Gotham S01E16: "The Blind Fortune Teller" – synopsis, photos, videos, and discussion

Life in Gotham City becomes a three-ring circus on tonight's episode of Gotham, titled "The Blind Fortune Teller". Here you'll find the official plot synopsis, still photos, and video clips. Please use this post to talk about the episode with fellow Batman fans in the comments section below.

Synopsis

Gordon takes Dr. Leslie Thompkins (guest star Morena Baccarin) to the circus, but the day turns quickly when the circus comes under attack. Then, Falcone enlists Butch Gilzean to help Penguin with the night club, while Fish Mooney is otherwise occupied. Also, Bruce Wayne schedules a meeting with the Wayne Enterprises board in the all-new “The Blind Fortune Teller” episode of GOTHAM airing Monday, Feb. 16 (8:00-9:00 ET/PT) on FOX.
Cast: Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon; Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock; Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney; Sean Pertwee as Alfred; Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin; Erin Richards as Barbara Kean; David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne; Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman; Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen; Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/the future Riddler; Victoria Cartagena as Renee Montoya; Andrew Stewart Jones as Crispus Allen; and John Doman as Carmine Falcone
Guest Cast: Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean; Morena Baccarin as Dr. Leslie Thompkins; Carol Kane as Gertrude Kapelput; Anthony Carrigan as Victor Zsasz; Dashiell Eaves as Kelly; James Monroe Iglehart as Ringmaster; Robert Gorrie as John Grayson; Abbi Snee as Mary Lloyd; Cameron Monaghan as Jerome

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92 comments

Cash

February 16, 2015

That Jerome guy does a pretty good Heath Ledger impersonation.

BatmanNewsChris
February 16, 2015
I thought he was trying to do a Heath Ledger impression, but I didn't like it! A lot of people on Twitter disagreed with me though: https://twitter.com/BatmanN...
1. Cash
  February 16, 2015
  It was characteristically unsubtle, but still a nice tribute to The Dark Knight interrogation scene, in my opinion. I just wish Fox hadn't hyped it so much ahead of time. It would have been a lot cooler if Jerome's transformation into a Ledger-esque cackling maniac had been an unexpected plot twist.
  1. aethius
    February 17, 2015
    I also liked it and even didn't think of Ledger at the time. Don't know why. I just thought, OMG JOKER THIS IS SO COOL! Because I never read/watch the episode previews so I'm always suprised. :D
Dr. Weezil
February 16, 2015
There was nothing "Heath Ledger" about his performance, thankfully.
Ryan Hall
February 16, 2015
I think he did a great pre-joker. A mixture of Heath and Jack. He's laugh needs a little work though. But when it comes to the laugh, no one could do it better then Mark Hamill. Though Troy Baker was a great replacement. And his body language was great. Not perfect, but great.
1. Ryan Hall
  February 16, 2015
  I thought the samething when I heard Tara Strong voice Harley Quinn in Arkham City. It sounded like she was doing an impression of Arleen Sorkin voicing Harley, for obvious reasons. Though she did voice the character slightly differently in Injustice.
Mike
February 17, 2015
I agree, I thought he kept going from Jack to Heath. When he did his smile, I was waiting for him to say, "Wait till they get a load of me!"

boots

February 16, 2015

wow. i want to love this show, but that was seriously some of the worst writing i've ever encountered in television. low point of the season for me.

