Gotham: Comic Book Influences (Obvious Spoilers...)

[Slash Man]

Wow, all great facts here. It was cool that they actually did have a backstory for Gruber, and revealed for him to be Buchinsky (due to his age, I think it totally fits in that he's Lester's older brother). Knowing that they kept that detail, I have hope that this whole Ivy Pepper thing will be sorted out. I heard a rumor that she'll take on the alias of Pamela Isley later on, but that's just a rumor.

And I wasn't paying attention, but the henchman's surname was explicitly said to be Danzig? Wikipedia still lists him as Aaron Helzinger (still pretty similar).

[BatmAngelus]

Knowing that they kept that detail, I have hope that this whole Ivy Pepper thing will be sorted out. I heard a rumor that she'll take on the alias of Pamela Isley later on, but that's just a rumor.

The show's Gotham Chronicle tie-in has her listed as "Pamela." I'm pretty certain that the show will have Ivy adopted by the Isley family and given the Pamela name there.
http://gothamchronicle.com/post/106575104731/teen-runaway-spotted-at-the-flea-ivy-pepper

And I wasn't paying attention, but the henchman's surname was explicitly said to be Danzig? Wikipedia still lists him as Aaron Helzinger (still pretty similar).

Yes, Essen calls him Aaron Danzig and the episode descriptions list the actor Kevin McCormick as playing "Danzig." One wonders why they didn't just go ahead and say Helzinger. Even DC TV's breakdown of the episode states that Aaron is Amygdala.

[Slash Man]

The Red Hood is coming:
http://screenrant.com/gotham-tv-red-hood-villain-season-1/?adbid=981563975206926&adbpl=fb&adbpr=693029617393698&cmpid=social_gen_Gotham_20150123_39245257#.VMESXMonZXY
Definitely not Jason Todd, but there's probably some kind of tie-in to the Joker's backstory; the Year Zero and Killing Joke possibilities are laid down. Being season one still, it's too early to be the Joker Red Hood. I'm betting it's going to just be various thugs donning the title like in the Killing Joke.

[BatmAngelus]

"Welcome Back, Jim Gordon"

As I predicted, Flass stays true to his comic counterpart in being a major corrupt cop who's protected by the mob and Commissioner Loeb. No Green Beret background mentioned yet, but a good start, though I'm not sure how much more we'll see of him now that he's been arrested.

Obviously the elements of Gordon having a corrupt partner who shows him the ropes in Gotham were given to Bullock's character, so they had to do something different with this version of Flass.

Penguin claiming Fish's club continues to fuel speculation that this will be his Iceberg Lounge. Notice how Fish's entrance cut him off from announcing the name?

Fun fact: Fish's torturer, Bob, was played by Michael Eklund, who also played the Barton Mathis version of the Dollmaker in Arrow. Eklund actually teased that he would be appearing on the show, prompting speculation that he would appear as the Dollmaker once more since he was teased in Gotham's ep 2, but thankfully it turned out to be a different role (as, if they were to connect the two shows, I'd prefer Bruce to be the same age as Oliver and not a kid while Arrow is going on). Colm Feore is confirmed to play the Gotham version of Dollmaker, who won't be the Barton Mathis version.

[Slash Man]

Alfred chauffeuring Bruce around Gotham looking for Selina? Hmmm...

[BatmAngelus]

"The Fearsome Dr. Crane"

The idea of Jonathan Crane's father being a precursor to the Scarecrow and conducting experiments comes from the New 52 comics, though in that, Jonathan himself was the test subject. (Next week's episode may reveal more)

In the comics, Jonathan's father is named Gerald. IMDB lists the actor as playing Gerald Crane, since the name "Todd" was clearly an alias in this episode.
Update: Hollywood Reporter confirms that the character's name is Gerald:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/gotham-scarecrow-gerald-crane-explainer-768594

Related to last week's fun fact, Julian Sands played another father to a famous comic book character in Smallville, when he played Jor-El.

Tumblr posted this possible parallel, which may just be coincidental, in Maroni saying that he's "quick for a big guy," considering what he's destined to do to Harvey Dent.
http://lego-joker.tumblr.com/post/110009387751/if***inglovebatman-ill-say-could-we-hope-that

[BatmAngelus]

"The Scarecrow"

Like in the New 52 comics, Gerald uses his son Jonathan for experiments in the wake of his mother's death. Gerald ends up dying, leaving his son with the trauma. In the comic, however, Gerald died of natural causes and wasn't killed in a firefight with the cops.

The name of Jonathan's mother/Gerald's wife is Karen, which is true to the comics (i.e. Scarecrow Year One stated that her maiden name was Karen Kinney).
https://comicbookbaddies.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/the-complete-origin-of-the-scarecrow/

Oswald opens his club as Oswald's. Again, this seems to be a precursor to the Iceberg Lounge.

I can't be the only one disappointed that Bruce didn't find the cave during his excursion, especially with fear being a theme of this episode.

[BatmAngelus]

"The Blind Fortune Teller"

Not much to report here.

John Grayson and Mary Lloyd are obviously the future parents of Dick Grayson.

Surprisingly, the episode focused far less on the Graysons and more on Jerome, who was meant to be a potential future Joker. Here, he murders his promiscuous mother.

In The Brave and the Bold #31, the Atom unlocks the Joker's memories. There, he sees the Joker overhearing his parents argue about him (with his father even accusing his mother of adultery and that the child isn't even his). The young Joker eventually burns down his childhood home, murdering his parents. So the idea of a young pre-Joker character murdering his seemingly promiscuous mother is rooted in this comic, though the connection to Gotham's version is somewhat loose.

[Slash Man]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_HAwRIACw

The origins of the Red Hood gang. Obviously, no yet featuring the man who becomes the Joker. Though we do get an allusion to the Joker in that clip... throwing money out in the street? Hmmm

[BatmAngelus]

"The Red Hood"

The idea of the Red Hood passing along from person to person is right out of the comics. Not only did the mask get worn by multiple men/red herrings in the original story "The Man Behind the Red Hood," but The Killing Joke expressly showed that the hood passed down from gang member to gang member.

The bank robberies from the Red Hood's men could potentially be a reference to the New 52's Batman #0, which opens with the Red Hood robbing a bank.

The headline on the newspaper calls the criminal "Robin Red Hood," which is a nice tie-in to the fact that former Robin Jason Todd eventually dons the Red Hood moniker.

The mysterious offscreen doctor Dr. Dulmacher is, in fact, the Dollmaker, as confirmed in the trades.

Easter Egg: When Ivy looks over Barbara's clothes, she only seems interested in the green clothes. Obvious reference to her future getup.

Fun fact: The "Manager" who works with Dr. Dulmacher is played by Jeffrey Combs, who did the voice of the Scarecrow in the redesigned BTAS/Gotham Knights series.