Awesome / Gotham Season One

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Season 1

1x 01 Pilot

• Selina Kyle's introduction. She's seen roof jumping over Gotham like it's nothing, staking out pick pocket victims. She slides off an awning into a busy street, uses a switch-blade knife to tear open an old lady's grocery bag, and steals a jug of milk, all with a little satisfied smirk on her face.
• Without knowing the kid personally, Jim Gordon manages to relate to Bruce Wayne in a couple of moments. He even tells him that he would bring the killer to justice, showing that Gordon is a good cop through and through in a city of corruptness.
• Despite the trauma, the young Bruce displays a keen, clear memory and eye for detail in describing his parents' killer for Gordon. His info proves crucial to Gordon later on. And it shows his potential to become "The World's Greatest Detective" in the future.
• Gordon takes down a couple of Mooney's thugs with little trouble. The only reason why he goes down is because Mooney knocks him out from behind with a lamp.
  • To her credit, Mooney herself for immediately recognizing that Gordon was going to be a problem when they first met.
• Bullock walking into the Slaughterhouse to save Jim. He doesn't succeed, but he gets major points for trying.
• The entire introduction of Carmine Falcone. He pulls off a Villainous Rescue of Gordon and Bullock, then gives Gordon a passionate speech about how much he loves the city and is doing his part to keep it from falling into chaos. As Gordon then notes, he makes being a criminal sound pretty darn noble.
• Gordon is given the choice of either killing the treacherous Cobblepot to prove he's now with the program, or Falcone will kill him and everyone close to him. So what does Gordon do? He fakes Cobblepot's death, with only moments to plan, successfully finding a third option.
• The last scene of the episode, showing what Cobblepot does after the above — after swimming across the river (with a broken leg, mind you), he unflinchingly kills a fisherman standing between him and food, and then gives a Death Glare to the city while eating. After spending so much screentime as Mooney's servant, the cold-hearted badassery of the Penguin we all know starts to shine through.

1x 02 Selina Kyle

• Falcone shows up at Fish's club to talk. He lets her know that Oswald blabbed about her ambitions to take over and that she called him "old" and "soft". She vehemently denies it, and Falcone is glad to hear it. He then inquires about her personal life asking if she has a lover. The young man in question is Lazernzo, and Falcone has him dragged off; Falcone shows to Fish he's very much still in charge and not going anywhere without a fight. Fish is so distressed that she has her night club emptied in a fit of rage.
• Selina evading the female child snatcher on the school bus, then obliterating the eyes of another one, thankfully offscreen.
• Even with their differences, Jim and Harv were able to work together as a successful tag team to nab the child kidnappers, with Gordon going as far to kill one of the kidnappers without a moment's notice.
• Jim's Big Damn Heroes moment when he saves Selina from being shot.
• Selina manipulating an officer to see Gordon and dropping the bombshell that she saw the Wayne's murderer. Ms. Kyle has serious guts.
• Cobblepot is clearly taking a level in badass, brutally killing the first person to compare him to a penguin and holding his friend ransom. He's starting to work his way back up in the criminal underworld.
  • Also something of a MoA for the actor, who's doing a beautiful job of making the Penguin grim and vicious as anything, while preserving the character's oddball streak.
• Young Bruce does the very first Stealth Hi/Bye on Gordon of many, many more to come.

1x 03 The Balloonman

• Seeing the wheels start to spin in Bruce's head when a reporter asks who will protect Gotham now that the Balloonman has been arrested.
  • Plus, his showing exactly what will make him different from such vigilantes. "He killed people. That makes him a criminal." Though this gets quite cruelly undercut later in the future when Bruce expresses the desire to kill Reggie and even more so later when he urges Jim to kill Strange.
• Selina swiping Harvey's pen to get out of her handcuffs, leaving Gordon behind in the sewer.
• Cranston initially succesfully defends himself from the Balloonman's attack, and pats him down for identification and money that when later discovered on his corpse gives Gordon the clue behind the Balloonman's identity.
• This exchange when Cobblepot is being threatened:
  Cobblepot: This city needs me! I am its future!
  Thug: If you're its future, it's in big trouble.
  Cobblepot: Yes, yes it is. (Knife killing ensues)
• How Jim got the Balloonman arrested instead of letting him die in the same way he killed his victims: now unarmed and with Harvey being the only one with a gun, he grabbed the Balloonman's legs forcing Harvey to shoot the balloon to avoid killing him alongside the criminal.

