GU92 - S5E03 - Penguin, Our Hero

Penguin, Our Hero starts out people with mocking Penguin and ends up with them thanking him. However, people are still out to shut him down and take out Haven. Bat and Cat head to the Dark Zone to find Jeremiah but end up with an Ecco of Harley.

Penguin, Our Hero:

A hero and savior is what Penguin is styling himself as, but a dictator is all he is to his people. They sing an anthem to him and Mr. Penn tells him only what he wants to hear. But then a choir member falls out and Oswald gets the bad news. People are working double shifts ,because people are defecting to the GCPD's Haven. Oswald tells Penn to stop it or it means his head. Some members of the Street Demonz gang enter and shoot up the place before being stopped. They say that Penguin has taken out the Demonz, Lo Boyz, and Undead gangs and left graffiti. Penguin says if it was him there would be no survivors and no proof. He sends them off to be tortured. The next day he awakes to only Olga, the housekeeper, singing to him. She says everyone has defected to Haven including his dog Edward. He wakes up the one Demonz member alive and tells him to round up what is left of the other gangs. They are going to attack Haven.

Harvey tells Jim that Haven is filling up and they have very little food and the ammo supply will not survive an attack. Jim breaks up a fight and lays down the ground rules to the new folks. His speech inspires hope and Bruce thanks him for it. But Jim is tired and loosing hope. Bruce takes him to talk with Will (who's friends they rescued last episode). Will has bad dreams and a broken arm because of it. Jim encourages him. Later at the GCPD they get word that Penguin's forces are coming for Haven. Jim sends Harvey to Barbara for help and takes the rest of the force to Haven.

Harvey finds Babs in the club and she is not happy. She tells Harvey that, Golden Boy Jim can be his own hero. Harvey says that Jim and Haven cannot stand without help. He says that Penguin and his forces are attacking. Babs says you should have lead with Penguin and they head to Haven.

Penguin, the Street Demonz, Lo Boyz, and Undead arrive at Haven. After two attacks, the GCPD are out of ammo and have to surrender. Jim is locked up. Jim asks Penguin to take things out on him, not the refugees. Penguin says his people will go back to being lead by him and the rest will go back to being the gangs' slaves. The gangs are dividing up the people and the Demonz want to kill Penn. Penguin stops them, but the leader shoots and kills Penn. He says they are going to take his turf and ammo factory. They lock Penguin up with Jim. As Jim and Penguin argue, Will comes in and slips them a can opener. They make a truce, free themselves and with the help of the GCPD take out the gangs. Jim settles the people down. He thanks Will for his help and standing up for him. He deputizes him. Outside Jim says they are even and lets Penguin go. About that time, Harvey & Babs show up. Babs is hell bent on killing Ozwald, but Jim stands in her way. Then explosions rock the entire Haven building.

Selina's No Hero and Jeremiah's A Cult Leader:

Selina is hell bent to find Jeremiah and end him. She and Bruce question one of the new refugees and find out there are rumors of Jeremiah in the Dark Zone, but that place is filled with lunatics. Bruce wants to be a hero and bring him to justice. But he will do anything to protect Selina. Even going into the Dark Zone. There they find the Mutants gang and Selina goes after the towering leader, while Bruce takes out everyone else. Selina literally beats Jeremiah's location out of the leader and has to be stopped by Bruce's grappling hook.

They head to Old Town and find that Jeremiah has a cult. Worshipers dress in black pants/skirts with white shirts and black ties. Jeremiah's right hand woman, Ecco, says that he is looking for people devoted and those willing can go upstairs. Selina steps up and heads up with the pilgrims. They are taken to an empty pool. Their test of faith is to form a circle and play Russian Roulette with the person in front of them. They fire and 3 pilgrims die. Ecco scolds Selina from stopping stopping the person behind her from firing. She dismisses the rest. She knows who Selina is because, Jeremiah's cult knows everything and everyone connected to Bruce Wayne. Ecco, who is dressed like Harley Quinn, says she wanted to see Selina test herself. Selina says you go first. Ecco shows a bullet wound. She shot herself and the bullet is still rattling around in there. Selina and Ecco begin to fight and Selina has the upper hand. Then Bruce comes in and tells her to stop. This distraction is all Ecco needs. She stabs Selina and escapes. Selina handcuffs Bruce to a grate, saying she is going to do things her way now.

Closing Thoughts:

Penguin, Our Hero ramped up the action to 11. Penguin wanted to be a hero but failed. Jim was the people's hero, but faltered. Bruce tried to be a hero and keep Selina from going over the edge and failed. Selina didn't want to be a hero. She just wanted to kill Jeremiah. After the last two episodes we have learned that the Dark Zone is no place to be and how Haven is really that for the people of Gotham. Who is behind the attack on Haven? Is it the government's retaliation for Jim doing the rescue mission? I think it is Jeremiah's forces causing chaos and fear, like they did with shooting down the chopper. I'm exited to see what is next!

Cougar's Comic Corner:

We talked about the Mutants' look and feel being right out of the Frank Miller classic "The Dark Knight Returns." This is a seminal work in the Batman lore. Check it out on Amazon or Comixology.

News:

Ruin:
Gordon and Penguin are forced to work together and alliances are shaken when Lucius, Nygma and Barbara all have different ideas of the culprit behind recent events at Haven. Meanwhile, Selina continues her quest for revenge against Jeremiah (guest star Cameron Monaghan) in the all-new “Ruin” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, Jan. 24 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (GTH-504) (TV-14 L, V)

The following week we have Pena Dura and then a repeat of Year Zero on Feb. 7th