Spirit of the Goat

"Gotham's golden rule, Harvey. No heroes."

- Detective Dix to Harvey Bullock

"Spirit of the Goat" is the sixth episode of Season One of Fox's Gotham. It was written by Ben Edlund and diredted by T.J. Scott. It is the sixth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 27, 2014.

Synopsis
When a killer begins targeting the first born of Gotham's elite, Bullock is forced to confront traumatic memories from a nearly identical case he worked in the past. Later, Gordon is confronted by past decisions.

Recap
We open ten years in the past. A creepy, bald man keeps repeating, “I am the spirit of the goat.” When he finally puts on a crude goat mask, his tone changes and becomes menacing. He then declaratively states, “I AM THE SPIRIT OF THE GOAT!”, and punches the mirror. On the balcony of a penthouse, the masked man, the Goat, attacks and abducts a young woman named Shelley Lawson.

At a compound of abandoned buildings, Harvey Bullock and his then partner Dix, pull up to a van registered to Randall Milkie — the Goat. Bullock steps out to investigate while Dix calls for backup. Bullock doesn’t wait and heads towards the building. A protesting Dix tells Bullock, “Gotham’s golden rule, Harvey … no heroes.” Harvey ignores Dix and runs in anyways; Dix begrudgingly follows. Inside, they find Shelley, already dead, but Milkie is still present. As Milkie takes out Dix with a trap door, Bullock fires his gun multiple times at Milkie, killing him. Bullock goes and tends to an unconscious Dix.

In present day Gotham City, Bullock is at a crime scene of the latest murder — a young woman murdered and posed in the same fashion as the Goat’s killings. An irritating Edward Nygma then points out that the killer left the victim’s identification, revealing her to be Amanda Hastings. Bullock, familiar with this crime, quickly lists Amanda’s profile: comes from money and the oldest in her family. The Goat has the same M.O. in every killing. Everything points to a copycat.

In Barbara Kean’s apartment, she presses James Gordon for whatever secrets he’s hiding. Because of the dangers associated, he’s reluctant to tell her. She doesn’t care about the risks and pleads to him to let her carry “half of what he’s carrying.” Before leaving, Gordon promises to tell Barbara everything he can.

Detectives Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen arrive at the docks to talk to a homeless man about a shooting. Showing a picture of Gordon, the homeless man confirms to Montoya that he saw Gordon shoot someone.

Gordon arrives at the murder scene and Bullock quickly unloads his concerns to him: the press will sensationalize the murders of the children of Gotham City’s elite class; and everything will result in insurmountable pressure on GCPD. Gordon and Bullock move on to question the Hasting family.

At the Hastings’ home, Amanda’s distraught father, Robert, talks about a recurring nightmare he’s had. Bullock then notices Robert clenching his fist in a repetitive manner. His therapist, Dr. Marks, quickly intervenes and suggests a break is needed for the couple. Because of time constraints with the investigation, a frustrated Bullock unloads his anger onto Marks.

Nygma arrives at GCPD’s records annex to access information about the Goat murders from ten years ago. In an extremely awkward interaction with the file clerk, Kristen Kringle, Nygma tries his best to flirt with her — which includes sniffing her as she walks by and sidetracking on odd topics. Before leaving, an annoyed Kringle warns Nygma to not make a mess of her files. But, of course, Nygma has other ideas.

In the Hastings’ lobby, Bullock gives Gordon a rundown of past Goat cases and stated that, like the incident here, there were no break-ins because Milkie worked maintenance. Gordon deduces that whoever took Amanda, must’ve had the keys and also works in maintenance.

Oswald Cobblepot arrives at the home of his mother, Gertrud Kapelput. Right after nonchalantly announcing that he’s alive, Gertrud goes into berating Oswald about his supposed interactions with untrustworthy women. Oswald quickly regains his mother’s doting sympathy when he spins a tale of betrayal and abuse by his peers. He vows to his mother that he will accomplish great things in Gotham City.

