Gotham 5x5 : Pena Dura review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

After last week's average at best episode of Gotham this week's episode a big improvement. It begins as we see Gordon & Bullock running up the lead that Barbara had given Jim at the end of last week's episode. The lead turns out to be solid as Gordon and Bullock find the guy who sold the RPG that led to the destruction of Haven a few weeks back. The guy stands his ground against the two cops however and with Gordon and Bullock looking outgunned help arrives with the aid of a Delta Force led by Gordon's old army buddy Eduardo. Back at the GCPD and Eduardo tells Jim of the mission to completely rid Gotham of it's criminal scum. Gordon finds a list from the seller of the RPG and low and behold Edward Nygma's name is on there leading to a city wide chase of Ed throughout the episode by not only Gordon and Eduardo but pretty much everyone else in the city. It's genuinely entertaining however as Ed trumps the GCPD and Delta Force at first but is eventually caught by a woman and her two sons. She wants revenge for Ed killing her dog JoJo which Ed just laughs at. She has him strapped to a chair and channels electrical currents throughout Ed's body. This is actually a good thing for him as the stronger the electricity gets he begins to see Penguin in his head mentioning that he will fix him. Ed even though he's not really in control of his mind manages to outsmart the lady and escapes heading straight for City Hall. More on this later.

After last week's seemingly demise of Jeremiah Bruce finds Selina at the Sirens club and goes to talk to her. She seems to have fully slipped into the darkness as she drinks and parties with people in the club. Alfred earlier had said to Bruce that he can't help her from herself. She is a murderer and Bruce isn't. They aren't the same. And that is what Selina also tells him at the bar. She actually hits Bruce with some home truths and mentions the night his parents died and how she was on a fire escape looking down at the crime. She mentions how Bruce was a scared little kid and how she could have done something to help but didn't because she just did not care enough. Bruce looks absolutely destroyed by her words which was great making this scene just brilliant. Back at the GCPD and with Gordon out with the Delta Force Bruce and Harvey share a really cool moment that ends with Bruce disappearing behind Harvey's back much to his surprise. More on Ed now and as the episode draws closer to it's climax Ed and Penguin talk at City Hall and Penguin mentions how after killing Butch he found Ed after being stabbed. No mention of him finding Lee which was interesting but he tells Ed that he paid Hugo Strange to 'fix' him in a sense. After getting his location we see Hugo Strange in a warehouse of sorts dumping a body down a vent. 2 guys walk in with a body but it's none other than Ed and he demands answers from the Professor. Strange tells him that while he was stitching him up he planted a chip in his brain which allows him to be controlled. A robotic Riddler?? an interesting concept for sure but I still don't know what to think about this. Strange hits Ed with a spray which renders him useless. The Professor then goes to work on fixing up the chip in his brain which had overloaded thanks to the electricity currents earlier. As this is going on Gordon and Eduardo bust into the room and we learn that it isn't Strange who has been controlling Nygma oh no but Eduardo along with a woman named Walker. Gordon ever the good guy refuses to believe it all at first blaming them for the demise of Haven and all the lives lost. He escapes but Eduardo tasks Riddler with the mission of taking Jim out.
                                
The episode ends in a tunnel where we see Echo and others tunneling through some rocks. The scene pans over Jeremiah who of course is not dead and only wanted Selina and Bruce to think that he was. Turns out the tunnel that has been mentioned a lot this season leads right through and into Wayne Manor. Coming right out of the fireplace Jeremiah and Echo walk into the room where 2 people are sitting with bandages over their heads. A doctor removes them and Jeremiah seems overcome with joy and hilarity before mentioning that he loves family reunions. This will obviously lead to these 'people' being Bruce's parents in an attempt of Jeremiah completely getting into Bruce's head which should be great. All in all though this episode was a vast improvement over last week. With the inclusion of Eduardo who will become Bane, The Riddler Robot and Bruce's heartache of Selina's words it was all genuinely interesting and entertaining. Gotham however goes on break for 2 weeks and returns on Valentines day. Until then Gotham!

★★★★