Instead, the episode hinges on a new investigation involving the abduction of Gotham’s young and unfortunate youngsters. Someone is abducting homeless children and selling them for probably-horrific purposes, and no one in the corrupt police force seems to care. Except Jim Gordon, of course, who is able to uncover and track down the culprits behind the scheme: two cartoonishly crazy kidnappers played by Lili Taylor and Frank Whaley who pose as members of the Mayor’s Homeless Outreach Program.
The kidnappers are working for a man named the Dollmaker, who DC Comics fans will recognize as twisted serial killer Barton Mathis, who showed up in a promo for the series released earlier today. We’re not quite sure yet how Gotham will adapt the character, who debuted in the New 52 and showed up on Arrow last season, but it’s interesting to see the show go for a lesser-known Batman villain in favor of the more iconic foes who’ve already shown up in the series so far.
It’s smart of the showrunners to pick villains that could exist in a world without Batman in a believable and interesting way. The Dollmaker could easily be a Jim Gordon adversary just as much of a Batman one, so I hope the series uses that potential to its fullest. Judging by the fact that the Dollmaker is still at large by the time “Selina Kyle” wraps, he may be an over-arching villain for the season.