Aaron Sarnecky
February 16, 2015
The transition in John and Mary's relationship was pretty huge, and Barbara was pretty chummy with people who broke into her house. Kinda worth it to see her find Jim and Leslie though.
1. boots
  February 16, 2015
  the catalog of offenses in this single episode is too great to enumerate. suffice it to say the show lost all credibility when lassie the snake told them all about timmy in the well and then just kept digging that hole deeper with each new and painful scene.
  1. Bats2012
    February 16, 2015
    Have some fun, it's not meant to be definitive. Just entertaining.
    1. boots
      February 17, 2015
      i'm seriously trying man, but this episode really stretched my patience.
  2. boots
    February 17, 2015
    and an overpowering sense of love for their handlers apparently. the funniest part of it is that Gordon lets the snake out on the most random unscientific whim which magically pays off, but then argues with Leslie about following up on the "psychic" lead.
    1. harryBundles
      February 17, 2015
      because the batman mythos is steeped in historic and scientific accuracies, how dare Fox go against that... : )
    2. boots
      February 17, 2015
      i'm asking for consistency (and a little common sense). i can roll with most of the absurdities, but basic things (like the behavior of ordinary snakes) should be something we can rely on.
      now, if Jerome had said: that's her special agent orange irradiated Buntu-hybrid dead-goat-loving watch-snake, i probably wouldn't be so hard on it.
      and again, i was even willing to roll with the ordinary snake doing silly things until Gordon gave Leslie guff about listening to the psychic guy.
    3. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 17, 2015
      A-ha! I figured you! All the "reasons" for hating this episode are not really reasons, but "excuses." The real hidden reason is that you, like Leslie, love psychics and won't have any of Jim's cynical pragmatism^^
2. Kerk Lastnameless
  February 17, 2015
  Didn't you notice how baked she was when she walked in on the girls?
Queef Police
February 16, 2015
Fish in prisión is so freaking stupid it makes me cry from my penis. she had zero leverage over anyone, the guards would have just beaten them all half to death, especially her.
1. Queef Police
  February 16, 2015
  There is no truth in any of it. The guards would have beaten her to half death to make an example out of her to not challenge them and it would have ended there.
  1. Queef Police
    February 16, 2015
    Yes you were citing a specific "truth," I used it as a bridge in conversation citing truth in broad terms
    1. Queef Police
      February 16, 2015
      Numbers nothing, the guards had guns and weapons. One gun will overpower 10 men, if half the prisoners die, no problem, gotham is corrupt and replacement prisoners are easy to get. Regardless, they obviously had enough muscle to keep the prisoners under control or they would have been overtaken long before Fish and they wouldn't have begun a rapport of (idiotically) walking into the cells with the prisoners. No prison guards are going to negotiate with prisoners for anything because the guards have absolute control over the prisoners. You negotiate with one prisoner, then they'll all want to bargain, the premise is unrealistic. Everyone tries to bargain if they're on the brink of death. They could beat the prisoners till they're in comas and the body parts would still be good to go. After all, they were fed crap from a bucket, "health" obviously wasn't high priority.
Batshrine
February 17, 2015
This is why I would love for this site to do a review on this show because I would love to hear you explain this in full(ish) detail

i'm the arrow

February 16, 2015

bruce is so badass. he pissed off a whole room full of white corrupt board members. that takes balls.

Ron Scott
February 16, 2015
White... There was clearly a japanese woman and african american man on that board. Corruption comes in many colours.
Kerk Lastnameless
February 16, 2015
YOU RACIIIIIIIST!
Queef Police
February 16, 2015
and it was so stupid and unrealistic
1. Queef Police
  February 16, 2015
  No corporation would allow a child in front of the board, whether its his family's company or not, thats frivolous and wasting all of the big wig's time, no child is taken seriously. They also wouldn't have the butler, the "help," present to overhear confidental details about the company's operations. its all ridiculous and pushing suspension of disbelief too far.
  1. Dr. Weezil
    February 16, 2015
    You've clearly had no experience with high-level, high-money "corporations."
    The character is clearly a genius, as Bruce Wayne should be. He's got every piece of evidence already laid out and will use it to great effect.
    1. Queef Police
      February 16, 2015
      People whose job is running huge businesses are not going to let children crash their meetings and waste their time.
    2. Queef Police
      February 16, 2015
      I think Wayne Enterprises probably would have directed a child to a meet and greet with someone like a public relations representative not allow him take up time at a real board meeting.
  2. The WTF Kid
    February 17, 2015
    I'm glad you're taking such a serious stance about this not being realistic enough in a series where a guy was murdering people by putting balloons on their feet.
    1. boots
      February 17, 2015
      right? kid talking at a board meeting of his own company is the very least of the sillies in this show.
    2. Queef Police
      February 17, 2015
      Maybe if the OP was discussing balloons I would however he wasn't, he was discussing Wayne.
    3. Mediator
      February 20, 2015
      This kid could actually take down the whole company if he wanted to and make all those directors run for their money, so yeah...
  3. i'm the arrow
    February 19, 2015
    bruce owns the company and can fire all their asses if he wants to.

