Selina Kyle (Episode)

"I saw who killed the Waynes. Saw him clear as day."

- Selina Kyle to Detective James Gordon

"Selina Kyle" is the second episode of Season One of Fox's Gotham. It was written by Bruno Heller and directed by Danny Cannon. It is the second epside of the series overall, and premiered on September 29, 2014.

Synopsis
Detectives Gordon and Bullock investigate a child trafficking ring preying on Gotham's street kids, including Selina Kyle. Meanwhile, Penguin resurfaces in the countryside and begins to make his way back to Gotham, leaving victims in his wake.

Recap
We open with Bruce Wayne putting his hand over a lit candle. He cringes and resists the pain with deep breaths. This show of masochism is interrupted when Alfred enters the room. Seeing that Bruce has been wounding himself, Alfred goes into a rage, but quickly reverts to sympathy and holds Bruce. I’m still a little confused as to what type of Alfred their going for here. It seems that he’s passionate and fiery, and definitely not always eloquent.

The scene changes to a group of homeless juveniles and, of course, Selina Kyle is among them. Out of the blue, a woman, Patti, and a man, Doug, pull up in a truck offering food and goodies. We all know where this is going. As everyone runs to them, a weary Selina holds back. We learn that Selina’s nickname is “Cat” when her friends call to her. Selina’s suspicions are confirmed when Patti uses a needle to inject each kid on the back of their necks, thereby rendering them unconscious for the purposes of kidnapping. A homeless man tries to help the kids, but is quickly shot by Doug. One of the kids, Mackey, makes a run for it with Doug giving chase. Mackey eventually crashes through a restaurant’s window when he fights with Doug.

The next day, James Gordon and Harvey Bullock are on the seen of the homeless man’s murder. Selina watches Gordon from a distance. As a beat cop arrives, Gordon admonishes him for not preserving the crime scene. The beat cop’s excuse was that he was busy dealing with the kid, Mackey, that crashed through the window. Gordon quickly makes a connection and hypothesizes that Mackey may be related to the homeless man. Things quickly get heated when Gordon accuses the beat cop of being a “bad cop.”

At the station, Mackey is questioned by Gordon and Bullock. As Mackey repeats his story, Bullock goes into full bad cop mode and threatens to beat him. Mackey continues declaring his innocence and claims that Selina also saw the perpetrators. Gordon quickly pulls Bullock away. As Gordon criticizes Bullock’s treatment of suspects, Bullock reminds Gordon, a little too loudly, that Gordon isn’t all that innocent since he had just recently executed a man (Oswald Cobblepot).

On a remote road, Oswald, disheveled, gets a ride from two unsuspecting frat boys. Teasing and testing Oswald’s patience, one of them is quickly and brutally murdered when he reminds Oswald that he looks like a penguin.

In Captain Essen’s office, Bullock debates the merit of taking on the case of homeless kids being abducted. Edward Nygma, lurking about, finally enters the office after Essen calls him in. His initial tests on Mackey indicate a large amount of ATP — a fast-acting “knock-out” drug that was used at Arkham Asylum. Essen sends Gordon and Bullock to investigate the connection between the drug and Arkham. Before leaving, Bullock reminds Essen that this incident happened on Fish Mooney’s turf and he’s not sure if both him and Gordon can go back there.

Carmine Falcone pays Fish Mooney a visit at her club. He repeats to her what Oswald said to him before his supposed death: the death of the Waynes leaves a void in Gotham’s power structure; soon, the Maronis and other crime families will fight for power; because Falcone is old, Fish plans to take him out. Fish reassure Falcone that Oswald was lying and that he has nothing to worry about. In a final show of brutality, Falcone has his men beat Fish’s lover in front of her. Powerless, she watches on the verge of tears. As Falcone leaves, she commands everyone in the club to leave.

Detectives Crispus and Montoya are at Gertrude Kapelput’s (Carol Kane) home in their investigation into the disappearance of her son, Oswald. Gertrude, a doting mother, claims that Oswald may been seduced by an untrustworthy woman. Of course, Crispus and Montoya have their suspicions that dirty cops are involved.

Back at Fish’s club, she confides in Glizean her plan — after amassing enough resources, she’ll take down Falcone. Elsewhere, Oswald, now driving the frat boys’ SUV, pulls up to a remote home and rents a dilapidated trailer.

Later, Gordon and Bullock go to Fish to get information on abductions occurring on her turf. Fish only knows that there are buyers overseas who are willing to take anyone who’s young and healthy. She has no other knowledge on the suspects or who the buyers are.

At Barbara’s home, Gordon talks to her about the department’s reluctance in publicizing the kidnappings. Going against Gordon’s wishes, Barbara defiantly calls the Gotham Gazette and gives them an anonymous tip on children being abducted. The next day, Essen is furious with the uninvited attention from the press. Gordon’s feigns innocence when confronted by Essen. And the conversation quickly shifts to the investigation of three known ATP suppliers.

