"It's a symbol. Whoever wears the hood should lead." Gotham started with a bang this week, actually there were quite a few bangs around 'The City of Anarchy'. This episode in particular is one of the strong points of the second part of season one, every major character made an appearance & made sure to impress us on a different level.
First of all, the concept of a symbolic criminal is just genius, no matter what happens or who dies, Red Hood can still live on, at least, as long as there's a hood to wear.
James Gordon & Harvey Bullock took a pretty unique case on the latest episode, they were after a gang of bank robbers that presented the unique quality of having a red hooded armer robber as a public image for the group, the Red Hood gave back money to the people in order to escape from the police. That made them popular & trendy around Gotham citizens.
On another part of the city, Barbara Gordon decided to give her room-mates, Selena Kyle & Ivy a total makeover. She wanted them to embrace their feminine side & beauty, Selena accepted at first, but then refused, making us anxious for a Selena Kyle's extreme makeover. Don't worry, the people of Gotham always got what they truly deserve, so probably that Cat's makeover is on the way.
After the original Red Hood gave an speech about what the hood meant for them, Destro shot him until he was dead, in order to steal the infamous hood for him. Afterwards, the detectives found the original's corpse on the fridge.
The Red Hood gang made an strike again & Destro embraced his newly-acquired alter ego & gave the people what they wanted, some cash. After some time, he was shot at his apartment by one of his associates.
Somewhere else on who knows were, Fish Mooney, yeah, she's still around, wanted her demands to be heard by the owner of the confinement place, he wasn't there, but left in charge an old man that was as mad as everyone else in there, he heard her petitions & sent her off for a proper bath. When she returned, she expected her commands to be obeyed, awfully for her, they pressured her to decide whether or not she'll let them keep operating on the basement, if not, she would have her eyeballs out. As fierce some as she is, she took her own eyeball on an unprecedented twist. What I don't get is why everyone keeps sparring her life, she's just a manipulative woman, she's a normal human without any powers or special abilities, they can shot her down when she gets as stressful as we feel her with her requests.
At last, the Red Hood gang was captured & the police took criminal leader down. The hood was left on the street & someone else took it with him, it seems this is not the last we see from Red Hood.
On Wayne's manor, we meet a new character, Reggie Payne, and old friend of Alfred from his dark secret past. Bruce kindly invites him to stay over for a few nights, he starts to bond with him & even practices his martial skills with him, Reggie starts to teach him dirty tricks, but Alfred as strict as he is, does not allow that, because it has no discipline of sorts. Upon Reggie's departure, Alfred hears something & decides to check it out, he sees his dear pal stealing jewellery from the manor. While trying to reason with him, Alfred gets mortally staved & we left wondering if he's gonna make it or not.
At the very end of the episode, we see that Reggie Payne was hired as an special agent for the board from Wayne Enterprises, they wanted Reggie to spy on Bruce & attack Alfred. The nasty business they have going on is unstoppable & they won't even let Bruce Wayne come in their way.
The verdict from 'Red Hood' reflects the impact it had on me as a viewer, as well as plot-related issues.