JokersWild

February 16, 2015

I think we have our Joker. That kid pulled off a pretty good impression. Reminded me of both Ledger and Nicholson. Hope we see more of him. Looks like will see some Red Hood next week as well.

boots
February 16, 2015
total red herring. he even had red hair.
1. Jokerswild
  February 16, 2015
  I thought it was cool. Maybe. You never know with this show
2. Kerk Lastnameless
  February 16, 2015
  red hair-ing....genius.
3. Ryan Hall
  February 17, 2015
  It makes sense. If you blench red hair or strawberry-blond hair, it becomes Green. Trust me, my friend had ginger hair, tried dying it and literally become Health Ledger Joker.
  1. Ryan Hall
    February 18, 2015
    It's similar to blond hair having a green tinge when it comes into contact with high levels of chlorine pool water. Which mean The Joker would most likely have either blonde or ginger hair.
Aaron Sarnecky
February 16, 2015
I'm still undecided on how I feel about it in general, but his impression was pretty good.
1. Jokerswild
  February 16, 2015
  Ya that laugh and the smile got me. Plus he seems to be not to much older then Bruce. I was kind of rooting for it. He was pretty crazy.

Ryan Brennan

February 16, 2015

I don't agree with a lot of the choices they make but I can't stop watching.

Aaron Sarnecky

February 16, 2015

They have yet to win me over with this new version of the Joker, but it's a little nice to see someone do something different with the Joker, considering he's pretty much gained mythic status, more than any other Batman villain. Really rivaled only by Two-Face.

Ahmed
February 17, 2015
Scarecrow? Bane? Ras Al Ghul? Harley Quinn?
Batman has THE BEST villains from any comic
1. Aaron Sarnecky
  February 17, 2015
  I totally agree. I just mention it in terms of hype and fame. People take Two-Face and Joker stories very seriously, so there's pressure to deliver.

Queef Police

February 16, 2015

its starting to look like this series has just decided to throw all the cards on the table just incase they get canceled. next week they'll probably feature a sperm named Dick Grayson

CanBoobsTalk?

February 16, 2015

I think I know where this Joker gets his purple wide brimmed hat from... old blind dude.

The Walking Cuban

February 16, 2015

Like Heath, Jack, and Romero. And TAS. A little of each.
Perfect for this show. And I thought I wouldn't like em.

The Walking Cuban
February 17, 2015
True

February 16, 2015

This show is bizarre. Compellingly terrible. It's worth watching for the sets and cinematography. Best Gotham on screen.

However, the kid playing Joker was fantastic. What a horrible idea putting him in the show...but I love this actor. He did a phenomenal job, especially with the unenviable task of following Nicholson, Hamill and Ledger.

Fish is awful.

thepalaceofawesome

February 17, 2015

They clearly are still doing the original concept of you don't who the Joker is. We have seen a failed comedian, and now this Jerome kid. Also, what is the point of a lot you who don't like the show consistently watching it? The was the 16th episode.

The Problem Solver Kid

February 17, 2015

Change the channel.

The Positive Kid
February 17, 2015
I can't change my name to pointing out the bloody obvious because it's too long for disqus.

The Ambien Kid

February 17, 2015

I don't think there wasn't anything remotely Heath Ledger about it. I don't know where people are getting that idea. That was a Jack Nicholson impression to a tee. The whole show feels like a love letter/prequel to Burton's Batman movies. I don't think there's anything in the entire series that remotely resembles anything from Nolan's movies.

