And so the Joker teases continue. “Red Hood” was another uneven episode of Gotham that featured the advent of the Red Hood Gang, Fish meeting her captor (kind of), and Bruce meeting a blast from Alfred’s past. However, as with some of the more recent episodes, “Red Hood” showed that sometimes a break from format and a shift in focus would create more intrigue.

First it’s important to note that the Red Hood was, originally, part of the Joker’s origin. Before he was the Joker he was the Red Hood, a criminal who tried to steal money for himself only to end up becoming disfigured due to the hood and a pretty nasty acid bath. After “Red Hood” it seems as though, at the very least, the Joker will not come from this first iteration of the Red Hood Gang.

The Red Hood Gang was the the best part of the episode. It not only featured some colorful characters, one of whom, Gus, certainly seemed rather Jokerish -- and was the first to be killed by a fellow gang member -- but also showed the power of disguise and of creating a symbol for the people to believe in. The dynamic between the Red Hood Gang was interesting as there were every sort of character. Their robberies were just the right amount of excitement and humor. Gus was the person who was the person to come up with wearing a Red Hood. He immediately took charge in their first bank heist and had a bit of a theatrical flare. Destro, who seemed like the original leader of the gang, killed Gus in order to have the hood. Destro was a former banker who was constantly denied for jobs and was a tad gruffer around the edges.

Midway through the episode the Red Hood Gang started to believe in the hood and its “powers”. When Gus wore it a security shot and missed six times. Destro had the hood for a while until another gang member killed him so that he could show off to his girlfriend, who was breaking up with him. This particular member had quite a stutter and was rather shy but in the final heist, when he put the hood on, he took control of his gang and took the GCPD head on, before ultimately being neutralized. At the end of the episode a random kid picked up the hood.

It was a shame to see the Red Hood Gang dispatched of so quickly. Their influence could be seen growing between the first and second robberies when, during the second, the bank customers begged the Red Hood to give them some more money. Having an episode or two of them in the background infighting for the hood would have been fun and really shown the power the symbol of the Red Hood and, consequently, symbols generally have. And, of course, it could have further teased the fans about the Joker. But perhaps, in the larger scheme of things, the Red Hood will inspire someone a little smarter, and a little more cunning, to become a more formidable Red Hood down the road, which could lead to the Joker.

Outside of the Red Hood storyline, the episode focused on Alfred and Bruce. One of Alfred’s old war buddies, Reggie (played by the always welcome David O’Hara) showed up at Wayne Manor, apparently hard on his luck. Reggie offered a glimpse of who Alfred was before he became a butler as they told old war stories with Bruce eating it all up. Reggie also sparred with Bruce a little in the foyer, teaching him that he must use everything around him in a fight and teaching him how to knock a more traditional fighter down. It was exciting to see Bruce learning some new methods of fighting and being incredibly interested in them. Unfortunately it was short lived as Alfred broke this up. It is understandable why Gotham wants to play the long game on Bruce’s transformation but seeing Bruce actually throw himself into some pre-training, more than just trying to hold his breath under water, is still kind of exciting.

But Reggie has a more sinister motive. He stabs Alfred as Reggie is burgling Wayne Manor, leaving him for dead. At the end of the episode it is revealed that Reggie was hired by Wayne Enterprises to gain intelligence on Bruce’s investigation, which apparently is not very in depth, of the nefarious dealings of his company. In a nice moment Gordon rushes to the hospital where Alfred is after receiving a call about it right after the Red Hood shoot out. Having Gordon earn Bruce’s trust again, and be there for him in his greatest time of need, is important for the relationship they will eventually have later on. It’s clearly a different take as to why Bruce trusts Gordon but it’s a smart take on the beginning of their relationship, even if Alfred being stabbed was a bit convoluted.

Finally there’s Fish and Penguin. Not much happens here aside from the most shocking moment of the episodes, in which Fish scoops out her eyeball as she meets with Dr. Dulmacher’s right hand man who is threatening to remove her eyeballs if she does not stop her mini-revolt in the dungeon. This really came out of nowhere and happened far too quickly as the threat had not yet felt dire enough for her to do that. Next week she’ll meet the good doctor so perhaps more light will be shed on Dulmacher and his “experiments”. Meanwhile Fish’s old club, now run by Penguin, continues to flounder (see what I did there?) and is not helped by the fact that they temporarily run out of liquor, which they cannot buy because Maroni runs the liquor trade in that part of town. Penguin decides he’s going to try and steal a Maroni liquor truck but Butch shows Penguin why he is useful as Butch tells some cops he pays to bust up the Maroni liquor truck and confiscates it for Penguin. Neither of these two storylines have had any juice since their standoff a few episodes ago.

Gotham continues to burn through storylines when it doesn’t need to. It would be nice if something like the Red Hood Gang could be a continuous nuisance for the GCPD, especially as they garner support amongst Gotham’s populace. Many of the subplots are limping along, although Bruce’s has become more interesting after this episode. Still, Gotham is a solid watch and the recent two or three episodes show how much the show has grown since the pilot, and how much it still can grow.