1x 04 Arkham

• Oswald taking his first true step towards becoming the Penguin when he hires a trio of thugs to rob Maroni's restaurant so he can look like a hero for saving some of the cash, and then he gets promoted to manager by Maroni out of gratitude. To ensure there are no loose ends he gives the thugs poisoned cannolis while he sits back and watches. The cherry on top is when he calmly takes half of the cash they stole.

1x 05 Viper

• Selina judo-flipping a full grown man after he catches her in his pocket.
• The second Alfred sees poison gas filling the room, he immediately takes off his jacket and covers young Bruce's head with it.
• Mooney training Liza to be the perfect Honey Trap for Falcone, which he falls for. She's not a major crime boss for nothing.
• Bruce, just a 12-year-old kid, uncovers questionable business practices at Wayne Enterprises within a week of reading through a massive pile of records that would take years for trained investigators....future world's greatest detective indeed.

1x 06 The Spirit of the Goat

• Montoya and Allen go into precinct parading Gordon around for Cobblepot's murder, and are about to arrest Bullock too, when Cobblepot himself walks through the door, leaving everyone with an Oh, Crap! expression on their face and stunned in disbelief.
• Bullock shows us he can be a damn good detective if he has to be, figuring out on his own that the Goat killers were controlled by someone else, and that the therapist was the Big Bad all along.
• Gordon kicking the new Goat's ass, the first time he's won a drawn-out fight.

1x 07 Penguin's Umbrella

• Gordon, throughout the episode, acts as a Determinator One-Man Army, dedicated to taking down Falcone or die trying (and being willing to die anyway if it means riling the city against the mob).
• Crossing over with Heartwarming, Bullock being willing to help Gordon even if it kills him, since he figures he's a dead man anyway.
• The fight scene with Zsasz and his hench-ladies in the precinct, culminating in a Big Damn Heroes moment by Allen and Montoya.
  • And that is preceded by Jim daring Zsasz to try something when there's 50 cops in the room with them. Zsasz then clears the room with three words.
• Penguin anticipating Carbone (Maroni's Number Two) double-crossing him on the mission to take out some of Falcone's men, and paying off his own Mooks to cross him first so that Penguin can eliminate him. Bonus points for giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech before and during stabbing him to death, considered by some to be the best monologue on the show so far.
  "What drives you? What’s your passion? When you know what a man loves, you know what can kill him... for you, it’s money. You love money. More than power, respect. You’re a skinflint, Mr. Carbone, a cheapskate. [Carbone's men grab him from behind] Consequently, you don’t pay your people enough. It is a sad fact that there is no loyalty among thieves… [stabs Carbone] All it took was a substantial pay raise to sway these fine men. That’s your problem. Your greatest passion becomes your greatest weakness. Love, Mr. Carbone...love conquers all."
• The Reveal at the very end that truly marks this as a Wham Episode: Cobblepot has been working for Falcone since the pilot, and everything since being outed as a snitch — working his way into Maroni's inner circle, inciting the Mob War, even tricking Gordon into sparing him — has all been part of a plan to help Falcone eliminate his competition. The best part? It was all Cobblepot's idea. He's been a Magnificent Bastard since not long after we met him.
• Alfred's Offscreen Moment of Awesome, somehow getting the better of Allen and forcing him back to the car in an arm-bar.
• Carmine is pretty damn brilliant, being able to avoid arrest by presenting Barbara and Victor to James Gordon. The old man may have rules, but don't think he is harmless.

1x 08 Masks

• Bruce beating the crap out of the bully, Tommy Elliott (and yes his name should ring a bell), followed by Alfred warning the little snot to stay away from Bruce or else.
  Tommy: He tried to kill me!
  Alfred: That's right. He did. He tried to kill you. Just you remember that next time you see him. And you remember, that I let him try.
  • After which, Alfred agrees to take Bruce out for pizza.
• James Gordon taking on multiple men armed with lethal office supplies and winning, followed by taking on the boss, Black Mask wielding a katana, and beating him down too!
  • And just when Gordon seems to make a mistake of turning his back on Sionis, Gordon turns around and levels a finishing punch to Sionis's face. Bad. Ass.
  • Even more when realizing he was very recently shot twice.
• Bullock giving a combination "The Reason You Suck" Speech and Rousing Speech to the GCPD about how they can be good cops despite the city's corruption, and it starts by not turning their backs on Gordon again.

