Television: Gotham, "What the Little Bird Told Him"

I spent the first few minutes going, "Is that Peter Scolari? That is Peter Scolari. It must be." And it was. He was playing the commissioner. The one who gave Gordon and Bullock 24 hours to find the escaped Arkham convict (whose name, it turns out, is Jack), else both of them are out of jobs.

For once, though, the mob stuff was more interesting. Liza—that's the girl Fish Mooney planted as Don Falcone's maid—gets kidnapped by Fish's people as a way to coerce Falcone into agreeing to pack up and leave. Fish promises Falcone and little Liza can live happily ever after together in some countryside cabin, and he buys it. He's ready to do it. Until Penguin comes along and informs Falcone that Liza was Fish's girl from the start. "Have I ever been wrong?" Penguin asks.

Penguins, you know, eat fish.

Falcone goes to Fish, ostensibly to collect Liza and be on his way. But instead he chokes Liza to death and puts Fish and her henchman in storage (after having killed the rest of her staff). This round goes to Falcone, and by extension Penguin.

Gordon and Bullock catch Jack when Jack walks right into the police station and zaps everyone. Except Gordon was smart enough to follow Ed's advice and wear his Wellies. Honestly, there was some other stuff that went on with that plot line, but I totally ignored it. ::shrug::

I did notice Barbara's awkward visit to her parents—they're letting her stay through the weekend, though it's clear she's putting them out by even turning up for tea—and Gordon's kissing that Arkham doctor. Drama! Except the romantic side of this show is really weak, so I almost wish they'd skip it entirely. Or do it better. One or the other.

Fans of Gotham are happy to hear it's been given a second season by FOX. And the past couple episodes have certainly been stronger than much of the first half of the season, so the trend is in the right direction. Bad romance notwithstanding.