TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Gotham Season 01 Episode 06: Spirit of the Goat

After a string of very strong episodes, Gotham slipped ever so slightly with its latest episode, “Spirit of the Goat”. To be fair, not all of it was bad, much of it was really good. There were just too many stories going on, some of which had little to not point, and others felt rushed a bit.

The clear cut best storyline in “Spirit of the Goat” was the one focusing on Bullock. For the first time (arguably in the history of the character) we got to see him not as the gruff, pessimistic, brooding character we all know him to be, but rather a eager cop trying to do good. Sound familar? A case from 10 years prior haunted Bullock in the present day, as the titular Spirit of the Goat appeared to be back and reeking havoc in Gotham.

It was great to see the contrast and similarities between the old Bullock with his old partner Detective Dix, and present day Bullock with Gordon. Furthermore we got to see Bullock again be the detective we all know he can be, given the right situation of course. Another nice tidbit was seeing how Bullock was paying for his old partners bills, whether it be out of guilt or charity is unclear, but it’s nice either way.

Though the storyline was nice, and the reveal of the murderer was cool, it really felt rushed near the end. Especially when the therapist revealed her plan, sicked her patient on Bullock, got shot, and…wait, case closed? There’s usually more resolution here, and even though the scene afterward (which I’m about to get to) made me forget what was happening, I still have to wonder about it.

The curious part about “Spirit of the Goat” was the naggin sidestories that appeared to have no significant point. The Bruce storyline was truly irrelevant save for a line about how “there was no one to take me from”, outlining how Bruce doesn’t realize Alfred cares for him. And while it was cool to see Selina steal something from Wayne Manor, it raises the questions of: “Why?”, “Why now?” and “What did she take exactly?”

Easily the most pointless storyline was the one concerning one Edward Nygma. For the record, Riddler is one of my favorite comic characters, period. And seeing him as the goof he is in Gotham hurts me to my soul. This is not the Riddler I know. Yes, it’s an origin story, sure. But there have been other origin takes on Riddler where he is a very smart, very CONFIDENT, non-foolish, non-irritating guy that you can believe will become a criminal mastermind. This isn’t it!

…ok, I’m done, let’s move on.

The final curious storyline was concerning Cobblepot, who finally let his mother know he was alive, and that he would make an impact in Gotham. This was very creepy, and weird. Thankfully it all added up in the end when Gordon and Bullock were being arrested for his murder and he just walked in and said “Hello.” You can tell that Robin Lord Taylor loves this role, his expression at the end of the episode was priceless.

Wait, you say, how did Gordon get arrested? Well, Montoya found a witness who claimed he saw Gordon kill Cobblepot. This tied into Barbara and Gordon’s storyline as they tried to reconcile, and Barbara tried to convince Montoya she was wrong about Jim. Though it was obvious he was going to be let go eventually, I don’t think any of us expected it to be this soon!

In the end, “Spirit of the Goat” was more or less filler for what’s to come next. Cause soon EVERYONE will know Gordon didn’t kill Cobblepot, and Falcone will not be happy about this. Not. One. Bit. There was a lot of pointless stories, but the core was good. So my score reflects that.