Welcome to another Gotham recap! Gotham also known as the show that features more Bad Eggs than an abandoned farmhouse.

This week on the show there is Real Queer Content! That’s really all I need to say to get you to take interest, I know.

As always, the recap is split into The Plot, The Gay and The Ugly, so read on to find out what went down this week.

The Plot

In the very first episode of Gotham we saw the billionaire couple of Thomas and Martha Wayne killed in a back alley as they walked with their son. 9 episodes into the show and all we’ve gotten so far is that Selina ‘Catwoman’ Kyle is a witness and that the killer was wearing really shiny shoes. So basically we’ve gotten nowhere.

This week we might have the smallest of leads though as main character Jim Gordon takes a visit to Harvey Dent, the goodie two shoes lawyer that Major Crimes Unit detectives Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen recommended. Providing him with the suspect sketch (that was put together with Catwoman’s help), Dent wants to go after a rich mogul type called ‘Dick Lovecraft’ (nice name, buddy) and use the idea of a witness to scare him crapless.

…only it doesn’t go like that (but when does it ever). The man is adamant that they’re looking in all the wrong places and even when Dent puts on his best scowl, Lovecraft pleads his innocence. Guilty, innocent or morally grey, this lead just evaporated into dust.

A more successful aspect of Gordon’s career is the general police beat. A fellow named Ian Hargrove (mentally ill, incredibly talented bomb maker) has just been busted out of prison by a team of Russian mobsters. Their aim? Blow some stuff up! Make some money in the process! All in a day’s work for organised criminals.

Their plan consists of two parts. First they have to use Ian’s skills to blow up a guard tower (with a rigged basket of sweet goods) to get better, more powerful explosives. Four guards dead and the explosives gotten, the mobsters think they’re well on their way to success but little did they know that Ian had slipped in a piece of metal signage into the basket, detailing his location. And that’s how Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock show up at the mobsters warehouse.

Ian dumps the mobsters in it and tells Jim and Harvey that not only did the mobsters kidnap him and threaten to kill his brother and his family, but that they’re using these heavy duty explosives to launch an assault on one of Carmine Falcone’s vaults. Unfortunately, the world’s most useless detective duo (I mean, going to a suspect’s hideout without backup, really?) pay the price for their ineptness when the mobsters show up and shoot at them (with terrible aim) until they’re able to herd Ian off and back away from Jim and Harvey without maiming them.
Not that it deters their efforts though, as the mobsters soon meet up with their boss to discuss the finer details of the plan…it’s Fish Mooney! Of course it is. She tells them not to mess up because she has a lot riding on it, plus, once they break into Falcone’s vault, the money is theirs!

Except, not really. Showing up at the vault the next day, the mobsters (complete with Ian Hargrove) proceed to blow the bloody doors off of Falcone’s vault. But as they’re carrying the money out to their getaway truck Jim and Harvey show up to stop them. They probably deserve to be stopped since they were carrying the money out one by one but alas they somehow think they can get out of it by pulling guns on the two detectives.

Given that we still have half a season left of the show, obviously Jim and Harvey don’t die. Instead, after encouraging Ian to move a little closer to them, the truck blows up thanks to a cell-phone activated bomb under the vehicle that was set off by Mooney’s henchman, Butch, killing every single one of the mobsters in the process.

1-0 to Mooney against Falcone? Not quite. Double crossing ratbag Penguin broke into Liza’s apartment this week (Liza being the girl Mooney hired to spy on Falcone) and smells her belongings, Weird, I know. But when Penguin shows up to Mooney’s club, smelling her to confirm that Liza and Mooney are working together, it could set up a big bit of drama in the episodes to come.

Crime plots done for the week, the heterosexual romance storylines that I know we all enjoy involved the aforementioned Catwoman and rich orphan Bruce Wayne while Jim Gordon was having some relationship troubles of his own.

You see, Catwoman and Bruce ‘Future Batman’ Wayne are now living together after Gordon explained that she needed a place to stay. The two teens living together involves food fights, Catwoman being moody and Bruce’s butler Alfred having to clean up after them. It also involves Catwoman offering to kiss Bruce and Bruce telling Alfred he ‘likes’ Catwoman. I could tell you what I think is going to happen with them but let’s be honest, none of us really care!

Slightly more interesting is the fact that after being back on alcohol, former addict (and Jim Gordon’s canonically queer girlfriend) Barbara has gotten out of dodge, explaining that she needs some space. Or something. The point is she’s away from Jim…

The Gay

…and is now with (ex-girlfriend) Renee Montoya instead! Hurray!

Barbrenee (how do we feel about this portmanteau readers? Let me know in the comments) shippers get excited! This week finally showed the two having mutual feelings for each other, rather than Renee being an adorable pant-suited puppy because she still likes Barbara a whole bunch.

This week’s episode of Gotham ended with Barbara and Renee in bed together, the final scene being them kissing (just about). Honestly, it’s hardly a full makeout and there’s a lot to be said about whether this means Barbara has cheated on Jim (or if she’ll pull out that old ‘we were on a break!’ classic form Friends) but this is definitely a step forward.

The Ugly

The stuff between Bruce and Selina was boring, the crime plot was solid but nothing special and Penguin was probably in this episode for no other reason than the actor who plays him is on the payroll. That said, bringing Harvey Dent on board was a fantastic idea and Barbara/Renee is nice to see. One of the best episodes of the season, really!