Gotham: Spirit of the Goat is the 6th episode of the season and has Gordon and Bullock trying to solve copycat murders being committed by one calling himself the Goat and targeting wealthy families. This was a case Bullock thought he solved with his former partner a long time ago, and this episode opens up with the Goat kidnapping a woman many years ago. So after a string of kidnappings and murders, the police and the city are on high alert and anxious for them to end. So when Bullock and Dix, his partner, find a van registered to the suspected killer, they have to decide to wait for back up or rush in with the hope of saving the latest woman who was kidnapped before it’s too late. Dix tells Bullock that the golden rule in Gotham is there are no heroes but Bullock decides to go in before back up arrives, and thinks the woman is still alive but strung up on pedestal in an elaborate ritual. A fight ensues with the Goat resulting in Dix being badly injured, and the Goat dead. A decade later there’s another murder with the same M.O., and Bullock is frustrated by this because he initially believes it’s just a copycat murder and not the Goat being reincarnated like the original one promised. So has the Goat returned to terrorize the wealthy in Gotham once again, and if so, will history just repeat itself with Bullock and his new partner, Gordon?

“Gotham’s golden rule is that there are no heroes” was the most repeated quote, but it seemed as if common sense was absent in Gotham as well. I stated before how I’ve had a problem with the special unit and its fixation on Gordon, and also how Montoya telling Barbara that Gordon killed Cobblepot without any evidence of a murder actually occurring was absurd and their relationship was distracting. This episode dives deeper into that silliness and effectively undercuts one of the main themes in the series, which is the corruption in Gotham. If there was a conspiracy to get rid of Gordon because he’s the only cop on the force who actually attempts to solve crimes then that would have fit better. However in a city that is supposed to be so corrupt to its core that the Wayne family could be brazenly murdered, it’s very difficult to believe that a judge would issue a warrant for a cop in a corrupt department when the person he’s accused of killing is walking around Gotham freely. So if this was possible without any outside pressure then what does corruption in Gotham mean? A hero isn’t needed, common sense is needed. And as these events unfolded it became even more baffling and inadvertently comical since it couldn’t be viewed as just a procedural cop show/episode. So I kept thinking every time the special unit or anything related to their “case” was shown that I can’t wait for the Cobblepot murder mystery story line to be over.

SUMMARY

Gotham: Spirit of the Goat  is a disappointing episode that comes very close to inadvertent self-parody with the absurdity of the investigation of Gordon’s “murder” of Cobblepot hanging over the entire episode requiring an unusual suspension of disbelief. And in doing so it undercut the deep corruption theme being established in previous episodes when Montoya’s “evidence” could literally just be showing a picture of Gordon to a homeless man near a pier while never showing anyone in Gotham Cobblepot’s picture to see if he’s still alive. And considering Bullock’s character development with the Goat story line, and even what was revealed about Bruce’s mentality, there’s so much wasted potential with the special unit’s laughable investigations being so central to current events. Despite this disappointing episode I’m glad the Cobblepot murder mystery story line is coming to an end sooner rather than later.