Reviewing Amanda’s autopsy, Bullock requests that the coroner look at a specific detail — an incision at the base of the neck that has been sewn shut. Opening the sutures, they find a penny — a detail that no one else knows, which points to the killer not being a copycat. Ten years ago, all of Milkie’s victims had an 1813 Liberty Penny sewn into their heads. Bullock intentionally left this detail out of his reports, afraid that the Goat would draw admirers. The only other two people to know of this is a now deceased medical examiner and Dix.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth watch reports on the widespread fear caused by the Goat’s murders. In order to keep their children safe, most of Gotham’s wealthiest have sent their children abroad. Alfred suggests that Bruce should do the same. Bruce rejects this idea because he has too much work to do. In an especially poignant moment, Bruce states, “Besides, why would the Goat take me? There’s no one to take me from.”

Back at the records annex, Kringle enters to find her files reorganized into new stacks on the floor. Nygma has gone ahead and created a “better” system — something akin to the way “peat moss grows” — “laterally.” Furious, Kringle asks if Nygma is trying to make her quit. In a blunder, he says he “wants” her, but quickly amends the statement awkwardly. Finally understanding that his actions were inappropriate, Nygma leaves.

At a retirement home, Gordon and Bullock meet with Dix, now in a wheelchair. After a bit of friendly banter, Bullock goes right into asking Dix about his recollection of the Goat case. Dix reconfirms his silence on the penny detail and proposes a theory: it’s not a copycat killer or a lone killer; it’s a conspiracy. Frustrated with Dix’s crazy idea, Bullock leaves. As Gordon also starts to exit, Dix asks Gordon to look after Harvey. To Gordon’s surprise, Dix remembers Bullock as a “white knight” always ready to jump in and save the day. In the hallway, Gordon sees an act of kindness from Bullock — he pays for Dix’s care and everyday needs.

Inside a Gotham City mansion, the Goat abducts his latest victim, Ember Copley. Bullock, at the scene with investigators, calls Gordon and reports that there were no signs of breaking and entering. To reiterate an urgency in time, Bullock states that Milkie followed a ritual of dressing and killing his victims, which took approximately eight hours. Gordon pulls the files of all maintenance workers who had serviced the homes of both Ember and Amanda. Because of the vast amounts of data, Bullock suggests using Nygma as a resource because he’s “freaky good with puzzles.”

On the courthouse steps, Barbara confronts Montoya and wants her to understand Gordon’s predicament. But Montoya has already obtained a warrant and will soon arrest Gordon. Montoya implores Barbara to leave Gotham City.

At GCPD, Gordon, Bullock, and Nygma, through a process of elimination, figure out that the Goat is a man named Raymond Earle. Revealing the address of Earle to be the same place where Bullock and Dix had their confrontation with Milkie ten years ago, Bullock is positive that they have their suspect. Arriving at Earle’s address, Gordon and Bullock enter and find Ember tied and disoriented. As Gordon frees Ember, Bullock goes after Earle. Armed with a hammer, Earle ambushes Bullock. A brutal fight breaks out with Bullock and Earle rolling down a flight of stairs. With Earle about to bludgeon Bullock, Gordon tackles Earle and subdues him.

At Wayne Manor, Selina Kyle breaks into the study through an open window. Caught off guard by a sleeping Bruce, Selina sneaks to his desk and steals a small silver box. Hearing Alfred making his way down the hall, Selina quickly exits through the window.

In what is probably, so far, one of the most cringe-worthy, Hamlet-like scenes in the show, Gertrude slightly bathes Oswald as she tells him that he can only trust her. But Oswald quickly tells her that he has, in fact, found someone else that he can trust — a policeman. Gertrude, not impressed, is skeptical of any law enforcement.