1x 09 Harvey Dent

• Hargove, while being forced to build a nail bomb, thinks to add in the nameplate of the factory so whoever investigates the shrapnel at the crime scene might trace it back to where he was being held captive.

1x 10 Lovecraft

• Alfred: Battle Butler. Badass. Nuff said.
  • Aside from the physical action, he's also quicker at getting information than Bullock, immediately paying off a source, insults Butch then floors him with a knife to his throat, and convincing Fish to help just by sweet talking her.
  • When he and Bullock arrive at where Bruce and Selina are being held, two goons open fire on them. Bullock sensibly takes cover and waits for backup. Alfred assaults the ambush. (Which is what Royal Marines are taught to do.)
• Cobblepot calmly talks Falcone into sparing him one more time to help find out who blew up the mob don's hidden stash of money. And he doesn't immediately point the finger at the obvious mole Liza, already playing The Chessmaster of knowing when to topple that particular piece on the board...
• Bruce keeping up with Selina on the rooftops of Gotham, and helping protect her from the assassins sent to kill her. All the while uncertain if the assassins were after him or her. He definitely earned The Big Damn Kiss Selina plants on him by episode's end.
• Gordon tells the Mayor what he thinks of the corrupt politician's plan of pinning the blame of Lovecraft's death by lady assassin on him. "Mayor James, kiss my ass!" And then willingly accepts exile to guard duty at the re-opened Arkham, refusing to give in on the growing pressure to make him quit the police force.
• Gordon's Stab the Scorpion after spotting one of the assassins hiding among a group of mannequins and drawing down on Bullock.
• Copperhead, full stop. A badass assassin who becomes one of the show's few villains to end their introductory episode alive and on the loose, and also a Consummate Professional who repeatedly goes out of her way to avoid collateral damage. She pretty much instantly becomes one of the show's best villains.

1x 12 What The Little Bird Told Him

• Gordon forcing his way back into the GCPD in order to hunt down the escaped Electrocutioner.
• Nygma suggesting the police wear rubber boots to insulate themselves. Gordon's the only one who does... which is why he's there to face down the bad guy when the entire police station gets electrocuted unconscious.
  • Gordon wins two ways: he uses his brawn - as usual - against the Electrocutioner's brainwashed muscle. And he uses his wits to toss a simple cup of water at the Electrocutioner's body gear to short it out.
• This summation of Gordon's character:
  The Electrocutioner: Who here deserves your protection? Anyone!?
  Gordon: Everyone!!
• In the other story arc, the gang war heats up to where Fish makes her move against Falcone, seemingly beating the older Don by faux kidnapping Liza and driving a weary Falcone into accepting retirement. It takes Oswald's revelation that Liza was planted by Fish]] to make Falcone take personal measures by bringing in Zsasz and his lady assassins to wipe out Fish's gang before Falcone directly confronts Fish to crush her coup attempt.
  • Capped by Falcone's horrifying strangulation of Liza in front of Fish to demonstrate how Falcone is once again a ruthless crime lord.
  • Props go as well to Zsasz and his assassin team for quietly wiping out Fish's gang off-screen.
  • And to Oswald who now takes over Fish's corner of the Falcone empire.

01x 13 Welcome Back, Jim Gordon

• This episode was a CMOA for both Fish and Butch:
  • Fish not breaking under the torture Bob puts her in under, even with a tight plastic bag over her head, and mocks him for it!
    "That's all you got? You're gonna bore me to death!"
  • Butch freeing himself from his captors, beating them up, and later Bob, thus saving Fish in the process. He also recognizes that both he and Fish must leave Gotham when the latter refuses to until she kills Cobblepot, ignoring that she's a dead woman.
    • Alongside this, upon being rescued, Fish's face suddenly shows utter terror, revealing that her acting Too Kinky to Torture was all for show, and yet she was still able to keep it up that whole time.
  • As Cobblepot gleefully claims ownership of Fish's club over the mic, Fish shows up with a bat and Butch in tow. The horrified expression on his face is priceless, and Fish eventually has him literally kissing her feet while berating him.
    • Cobblepot gets his own moment during this scene when he accurately refutes Fish's assessment of him and insults her to her face. He had no idea that Zsasz was coming, and for all he know Mooney would kill him for insulting her but he found the stones to it anyway.
  • Butch taking out one of Zsasz's assassins, and staying behind to let Fish escape and hold off Zsasz and his group.
• Gordon exposing and managing to arrest the suspect murderer with the GCPD rallying behind him.

