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Gotham A Bitter Pill to Swallow Review(Season 2 Episode 9) November 16, 2015 Gotham(http://www.tvequals .com/category/fox/gotham/),Reviews(http://www.tvequals .com/category/reviews/)

Leave it to Gotham to find a way to beengagingly contemplative and surprisingly self-aware and still be nuttier than a fruit cake (twowords: cannibal hitman), in A Bitter Pill toSwallow. This episode was a series of set-pieces, with one focusing on the burgeoningrelationship between an ailing Penguin and EdNygma; another on Bruce and Alfred (with briefcameos from Silver and Selina, the two polaropposite women in Bruces life); and, last butnot least, between Gordon and Captain Barnes,as they fought for their lives while looking forevidence against Galavan in his apartment.

Undeniably the weakest of the three was theBruce subplot, which is sort of ironic on a showset in the Bat-verse. Not that it was poorlyacted or anything, there just wasnt much pointto it, really. We already know Silver is dirty, andBruce should know that, too, but in hisdetermination to find out the truth about whatGalavan really knew about the people

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responsible for his parents death, hes basicallyignoring all those red flags. Well that, and hesstill obviously smitten with her.

So, despite Alfreds continued efforts to thwarthim from doing something stupid, Bruce isbasically going down a dangerous path thatcant end well for him. Hell, even Selina stoppedby to try and talk some sense into him, claimingshe could now prove Silver was one of the badguys, but Bruce continues to stubbornly resistanyone and everyone standing in the way of hisgetting what he wants.

To be fair, though, this is actually about whatsomeone his age probably would do in hisposition, so even as Bruce is being an idiot, youstill get it. Hopefully, either Alfred or Selina willget through to him next week.

Far more engaging was the dynamic duo thatwas Ed and the Penguin. Still recovering fromrecent events, the Penguin was essentially bed-ridden, which meant he was stuck listening toEd rattle on about wanting the Penguin to teachhim how to embrace his inner killer. However,in the end, it was Ed who ended up teaching thePenguin the real knowledge about his currentsituation: the truly dangerous people are thosewho are completely unencumbered by lovedones altogether.

Given that the Penguin has lost his belovedmother and Ed has lost Miss Kringle, theresnothing whatsoever stopping these two fromgoing full-on psycho, as Ed himself pointed out.As such, it was high time they banded togetherand took the town back for themselves, least ofall with the seeming power void left behind inGalavans wake.

Though that may not be as over as it seems, ifnext weeks preview was any indication, withGalavan seemingly getting off scot-free andbeing released from jail. Or the ending, for thatmatter, in which Father Creel returned with aband of monk-like brothers I can only assumewere the predicted Sacred Order of St. Dumas,though well have to wait until next week toknow that for sure as well. But who else could itbe, really?

However, the main centerpiece of the show byfar was the siege on Galavans apartmentpenthouse by a host of hitmen tasked withkilling Gordon by any means necessary. Hiredby Tabitha to avenge her brother, in lieu of hershooting injury last week- which, like Penguin,sidelined her from the action while she washealing- they were sent by a shady lady wholooked as if she could be singer Lordes mother.(Or Lorde (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Ymd-OCucs) herself, when she piles on themake-up, if Im being brutally honest.)

To the best of my knowledge, we never got aname, unless it was Highsmith Royale, which Iwould say I doubt, but there have been craziernames in the Bat-verse, so who knows?Whatever the case, she sent one chipper guy,who promptly attacked Gordon in the elevator,with Gordon just barely defeating him.

Then, once she realized he had failed, she senta whole host of hitmen after him, who werealso defeated, albeit one after taking out aforensics expert at the scene. I thought for surethe beat cop type on the scene was toast aswell- she might as well have been wearing aRed Shirt- but damned if she didnt make it outalive in the end. But only to the end, of course.Captain Barnes likewise got stabbed in themelee, almost bleeding out in the process, buthe ultimately made it out as well.

In the end, it came down to Gordon and thelone assassin left, Eduardo Flamingo (RalCastillo, Looking)- see what I mean aboutthose names?- a guy so horrific even Lorde ladyfired him at one point. Why? For freakingEATING his victims, which apparently is crossinga line in the hitmen business. Not so with thisjob, what with Gordon and company layingwaste to so many of her guys in one fell swoop.

In the end, Gordon took him down, too, andcould have easily killed him, but unfortunately,between words of warning from Dr. T. andCaptain Barnes, he ultimately chose to back off,which didnt cost him, but totally did thataforementioned beat cop, who ended upgetting killed after all, back at the precinct, noless, when Flamingo cold bit her neck and shebled out! Yep, this is totally the show in which

someone gets munched to death- eat yourheart out, Hannibal! (Or he would if his showhadnt been cancelled- RIP.)

So, yeah, it was craziness as per usual inGotham this week, despite a lot of meditativescenes of people wondering about their actionsand the consequences of them and whetherthat mattered or not. Like I said, leave it toGotham to find a way to do both insane actionand pensive drama. You gotta love it. (For therecord, that doesnt look like it will be an issueon next weeks episode, which looks to be backto the insanity.)

What did you think of the latest episode ofGotham? Did you appreciate the quieterscenes this time around? Or do you prefer itwhen the show goes full-on batsh*t crazy? Howdo you think Galavan gets out of jail, given hissituation? What are those funky monks up to?What was the big plan Galavan alluded to?What will Penguin and Ed get up to next? Soundoff on this and more down below and see younext week!

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Mark Trammell(http://www.tvequals.com/author/mark/)Mark Trammell is the former residententertainment critic at UAB, the University ofAlabama at Birmingham, and recently achieveda Master's in Creative Writing. His impossibledream was that "Twin Peaks" will one day beresurrected and pick up where it left off. Littledid he know that was actually going to happen.He's now currently waiting to see if pigs will flyas well. Until then, he bides his time writingentertainment reviews and watching entirelytoo many movies and television shows.

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