With Earle sitting in GCPD’s interrogation room, Bullock runs down a list of Earle’s past mental illnesses. Sarah Essen congratulates Gordon and Bullock for capturing the murderer, but Bullock isn’t satisfied. Things don’t add up for Bullock as both Milkie and Earle had no prior violent offenses before becoming the Goat. To add to these inconsistencies, the two men committed their crimes ten years apart, on a whim, and knew about the coin. Bullock’s gut feeling is that something acted as the catalyst for their violent turn. And if there’s something that they’ve missed, then these murders will continue. As Gordon leaves, Earle starts to have a mental breakdown. Bullock notices that Earle is exhibiting the same motions as Robert — the repetitive clenching of his fist.

Arriving home, Gordon finds Barbara with their bags packed. She goes on to tell him that Montoya has secured a witness. Barbara knows something is wrong and wants Gordon to leave with her. As doorknocks are heard, Gordon rejects the idea of running. Answering the door, Gordon is arrested by Montoya and Allen for the murder of Oswald.

At the Hastings’ residence, Bullock interrupts a therapy session between Marks and Robert. Pretending to be interested in Marks’s perspective on the Goat case, Bullock starts to question her about Earle. Bullock then delves into the fist-clenching motion that he saw — a physical movement that a hypnotherapist introduces to prevent the subject from acting out on compulsions. With Marks growing irritated at the questioning, Bullock quickly presents the connection between Earle and Milkie, both former patients of Marks. Seeing no way out, Marks admits that she sought out mentally unstable patients so that she could turn them into the Goat. Her reasoning: the Goat was “therapy” for Gotham; the rich and elite destroyed all hope for the city; and so she created a murderer to kill the children of the wealthy as a form of negative reinforcement. About to be arrested, Marks recites a trigger phrase to Robert, and commands him to kill Bullock. Quickly going into a rage, Robert attacks Bullock. After a brief fight, Bullock is able to knock out Robert, and shoot an escaping Marks in the leg.

At the station, Montoya and Allen bring in a handcuffed Gordon. They present the charges to Essen, who believes it to be a lie. James, trying to communicate a real truth, states to Bullock that he didn’t shoot Oswald. But Bullock takes it as them still continuing their ruse. Allen then quickly arrests Bullock because a witness also placed him at the scene of the shooting. As Essen and Bullock become more and more infuriated with Montoya and Allen, the station’s doors swing open — showing Oswald amused, introducing himself, and greeting them. An angered Bullock is held back as he lunges at Gordon.

Starring

 * Ben McKenzie as James Gordon
 * Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock
 * David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
 * Zabryna Guevara as 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 Renee Montoya
 * Andrew Stewart-Jones as Crispus Allen
 * John Doman (credit only)
 * Jada Pinkett Smith (credit only)

Guest Starring

 * Susan Misner as Dr. Marks
 * Christopher James Baker as Raymond Earl
 * Kim Director as Lacey White
 * Brian O'Neill as Robert Hastings
 * Carol Kane as Gertrude Kapelput
 * Dan Hedaya as Detective Dix

Co-Starring

 * Chelsea Spack as Kristen Kringle
 * Clyde Baldo as Olaf Nillson
 * Philip Hernandez as Medical Examiner
 * Beatrice Brigitte as Ember Copley
 * Andrea Sooch as Mrs. Hastings
 * Joy Lynn Jacobs as Administrator
 * Christian Steiner as Newscaster
 * Denia Brache as Anita
 * Mariah Strongin as Shelly Lawson

Production Notes

 * Right after the girl is abducted, the scene shifts to show a panoramic view of the Gotham buildings, and the distinctive "Q" for Queen Consolidated is seen. Although only a child at this time, Oliver Queen eventually becomes the Green Arrow.
 * There is a scene in which Edward Nygma has a cup bearing a "?". This is the symbol for his comic book counter part The Riddler.
 * The name 'Gotham' literally translates from Old English as 'Place of the Goat' giving added significance to the villain's title. It also refers to an English town nicknamed the 'place of fools' after its' inhabitants feigned madness to hoodwink King John.