Joker

February 17, 2015

Fish Mooney just keeps...doing these things.. haha. Like standing up to Schmidt. Like you can assume from everyones reactions that these are some TOUGH guards they're dealing with. But she just stand there and threatens them...and none of them do anything to stop her. She just walks away from them. Haha. Its like...I get that Fish is supposed to be able to manipulate situations and stuff but its hard to see that when no one ever makes any move against her while shes doing it. Its easy to manipulate a situation when the other person is basically just waiting for you to do your thing.

Aside from that I enjoyed this episode though. I think the fact that it was so hyped that it was the Joker took the mystery aspect out of it cause like....you knew he did it from the start, haha. But yeah, still enjoyable. I did like the plot twist with Butch. And I thought they did a good job with Joker. I'm really glad they didn't name him Jack. And I thought he did a good kinda cross of Heath and Jack Nicholson, with some of his own spin on it too. A bit heavier on the Heath aspect of it but I can see why they'd go for that.

Also it was pretty fun seeing Bruce take a different position than we're used to. We usually see him in the manor kinda just doing stuff to track down his parents killer so it was nice to see Wayne Enterprises brought more into it.

The Fish Stinks Kid
February 17, 2015
What's hard to see when it comes to Fish is how nobody ever slaps a bitch.
She's a 5 foot nothing, 100 pound, old woman. There's no way a single second of her being a crime lord makes a bit of sense. Almost all these Mafia guys are these big galoot looking lunkheads with big meaty fists. NOBODY slaps a bitch.
If they wanted me to take this character seriously they really needed someone more in the vein of Queen Latifah. I can see her beating a dude's ass.
Also I wonder how much of this weird prison storyline was meant to be there or was it something shoved in to fill time after the season was expanded.
1. Joker
  February 17, 2015
  Thats what I mean! Like I would like her more if they would have things happen like that that would show shes doing these things in a more real environment where it isn't just people never stepping back against her. Like have the guards move towards her and the people behind her all step up or something...not just Fish shouting orders and them just...kinda listening haha.
boots
February 17, 2015
while i agree that some better direction/camerawork could heighten the tension and cover up some of the silliness, i have to say that the Fish prison stuff is just eye-rollingly bad to me. she killed the one capo and everybody now listens to her no questions asked (unto death, no less?). eh.
1. Kerk Lastnameless
  February 17, 2015
  Kinda like everyone listened to the Governor in the Walking Dead. Do you watch the Walking Dead? The show has such amazing potential.
  1. boots
    February 17, 2015
    i gave up after one and a half season. who knew all that killing could get so boring.
    1. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 17, 2015
      I watched all 4 seasons in one sweep on netflix during Christmas holidays. I still have hope. Everyone on the show is a badass. Even the kid! How often do you see a kid being a badass?
    2. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 17, 2015
      Right? It would be the best show ever if the plot moved somewhere. And it could do without some local stupid moments. How many times do they get jumped from behind by a zombie in some house? I mean, how do you not hear it approach?
      And that black guy death cliche -- I swear to God, every time a new black guy appears, you can bet all your money that the old black guy will die!
    3. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 17, 2015
      What I would do is, I would find the right kind of metal and made katanas for all members of the group. Two per person. Why risk your life with a short knife or machete?
    4. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 17, 2015
      Forget the short, why not keep all the vehicles and equipment that the Governor left behind? There were high caliber machine guns. How many zombies are there in the forests of Virginia anyway? Get a Hummer, load it with amo, and go on eradicating the zombies. Make a preemptive strike, and don't wait for them to flood your bastion.
      And here's a big one -- how in the world did they survive the winter? The prison had not heat. They would freeze to death the first day of winter.
      Yeah, you gotta just turn off the brain and enjoy awesome characters in action.
Joker
February 17, 2015
Yeah exactly! Like I like what she was doing its just like..it wasn't set up well with everyone standing behind her and its like...the way they were, the guards could easily had just taken her out and left haha. But they didn't. Had they done it like that with the prisoners more around them that way I think it would have been much better IMO.
1. Joker
  February 17, 2015
  I agree. Like just something to give the guards a feeling of being threatened by them. Like you gotta imagine every time they do this they're facing them down infront of them like that. Having the prisoners actually take a stance around them like that or something would give more of a threatening feeling from them

Captain DC

February 17, 2015

Well, Barbara's still hot! Bringing back Butch, was lame. That character should have died protecting his boss. Bruce calling out the shady board members, was very ballsy. It was nice to see the future parents of Dick Grayson. Ian Gallagher from Shameless, did a pretty good Heath Ledger/Joker impression.