1x 14 The Fearsome Dr. Crane

• This episode is both a crowning moment for Penguin and Don Maroni!
  • Maroni gets one for nearly killing off Penguin. Maroni may have been fooled once but he certainly makes sure to learn from his mistakes as he just outright denies Penguin a chance to worm his way out of the situation. He even stayed at the junk yard to make sure Penguin would be killed, something that most villains can't admit to doing.
    • Then of course there's the fact that Penguin still managed to escape with his life intact even though Maroni was dead set on getting him killed. How? By keeping his wits and calling the junkyard owner to turn off the car crusher he's trapped in. Penguin may be small and physically unimpressive, but he's got the guts and the brains to make it in the underworld.

1x 15 The Scarecrow

• Two words: "Who's first?"
  • To clarify: Fish Mooney has just woken up in an underground jail/dungeon, with no clue as to how or why she's there. The first person that talks to her begins to tell her about the place, and then two huge guys come over with leers on their face. Fish's new friend explains to her that when a new woman is brought in, the first to 'overpower' her usually gets attacked by the second. Fish then gets up, eyes the two men calmly and tells them that whoever 'goes first' will die painfully and quickly, and the second one will die painfully and slowly. After asking them the above question, they back off, clearly terrified.
    • And she tops it off by gunning for the prison tough guy, getting him to drop his guard via subtle flirting before she stabs him in the goddamned neck and takes charge.
• Maroni confronting Cobblepot at the re-opened night club, calmly pointing out how he and Don Falcone have come to terms over Penguin's fate, and giving a nervous Oswald every reason to remain terrified of Maroni's wrath should something happen to Falcone. The scene of Maroni pouring champagne into Oswald's glass until it spills over - making it appear from the floor that Oswald is pissing himself - is brilliantly staged.
• Alfred gets a minor one proving himself to be a Trickster Mentor. Bruce has gone off a hike alone. Bruce falls down a hill and breaks leg, when Bruce makes his way back to the top he finds Alfred there waiting for him. What's the lesson? Bruce's I Work Alone Mentality is utterly bollocks especially if you're only a 12-year old.
• Cobblepot meeting Nygma. Full stop. Both are, as of this episode, twisted but sympathetic characters with a common friend in Jim Gordon. That does not stop the both of them from having a brilliant passive aggressive Ham-to-Ham Combat that sends chills down the spine.

1x 16 The Blind Fortune Teller

• Jerome's big monologue towards the end. After being accused of killing his own mother and discovering that Cicero (the titular blind fortune teller) is actually his birth father, he finally snaps and begins to sob, only for his sobs to slowly transform into a demented chuckle. Afterwards, he admits that he did indeed murder his mother for being a "nagging drunken whore", and to top it all off, he lets out a twisted laugh, complete with a disturbing smile. The best part? Cameron Monaghan appears to be channeling both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger throughout the entire thing.
• Fish organizing the dungeon of hostages into following her lead. She openly admits that not all of them will get out alive but offers the hope that enough of them will survive to make it worthwhile.
  • And then she uses that unity to force the captors to listen to her demands by denying them their next organ harvesting victim... by having the others kill the man they were going to take.
    • Props to the victim who raises his hand knowing full well he was going to die.
  • And after they scared off the captors, Fish wordlessly approaches the dead man's prone body and nobly kisses him for his sacrifice.
  • Kudos also goes to Fish for figuring out that the prisoners are being held as transplant donors.
• Young Bruce walking into the boardroom of Wayne Enterprises to ask pointed questions about some of the troubling things he'd uncovered. While the adults at the table try to patronize or placate him, you can see in his eyes that Bruce is figuring which board members can't be trusted (which is looking like all of them), and gives warning to them that he will take control of the company as soon as possible and clean out the corruption.