At Quillan Pharmaceuticals, Morry Quillan, the owner, meets with Doug and Patti about upping his pay for providing them with ATP and holding the abducted children. The deal goes south when Patti renders Morry’s bodyguard unconscious with a stab from her ATP-tipped needle. As Gordon and Bullock arrive with a warrant, Morry attempts to lie his way out. Patti attempts a distraction and a gunfight between both parties ensues. Doug and Patti, seeing defeat, race off in their truck. Morry instructs his custodian to dispose of the juveniles. Gordon arrives in the basement just in time and shoots the custodian, making him fall into a pit.

In a dog and pony show, Mayor Aubrey James praises Gordon and Bullock as heroes for rescuing the juveniles. Continuing his speech, Mayor James elaborates on how Gotham will “help” all homeless children. In Essen’s office, when pressed by Gordon, Mayor James reveals his real plan — the “cute” and “undamaged” ones will go to foster homes, and the rest will go to an upstate juvenile prison. Gordon calls out Mayor James and states that the abductors are now being used as a pretext to lock up children without a trial. Outside, Alfred has arrived to invite Gordon to Wayne Manor so that he can speak to Bruce. Alfred leaves the details out, but Gordon understands that it pertains to Bruce’s emotional state.

At one of Gotham’s juvenile transfer centers, Selina repeatedly requests to speak to Gordon. Denied by the guard, Selina reluctantly gets on the bus. It’s here that we get a quick glimpse of Selina’s supposed mother when she takes out a locket and looks at the picture. The serenity is quickly broken when Doug and Patti get on the bus. Attempting to escape, Selina is threatened at gunpoint by Patti to get back in her seat. Doug quickly commandeers the bus and drives off.

Desperate to locate the children, Bullock beats Morry for information. Scared and cooperative, Morry is able to identify a logo that was on a truck used in the abductions.

At an unknown location, Doug and Patti unload the children from the bus. Taking attendance, the two notice that one of the juveniles is missing — Selina. Patti goes back onto the bus to hunt for her, but Selina stealthily sneaks away. Back at the station, Gordon figures out that the logo belongs to a shipping company. In the shipping facility, one of Doug’s and Patti’s henchman comes running out screaming with bloodied hands over his eyes. Upon further inspection, we see that the henchman’s eyes have been gouged out by Selina Due to his now uselessness, Patti promptly executes him and continues her hunt for Selina. Dropping her locket, Selina reveals her location. Patti takes aim, but Gordon arrives just in time to save Selina, while Bullock apprehends Doug.

At Wayne Manor, Alfred speaks to Gordon about Bruce’s recent explorations into self-mutilation — burning and cutting. Gordon learns from Alfred that the Waynes wanted Bruce to choose his own path in the event of their deaths. Gordon believes that to be a “recipe for disaster.” To the anger of Alfred, Bruce sneaks up on their conversation. Bruce explains that his burned hand was a result of testing himself. Gordon implores Bruce to talk through his emotions with someone. Quickly changing the subject, Bruce offers money for the homeless juveniles. Gordon explains that money is not the solution. Bruce, adamant about giving, offers new clothes because the children’s clothes looked “raggedy”, to which Gordon also agrees.

Selina, at the station, refuses to be transferred upstate. She again demands to speak to Gordon and gets her wishes when she blackmails a social worker. Oswald, in his trailer home, attempts to ransom the life of the lone surviving frat boy for ten thousand dollars. Back at the station, Gordon meets with Selina. She makes a deal with Gordon — get her out of being transferred and she can identify the Waynes’ murderer.

Starring

 * Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon
 * Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock
 * David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
 * Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen
 * Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot
 * Erin Richards as Barbara Kean
 * Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle
 * Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma
 * Victoria Cartagena as Detective Renee Montoya
 * Andrew Stewart-Jones as Detective Crispus Allen
 * John Doman as Carmine Falcone
 * Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney

Guest Starring

 * Lili Taylor as Patti
 * Richard Kind as Mayor Aubrey James
 * Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean
 * Wayne Duvall as Morry Quillan
 * Kyle Massey as Mackey
 * Joe Starr as Arbogast
 * Joseph Latimore as Detective
 * Carol Kane as Gertrud Kapelput
 * Frank Whaley as Doug

Co-Starring

 * Michelangelo Milano as Lazlo
 * Ephraim Birney as Zeb
 * Taylor Colwell as Smoke
 * David Pendleton as Shad
 * Odiseas Georgiadis as Street Kid #1
 * Garry Pastore as Mobster
 * Andy Striph as Frat Boy #1
 * Nick Rehberger as Frat Boy #2
 * Hamilton Clancy as Ted
 * Charlie Sausa as Ince
 * Don Hewitt as a Large Thug
 * Angel Rosa as a Detective
 * Melody Butiu as Social Worker at Bus
 * Jasson Finney as a Stevedore
 * Aidan Fiske as a Crying Boy

Production Notes

 * Selina Kyle is known as "Cat" to everyone, this is a reference to her original name in her debut appearance "The Cat".
 * Bruce sneaks up on Alfred and Detective Gordon, much to the annoyance of Alfred. This is a reference to Batman's tendency to appear and disappear in silence, which frustrates numerous characters in the DC Comics universe.