Troll_Post_Sorry

February 17, 2015

So ahhh... did little Dick Grayson get conceived in this episode?

The Many-Faced GOD

February 17, 2015

his name is jerome.....ugh....wtf

boots
February 17, 2015
thought it might be a nod to jerry robinson, but jerry isn't short for jerome.

Mark

February 17, 2015

I enjoy this show, but I do have complaints about some of the issues...like Ivy's name being Ivy and not Pamula Isley, the ages of some of the villians in relation to the age of Bruce and the uselessness of the Barbara character, just to name a few. But, all in all, it's a fun ride to watch. Now, with THAT being said, I wonder if the writers of the series have just commited their first "Cardinal Sin", as it were.
****SPOILER ALERT******
Jerome is who I'm speaking of. I've been a Batman fan since the '70's, but I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not so much a fan that I can tell you Bruce Wayne's shoe size....lol. In other words, I enjoy the Batman world, but I'm not knowledgeable on minute details. Therefore, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Joker is NOT supposed to have a backstory. He just IS. That's why the writers of Ledger's Joker had fun with that concept and had Joker change his backstory throughout the movie. The Joker's history is SUPPOSED to be a mystery. But, here we have Jerome, a kid from a circus...raised by his Snakercharming mother and helped by his blind, soothsaying old father. Now, the actor did a GREAT job of portraying a "Joker to be" character. I enjoyed the laugh and grin. But, with fingerprint data available and Jerome having been arrested, this ends the mystery of who the Joker is. I mean. Everyone from Batman to the janitor at GCPD will know that the Joker is Jerome. The only way that I can see that the writers can save this, is to set up a tale that Jerome is NOT his real name and his snakecharming mom is NOT his real mom. Perhaps he was abandoned at the circus and taken in. Anyway, thoughts, anyone?

sworley77
February 17, 2015
I felt the same going in to this show regarding the Joker origins. I heard they would float a joker possibility each week and I thought that would be fun. To hear the Joker actually make an appearance and for us to get an origin story- not sure how I felt about it. It wasn't until I was trying to explain this to my g/f that I began to accept it. She would ask a question about someone's origins and I'd have to say, "Well, in this iteration..." So this is just one story of the Batman myth, being told by a new group of writers and if we don't collectively like it, it will be rejected. The Joker can go back to being an origin-less character. Someone will always chime in, "I thought he killed Bruce's parents?" And someone else will say, "I thought he was raised in the circus?" Someone will then have to explain that in different story lines he had different backgrounds and that Joker has historically not had an origin. It's not creating canon, unless we all accept it and love it. I'm not thrilled with the show overall, but the last two episodes were better than a lot of the previous ones. Agents of Shield took awhile to get it together and figure out what the audience wants, what it deserves and how it should be delivered. It's finally a show worth watching! (For the record my favorite is Batman but I do enjoy both Marvel and DC characters.) I'm sticking with Gotham like I did for AoS in the hopes it pays off.

mma895

February 17, 2015

Fish Mooney makes me CRINGE!! Such a terrible character and even worse performance by the actress.

miked

February 17, 2015

Cancel this trash already. It's embarrassing itself.

Patrick "Arthur" Bateman
February 24, 2015
k.

Takaruichi

February 17, 2015

hum, everyone is making a big joke or it's just me?? You, guys, realises that this guy can't be the joker right?