1x17: Red Hood

• The Red Hood is seemingly made of awesome. The first Red Hood had a guard empty his gun's chamber at him, without so much as a scratch. That was probably the highlight of the kid's life. The second Red Hood, despite being a pragmatist, got into the spirit of things and tossed some money to his victims, even getting cocky enough to walk into a police lineup with the hood on his person. The third Red Hood mimicked the first by dancing through police gunfire as his friends get shot around him. And I'll wager he got his girl beforehand.
• Fish is given a Sadistic Choice of letting her captors take her eyes, or kill her and all the other prisoners. So she scoops out her own eye and stomps on it, making the point that even this is a barrier she's willing to cross to get her way.

1x18: Everyone Has a Cobblepot

• Gordon confronts the corrupt Loeb over the commissioner's dirty secret - a crazed daughter responsible for the accidental murder of Loeb's wife - and uses his information to play hardball. But rather than force Loeb's resignation, Gordon admits that it would only bring in another corrupt police commissioner: he'd rather deal with Loeb now that he has something on him. Which is dirty, but fair in the city of Gotham.
  • And Gordon uses that leverage to get Loeb to promote him for the union president over the evil Flass, which gives Gordon some power within the department he can use to begin reforming the GCPD.
• Bullock showing up to save an out-of-their-depth Gordon and Dent who foolishly went into a Chinese restaurant fronting a knife-wielding gang looking for Loeb's secrets.
  • And then using his Bad Cop routine to scare the real information out of the informant about who would keep Loeb's stash of blackmail secrets.
• Bullock warning Gordon on multiple occasions not to make any dark deals to uncover Loeb's blackmail materials. He knows exactly what the price dealing with Cobblepot is going to be...

1x19: Beasts of Prey

• Fish Mooney finally escaping the Dollmaker's prison. The doctor confronts her as she makes her escape and threatens to kill her, until the rebels come from behind and beat him to near death.
  • Hell, everything she had done to escape is this: much earlier, she smashed the lock on the backdoor off the hinges with her hand to step out, only to be halted by the Catcher and barely let off the hook considering he was itching to kill her. Later, she snuck into the Dollmaker to retrieve and was caught by him, but plays up a Wounded Gazelle Gambit by expressing her fear of turning into the same monstrosity the Dollmaker's assistant had become after failing to retrieve Fish's eyes, and eventually gaining his mercy by stating her willing to kill herself to end up like him. Then, it leadsto her escape and being confronted by the Dollmaker, who's then beaten to a pulp by the rebels.
  • In a much crueler sense, she commanded a few rebels beforehand to rush for the gates and not leave her behind. They realize after seeing the locked gates that they were decoys buying time for Fish and the others to escape, and get gunned down by the Catcher and his group. Sadly, this didn't buy enough time, and the Catcher managed to shoot Fish in the stomach as she's taking off in the chopper, but since this was the same woman who scooped out her own eye just to have her way, it didn't impede her efforts in taking off at all.
• Gordon finds out that Loeb has tricked him into taking the case that nobody on the GCPD wants: the Ogre. He kidnaps and kills women all in a relentless pursuit of "love", and if a cop comes after him, he targets their wife/girlfriend. Gordon is furious and tells Loeb that he'll find the Ogre and after that he's coming for Loeb.
• Bruce interrogating Reggie in true Batman fashion. Also, in a nice little Call-Forward to his no kill rule, Bruce comes incredibly close to pushing Reggie out the window to his death, but backs down almost immediately. Not that it stopped Selina...

1x20:Under The Knife

• Edward gets one that doubles as Nightmare Fuel when he brutally kills Miss Kringle's abusive boyfriend. It also triples as a twisted moment of heartwarming when you consider that he did it to protect Miss Kringle.
  • Hell, Edward standing up to her boyfriend beforehand was a CMOA.
  • On a small note, though it didn't end well for her, whatever Miss Kringle said to her boyfriend for him to bruise her arm, he definitely deserved it considering how much of a douchebag he is.
• Gordon proves once again that he's not to be messed with as he sets up a press conference and reveals the Ogre to the public, including pictures and names of his past victims. It was a beautiful "fuck you" to the killer.

