Lovecraft (Gotham)

Plot

A group of assassins led by Larissa Diaz break into Wayne Manor seeking Bruce and Selina. Alfred fights them, allowing the pair to escape. Oswald Cobblepot reunites with Carmine Falcone, who suspects Cobblepot of double-crossing him over the armory money; Cobblepot insists there is a mole in Falcone's crew. Harvey Dent begins to suspect Lovecraft is behind the assassins.

At a mob dinner, Falcone kills Irish mob boss Bannion for failing to guard the money and raises tribute rates by 25%. Bruce and Selina reach an underground base with other children and decide to go to the Narrows, where a fence named Clyde will pay them for stolen goods. Harvey Bullock receives information from Fish Mooney about the Narrows. Gordon finds Lovecraft in his apartment, who denies involvement and claims the assassins are after him too.

The assassins arrive and knock Gordon out; when he wakes, Lovecraft is dead in his bathtub from a bullet fired with Gordon's gun. Bruce and Selina meet Clyde, who locks them in a warehouse after offering less than expected. The assassins arrive, but the pair escape using tools. The GCPD arrives and a shootout ensues; Bruce distracts Copperhead so Selina can flee.

Later, Selina visits Bruce and kisses him. At the GCPD, Mayor Aubrey James chastises Gordon and Dent, believing Lovecraft committed suicide with Gordon's gun. James reassigns Gordon to guard duty at Arkham Asylum.

Reception

The midseason episode drew 6.05 million live viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49, numbers that rose to 9.61 million and a 3.8 in the same demographic when DVR playback within a week was included. Critical response was mostly favorable.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it scored 75% with an average rating of 5.0 out of 10; the site’s summary noted that although the episode had trouble mixing campy excitement with careful storytelling, the performances of Alfred and Bruce Wayne lifted the series to a level worthy of Batman. IGN’s Matt Fowler rated it 7.4 out of 10, observing that the focus on Bruce and Alfred came at the expense of the Gordon-Bullock dynamic, and that much of the action felt like padding for a future Batman story. The A.V. Club’s Kyle Fowle gave a C+, arguing that if this stretched-out midseason finale was any guide, the second half of the first season would prove tedious.