GOTHAM Recap: ‘Mad City: Ghosts’

The cool thing about Gotham is that it’s constantly changing. So what’s the new reality after the big mid-season finale you ask? Well Harvey and Jim are partners again. And I like that. They work together well, and they’ve got the bro-mance thing going on. Lee is a little bitter about her husband’s death. Well, more than a little bitter, she wants Jim dead. Jim killed Mario, just in case you forgot. So her rage initially rains down hard on his head. But when it comes out in the autopsy that Mario was infected with the psycho virus, and most likely kill-crazy. Lee relaxes a bit, unsure of how she feels. Ed Nygma is still upset with Mayor Cobblepot, The Penguin, for killing his second ladylove. Though Nygma himself killed his first love, so maybe he shouldn’t be so judgmental.   Bruce Wayne has the mysterious crystal owl he stole from The League Of Owls, with Selina’s help. But Selina, Bruce, and Alfred would have died during the heist if it wasn’t for Selina’s Mom, who showed up just in time to help out after an eleven-year absence. She abandoned Selina at the age of five. So maybe she’s in town to pick up her Mother-of-the-Year award…or maybe not. And oh yes, Falcone wants Jim Gordon dead. Jim promised he’d bring Mario back alive, which obviously didn’t happen. So now it’s time to pay the piper.

So who’s the ghost, or ghosts, referenced in the title? Is it the ghost of Mario, Miss Pringle, Isabella? And the answer is a questionable ‘yes’ to all three, since those deaths do come with consequences.   But the main ghost in this horror story is the ghost of Oswald’s dearly departed Dad, who seemingly comes back to haunt The Penguin, causing him more than a little distress. But Daddy isn’t the only person in Gotham walking around dead. Someone is liberating corpses from the morgue and temporarily reanimating them, using the Doctor Frankenstein method, intense electric shock. And whoever is doing it, isn’t very good at it yet. So it’s not Hugo Strange, who was successfully doing the same thing last season in the Arkham Asylum basement. (He brought Fish Mooney back to life AND gave her super powers) So who could it be, the creepy coroner perhaps? That’s what Jim and Harvey think, and they’re right. The creepy coroner is the leader of a cult that worships evil Jerome. The coroner is  trying to perfect his reanimation skills so he can properly bring Jerome back to life. Jerome is the psycho Joker-like dude that died last season. And who knows, if Jerome does come back from the dead, he’ll probably be even more warped. So maybe this post-mortem Jerome will become the Joker after all.

And speaking of ghosts, Jim Gordon is trying not to become a ghost himself. Falcone put a hit out on Jim and has a hit man chasing him. But luckily for Jim, the guy is armed to the teeth, but apparently can’t hit the side of a barn. He’s always firing a barrage of bullets at Jim, but he never seems to hit him. He’s not very good at his job. But all’s well that ends well; Falcone cancels the hit because of Lee. At the beginning of the episode she was okay with Jim getting whacked. But by episode’s end she has a change of heart. She found out Mario did have the psycho virus, and she goes to Arkham to see how Captain Barnes is dealing with his infection. And Barnes is all crazed and calling himself ‘The Executioner’ now. So she figures out that Jim probably did what he had to do. But what about Barnes? He swears he’ll escape and come after Jim. So I’m betting that it’s ‘Jim Gordon vs The Executioner’ sometime soon.

As it turns out, The Penguin is a great Mayor. Crime is down, Unemployment is down, and his popularity is on the rise. But because of his dead Dad, who appears and talks to him, he’s coming apart at the seams. And when he finds out his Dad’s corpse has been dug up and deposited in the office of his New Deputy Chief of Staff, he kills the man, thinking that’s what Dead Dad wants. And then Penguin is so flustered; he totally embarrasses himself on a live television interview. What is going on? I’ll tell you what. Edward Nygma, Tabitha, and Barbara orchestrated the whole Dead Dad Walking scenario to drive Penguin bonkers. And Dead Dad is really Clayface, the shape-shifting dude from last season. In case you forgot, he manipulated his features to look like Jim Gordon, and then took his place at the precinct. Nygma wants revenge; Barbara wants to take over Penguin’s organized crime empire; And Tabitha is still pissed about getting her hand chopped off. Though now it’s been reattached, and seems to be working fine. But this isn’t over. The terrible trio has a lot more bad things planned for Penguin. Things that will lead to his total humiliation, and eventually, his painful demise. So stay tuned…

LAST WORDS: Selina’s Mom is a real flirt, and I’m afraid Alfred is smitten. Even though she’s a con artist, and an accomplished thief. And there’s a real tough guy named Cole demanding money from Mom , and now he’s going after Bruce and Alfred… And what about that crystal owl they stole? Now it’s starting to glow. STAY TUNED!!!!!