One Sentence Review: Harvey Bullock is a scumbag, but with this episode we see he might not be so different than Gordon.
For more detail:
The Spirit of the Goat is a weird title but it sheds some light on Bullock and we see him starting to care. Ten years prior to Gotham a Serial Killer calling himself the Spirit of the Goat is killing the children of Gotham’s wealth families. When Bullock refuses to wait for backup hoping to save a child his partner gets shot. They gun down the killer but Bullock’s old partner is crippled. Present the the serial killer returns and Bullock begins to act almost Gordon like in his pursuit of justice.
There was a lot going on in this episode besides just the Goat killer. Gordon is dealing with his girlfriend’s suspicions. Penguin is being as sneaky manipulative and clever as ever. The villain of the week was uniquely creepy and comic booky while still being approachable enough for television The thing that stood out the most to me in this episode was Harvey Bullock’s past. His old partner referred to Bullock as being like a knight. Of all the characters in Gotham Bullock is the least knight like. I really like the characterization of Bullock as a fallen hero. He could have been Gordon except his spirit was crushed. Under all the corruption, unethical police work, bribery and mob affiliations there might still be a good man. Hanging around Gordon, coupled with an unsolved case, he’s starting to become his old self.
Spoilers to follow
The other major element of this episode is that the faked murder of Oswald Cobblepot finally comes to a head. Gordon gets arrested and before we can see the fallout of this the Penguin reveals himself. Though this was more of a cliffhanger than anything else it’s nice that major story arc is moving forward. For as much progress as Bullock made towards becoming a better person, he shifted back to his scummy ways as soon as he found out that the Penguin was still alive. It’s interesting watching the back and forth between the two sides of Bullock.
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