1x21:The Hammer or The Anvil

• Gordon VS The Ogre.
• The final scene, in which everyone, from the GCPD to the Mob, prepares for the oncoming gang war. Right before the episode ends, we get individual shots of Maroni, Falcone, and Penguin, each of them ready to spill some blood and bring the city to its knees. Penguin in particular anticipates the war within his club as he lets out an excited laugh, as if to say, "It's ON".
• Nygma pulling off his very first Riddler trick. He forges a fake message under Officer Dougherty's name and sends it to Kringle, stating that he had to "take a trip out of town". Eventually, we find out that every letter on the left margin of the message spells out "NYGMA".
  Edward: Read between the lines. *evil chuckle*

1x22:All Happy Families Are Alike

• At the beginning of the series, Oswald Cobblepot was thrown out of Gotham, resolving to return better than ever. By the end of this episode, he's killed off 2 of his rivals, and forced one of his bosses into retirement, turning HIM into the new crime king of Gotham.
  • His fight with Fish before pushing her off the roof enhanced his Handicapped Badass status; even with a limp, he's still able to go toe-to-toe with Fish and even gets in a few hits with the lead pipe he disarmed her from. Even after getting shot in the waist by Butch, he bounces back to knock him out and tackle Fish off the roof.
  • Beforehand, he puts a stop to Fish's reign as Queen of Gotham after she wipes out Maroni by gunning down her soldiers with a heavy machine gun, and headshots a surviving soldiers with a discarded pistol. At this point, after all of the begging he's done, Cobblepot is fed up and ready to end Fish.
    '''FIIISSSSHHH!!!'''
• The Cat Fight between Barbara and Leslie: when Leslie's trapped in the restroom where Barbara's breaking a patch into the door with a fireplace poker, Leslie smashes the mirror with her elbow, grabs one of the shard, and charges at Barbara when she breaks in! Sadly, Leslie loses her weapon when Barbara somehow overpowers her and even slaps her a few times, but gets sick of Barbara tossing her around like a ragdoll, pins her down, punches her and slams Barbara's head on the floor repeatedly until she's unconscious.
• Gordon gunning down Maroni's men alone before escaping the hospital with Falcone, and beforehand, arresting Cobblepot and Gilzean.
• Fish Mooney's temporary reign as the finale's Big Bad is truly a spectacle beginning with her grand entrance with her new soldiers and Adrenaline Makeover; she doesn't only capture Cobblepot along with Bullock and Gordon, but also Falcone himself, and even claimed his warehouse as her own. The horrified look on Cobblepot's face seeing her alive again after supposedly having her killed is priceless.
  • She also makes an effort to form a partnership with Maroni, who decides to call Fish "babes" as a nickname despite her protests, and even deems her inferior in front of everyone before playing it off as a joke and telling Fish to relax. After Maroni keeps taunting and talking down to her, Fish plants a bullet into his forehead in a manner of Tranquil Fury. It's also an impressive sight to see Fish execute someone in a stoic manner for taunting her given her fiery temper.
    Fish: I am relaxed.
  • After the fight between her men and Maroni's, the audience is shown the warehouse but the fight itself, and Fish are her men are alive. After Falcone announces his retirement, it was at that point that Fish had achieved the title of being Queen of Gotham...but only for a few seconds as Cobblepot puts a stop to that with a machine gun.
  • The final fight between her and Cobblepot was a grand finish to their rivalry: she surprises Cobblepot and beats him a pipe, only to be disarmed and beaten with her own weapon. She then catches the pipe with her arm, and bitchslaps Cobblepot with her free hand while simultaneously disarming him and nearly pushing him off the roof. After being shot by Butch who's then knocked down by Cobblepot, she still stands her ground in a Dying Moment of Awesome, going out with a smile and willing to throw down before Cobblepot tackles her off the roof and into the river below.
  • Jada Pinkett Smith announced that she wouldn't appear in Season 2, but her performance as Fish Mooney up to the finale proved she made sure Fish was going out with a blast.
• The very last scene. Throughout the episode, Bruce searches Wayne Manor for any secrets regarding his deceased father. At the end, he discovers a remote control hidden within a hollowed-out book, which unlocks a secret passageway to a very familiar cave. To the tune of Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights", no less! And if you listen very closely, you can hear the faint sound of...bats.