The chess pieces are moving into place on Gotham, and there's a lot to look forward to when the series returns from its winter break. I can't wait to see who Harvey Bullock's new partner is now that Gordon has been transferred to Arkham Asylum. I'm also fascinated by whether or not Falcone knows Liza is Fish Mooney's Gotham informer, who is responsible for Falcone's money getting blown up. The winter finale of the freshman series didn't exactly pull punches or reveal anything huge in terms of Fish and and Falcone's cold war. However, Falcone has discovered that there is a mole in his organization. Falcone appeared not to know the identity of the mole or believe that they could be connected to Fish Mooney. He assigned Penguin to discover who it is, which of course he had already done in the previous episode. However, as Oswald explained to Gabriel, it wasn't the time to expose Liza yet. He even referred to the mole with male pronouns, so as to keep Falcone off his maid/lover/mother's trail. What is everyone's game here?
First, it seems that Liza isn't sabotaging Fish's plan after all. I'm so confused by Liza's character. I don't understand how she became so weak. She is, at this point, working for Fish, Falcone, and Penguin. What happened to the girl who threw a punch to land an audition? How does Sal Maroni figure in to all of this? Remember, Oswald Copplepot is a mole in Maroni's organization, who reports to Falcone as a way to get back at Fish. It's a lot of mole-ing to keep track of, and I'm starting to wonder if any of this even has to do with Liza's loyalty. She is, after all, a weapon.
The discovery of Liza's role could just be a way to hurt Oswald Copplepot for all I know. Falcone or Fish could be using Oswald's knowledge about Liza to frame him for treachery. Do you really think it was an accident that Liza walked in the second Falcone asked Penguin if he knew who the mole was? It could have been a coincidence, written in to remind the audience. However, Falcone could also have been testing Penguin's reaction to Liza's face.
Later, the knowing glances that Falcone and Fish shared at the "family dinner" (and you never thought Gotham would do a Thanksgiving-themed episode, did you?) lead me to believe that there are fewer secrets shared between the two bosses than anyone else realizes. I think they are so many steps ahead of each other that Fish may not even want to pull the wool over Falcone's eyes. While I don't think Liza is in danger, I would not be surprised if Falcone already has his suspicions and doesn't care so much about hurting her, as playing the next move against Fish.
I would love to see Liza pull through this as an independent agent, playing all of these bigwigs against each other so that she can come out on top. However, if I have to pick someone, I'm hoping she's loyal to Fish. Fish has a legitimate reason to want revenge against Falcone, which Liza seemed to identify with.
Images: Jessica Miglio/FOX; Giphy
