Spirit of the Goat

Plot

A flashback ten years earlier shows a young Bullock and his partner Dix rescuing a kidnapped girl, Shelley Lawson, from a vigilante called the Spirit of the Goat, who kills firstborns of Gotham's elite. They find her dead and fight the vigilante, Randall Milkie; Dix falls into a trap and Bullock kills Milkie. In the present, a girl named Amanda Hastings is found dead in a similar pattern, leading Bullock to suspect the Spirit of the Goat may have had an accomplice or is still alive.

After another kidnapping, Gordon and Bullock arrest a janitor, Raymond Earl, at the same location as ten years earlier. Bullock learns that both Milkie and Earl shared the same psychiatrist, Dr. Marks, who hypnotized them to commit the crimes. Meanwhile, a longshoreman confesses to witnessing Gordon killing Cobblepot, prompting Montoya and Allen to file an arrest warrant. They arrest Gordon at his apartment and take him to the GCPD.

Bullock defends Gordon, but as everyone argues, Cobblepot appears at the door, and Bullock berates Gordon for his actions.

Reception

The episode was watched by 5.89 million viewers with a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49; with Live+7 DVR viewing, the overall rating rose to 9.66 million viewers and a 3.7 in the 18–49 demographic. "Spirit of the Goat" received generally positive reviews, earning a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews, with the site's consensus stating that while Gotham finds its footing, the episode is a step in the right direction with needed character details about Oswald Cobblepot and Detective Bullock.

Matt Fowler of IGN gave it a 7.9 out of 10, writing that with baby steps Gotham is getting better, though not in a way that addresses its biggest problems, and noted that taking a break from Fish and having less Cobblepot was a nice indicator of better episode shakeups ahead. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B− grade, commenting that Harvey Bullock takes the spotlight and Gotham is all the better for it, and that the episode's focus on Bullock's character and history is a considerable improvement over previous weeks, despite still having its share of problems.