed a sense of knowledge that her odd behavior comes from her unwillingness to accept her son’s evil; it’s crazy, but it makes sense in this narrative. It’s even a recurring theme in the show: Commissioner Loeb hiding his insane daughter in an attic, the possible future Joker (Cameron Monaghan) from “The Blind Fortune Teller.” Parents love their kids to a fault in Gotham.

It’s always more fun to see people dealing with revealed secrets rather than letting them linger (see Iris West on The Flash for proof of how that can go wrong); forcing Gertrude to confront her deliberate ignorance will probably create a familial rift that will give Oswald a legitimate motivation for acting like a comic book villain.

And after nearly an entire season, we also get to see Nygma go from bump on a log to unbalanced criminal. He’s trying to do right, but he’s also fueled by rage born of a thousand tiny insults heaped on him every day. It’s been a long time coming, and the wait appears to have been worth it; hopefully, he will be as important a presence in Season 2 as Cobblepot was in Season 1.

“We Have to Show Him We’re Not Afraid”

Captain Essen only has one face: Her “afraid” face.

It’s kind of funny, but also, it’s kind of a problem. Captain Essen hasn’t done anything since the pilot episode other than to follow Gordon’s lead. Thompkins had a bit of a Nancy Drew streak when she pushed to be part of the investigation in “The Blind Fortune Teller,” but most of the time, she’s being scared by cats under beds and waiting to be rescued by Gordon. Fish Mooney and Selina Kyle are cold-blooded killers. Are there any women in Gotham who aren’t damsels in distress or homicidal maniacs?

Related: ‘Gotham’s’ Milo Ventimiglia on Playing a Serial Killer, His Favorite Batman Villains, and His ‘Fresh Prince’ Past

That being said, Barbara’s connection with The Ogre might actually be the ideal middle ground: driven to uncover her dark side, not unlike Nygma. It would be a wild departure from the books, but considering the success Game of Thrones is having with the same strategy, why not?

Inside Comics Moment

The charity ball is being held at the Fledermaus Gallery. Fledermaus is German for “bat” — and Die Fledermaus is also the name of the Batman analogue from the Tick cartoon. Because of copyright issues, they used the name Batmanuel for the live-action Tick series; he was played by Nestor Carbonell, who also played the mayor in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

What do you think? Did this episode work because of Jada Pinkett-Smith’s absence or in spite of it? Is Barbara finally about to get the character development she deserves, or will she be killed off before the end of the season? Would you watch a grim and gritty reboot of The Tick? Let us know in the comments below.

Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.