EBo

February 17, 2015

Interesting move by WB to integrate a little cross brand marketing ! ( Rolls eyes )

Weardow7

February 17, 2015

The only thing that bothers me about the way they did the joker (and riddler too) is that if they go too far into defining and polishing the characters now, it massively detracts from the power and mystery of the characters later on. When both the riddler and joker show up in Batman's Gotham, no on knows who they are. By this rate, the only thing different about "Jerome" when he starts killing people properly will be the fact that he's in clown make-up. Other than that, the GCPD and therefore Batman will already know exactly who he is and how to stop him/where to find him. That one decision in character development means that later on, when Bruce Wayne turns into Batman, none of these characters are going to be as mysterious, scary or interesting as they otherwise would've been.

The actor did an amazing job, and I'd love to see him grown up and in full make-up, but revealing the character to the police this early and having him be obviously insane was a mistake.

It would've been much better to have the character show up for the audience, but not have any of the major characters see him or know about him.

Justin J
February 18, 2015
Well said. And young Bruce oh my god ! It's great to see him starting already (unlike Nolan's Bruce)...

Matt Arter

February 17, 2015

This was by the worst episode of the series to date.

- Barbara gets home to her flat albeit drunk, and see's two randomers in her house. Does she call the police? No, she just lets them stay and immediately becomes BFFs with them (Barbara logic)

- Jim released a FUCKING snake to find a corpse, how in any way does that make sense? the snake finding the body or the fact that jim released a snake to the public

- Fish' arc is so boring, uninteresting and poorly written, it made me cringe just watching it. just kill her already, Jadas acting is making me feel sorry for Will Smith

-Why are they insisting on introducing every Batman character so soon and so quickly? What or who will they use for future seasons? Also stop making it SO FUCKING OBVIOUS. we get it the graysons are gonna have a son. That guy is most likely The Joker (which is a different matter entirely, giving the Joker an origin, really?)

I really can't see this show lasting much longer....

try again
February 17, 2015
hm. ok

Max Eckhardt

February 17, 2015

Better than Ledger. I like Ledger but I think he was seriously overrated.

StokholmRipper

February 17, 2015

Fish mooney was stupid in that episode .

Barbara is hot but annoying

david mazouz killed it . best bruce wayne of all

jerome, huh ? interesting.

adama doumbia
February 17, 2015
Fish mooney is basically a man tho . bruno should chop her off and serve to penguin already . thats why her character is there .

Joker

February 17, 2015

So I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned it, I just kinda thought of it, but does anyone else think its Dollmaker in charge of the prison Fish is in? They said he was harvesting body parts, and they DID cast dollmaker recently. o.O

Joker
February 18, 2015
Oh, did they? o.O I must have missed that. And he was, thats what made me think of it

boots

February 18, 2015

uh, no. the Killing Joke gave the Joker "a" backstory (one of many) that is deliberately manufactured by the Joker. there is never any indication in the story that the story is actually factually true. which is why no one complains about it.

the concern here is that Gotham seems to be providing this potential Joker with an actual factual backstory, which he has never had ~ since his inception, long long long before Nolan came along. in the history of the comics we know only three things about the Joker: that he was maybe a chemist at ACE, that he was coerced, forced, or baited into being the Red Hood, and that Batman dropped him in a vat of chemicals.

do your homework and stop typing in all-caps. it makes you a bigger whiner than the people posting actual considered opinions.

Bat-Fan87

February 18, 2015

The Joker!!!!!!!

February 18, 2015

Many people hate the show because it's poorly constructed. It also takes liberties with the material that are unnecessary and puzzling, feeling more like lazy exploitation of an IP than impassioned care for cherished characters. For an example of the latter watch Arrow (which also takes liberties, but ones that respect the new audience and established fans, and also respects the intelligence of its audience). The storytelling and writing so far is crappy, but with some fantastic work in the design, costuming, etc. I agree the Joker performance was good, but the show is almost unbearably stupid. I'd like to see it fixed by competent creators who understand the world - whether exact canon is followed or not.

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Gotham S01E16: "The Blind Fortune Teller" – synopsis, photos, videos, and discussion

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