Gotham - 'Strike Force'

"I think of it as The Shield, season 8."

There's a new boss at the GCPD: Captain Barnes (I'm not sure who the new Commissioner is, or if there is one yet, but they're obviously not using Sarah Essen's old office,) a tough ex-Marine intent on making a clean sweep. At the same time, the Galavans approach Penguin to be their underworld strongarm, take out the other mayoral candidates and make an unsuccessful hit on Theo for effect. When he refuses, they reveal that they have his mother.

Faced with the death of one candidate and the drive by attempt on Galavan, Barnes and Gordon recruit a team of four talented rookies straight out of the Academy to form the GCPD Strike Force, a no-bullshit, shoot-to-kill team to tackle the worst that the Gotham underworld has to throw at them. Aptly enough, their first encounter is with the GCPD's natural predator, Victor Zsasz. It's depressing that their exchange of flesh wounds counts as a major achievement, given he's one guy with handguns against four armed bastards in body armour, plus Bullock and Gordon.

Gordon knows that Penguin is the candidate killer, but can't act directly because of what Penguin has over him. Barnes has no such compunctions, and wants the Strike Force gunning for Cobblepot. Meanwhile, Penguin and Butch are looking, carefully, for Mama Kapelput.

'Silver St Cloud' is one of those names that screams 'character out of the
comics.'

Elsewhere, Alfred punches Selina Kyle - who has reverted entirely to independent street criminal - in the face 'for Reggie' and tells her to keep away from Bruce, triggering some sort of emotional meltdown in her. This would probably have hit her less hard if she weren't recovering from an extended and inexplicable bout of Minion's syndrome. Anyway, Bruce will no doubt be fine, as on top of a rigorous new training regime of running home through dangerous downtown Gotham, he's been introduced to Galavan's ward, the micro-honey trap Silver St Cloud.

ETA: You know what I completely forgot to mention? Eddie Nygma scores a date with Kristen Kringle by acting all domineering. He drops the ball when the subject of her ex 'leaving town' comes up by saying "I'm glad he's dead," and then starts talking to himself, but apparently she's all kind of into that. Poor Eddie; if only he'd realised sooner that the way to a woman's heart is through her crippling emotional problems.

Gotham continues to max out at okay. Barnes and the Strike Force are a new element, but the Galavans are still frankly annoying. They're like Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins, but without the gravitas and credibility. Without a visible support or intelligence network, their ability to work around everyone, identify their weaknesses and lean on them perfectly comes off as the kind of informed brilliance that really, really annoys me. Barbaritha continues to be an annoying piece of fan service, and both Galavans are just so smug you want to see Alfred punch them, or Zsasz shoot them. I know people who want to see some of the larger and more cannibalistic DC villains - Killer Croc or King Shark - introduced to the series for no other reason than to eat them.

King Shark. Man, I miss The Flash. I wonder when it's back on.