Gotham: Spirit of the Goat

"Gotham's golden rule, Harvey; no heroes."

It's time we got to know our man Harvey Bullock a little better, don't you thin? Well, if you do then this is the episode of Gotham for you. A flashback to ten years past shows how Harvey's early zeal and idealism left his partner in a wheelchair, but the return of a supposedly dead serial killer called the Spirit of the Goat reignites his drive. The Goat was the last killer Harvey and his mentor Dix took down together, and his apparent resurrection hits the jaded detective hard.

Gordon: "You're a cynic. A slovenly, lackadaisical cynic."
Bullock: "Probably."

Harvey Bullock has been a strength of the series from day one, with Donal Logue's easygoing yet weighty performance anchoring the show against the pull towards tedious worthiness created by the duality of the blandly idealistic Gordon and the utterly venal and savage criminal elements of Gotham. He is the life of the GCPD, the perfect balance of essentially decent man and corrupt thug, determined to put away as many scumbags as he can for whatever he can to make up for the high-flying scum he can't touch and fiercely loyal to his partners.

'Spirit of the Goat' is Harvey's episode, from start to finish, with even the big shock ending focused on his reaction. It provides a background to his cynicism and a context for his approach to his work, as well as bearing the soul of the man. Most importantly, it reveals the policeman at the core of the thuggish persona, as for once it is Bullock who looks past the obvious, past the easy collar, and puts in the legwork to root out the real villain.

Simultaneously adorkable and creepy as fuck.

Speaking of legwork, we get to see Edward Nygma at work this week, and also to see him stalking Kristen Kringle, the GCPD records clerk. This particular scene is notable for being both adorkably awkward and seriously creepy, Nygma's near-absolute social blindness tempering what would otherwise be pure nightmare fuel. He perceives his filing system as objectively superior and what better gift to give the records clerk of your dreams, right?

Speaking of stalking, Selina Kyle is back, breaking into Wayne Manor and stealing keepsakes. By comparison, Nygma is the picture of socially adroit charm. And speaking of social obliviousness, Bruce delivers a sick burn to Alfred by telling him that the Goat wouldn't take him 'because there's no-one to take me from.' Poor Alfred.

Barbara is... less annoying this week. Her impassioned plea to be allowed 'half of everything you carry' is far more appealing than the earlier pressure for her fiance, whose job involves danger, untold horror and strict confidences which could destroy a case if broken, to keep no secrets. Montoya continues to be stuck-up and self-righteous, which is a shame because normally I like Montoya a lot more than this and it would be a shame to waste one of the few openly gay, action-oriented female characters on television on a cliche-ridden jealous ex-girlfriend bit.

The Fish Mooney/Carmine Falcone subplot is also less annoying this week, by which I mean it isn't in there at all. I think this contributes more than is immediately obvious to this being one of the better episodes so far.

Our final recurring character, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot makes a few passing appearances and one really big one, presumably his push to take back control after his misstep with Maroni, but for once he's a footnote. This is Harvey's episode, and not even the Penguin can take it from him.