The absolute worst thing that could have happened to Gotham was to have another superhero TV show land on its comfortable Monday night slot. Especially one in Supergirl that it’s complete opposite. And Gotham sure picked a lousy week to give in to its most misogynistic tendencies.

To continue the baffling comedic saga of this season’s villain, Theo is holding court with Tabitha and Barbara listening to Butch explain why he wants to join with them. I was surprised we didn’t get the weekly reminder that Barbara is bisexual and she and Tabitha are regularly getting it on.

Despite Penguin chopping off his hand, Theo is still unsure until Barbara and Tabitha start talking about various hand accessories they could give him including a mini chainsaw before settling on a mallet.

That actually felt more in line with the craziness I’d expect in Gotham, but what didn’t work was Theo having a congressman in a noose trying to balance on a stack of books. Theo has this election wrapped up and outing himself as a devious crook for one congressman’s backing is a pretty stupid campaign strategy.

Penguin pushes Butch to look harder for information on his mother’s whereabouts making him sloppy enough for Theo to catch him. Theo sics Tabitha on him, but it’s unclear if Butch was able to get away like he told Penguin or if Tabitha and Theo were able to break Penguin’s brainwashing.

Taking in her fellow abandoned orphan Selina is trying to help Brigit fit in to life on the run. I’m worried the writers actually think cool teenagers still call people squares and doofus though based on some of Selina’s dialogue.

To help Brigit get out of town, Selina decides they should rob the morally bankrupt guests of a slave girl auction block where the girls are actually led down the runway by chains.  Selina and Brigit go in unmasked solely so Gordon can make out Selina on surveillance footage.

Brigit wanted to help the captive girls, but Selina was all about making some quick bucks and taking care of herself. Out of all the questionable characters on this show, I’d give Selina pretty long odds on surviving for an extended period of time on The Walking Dead. She’s got the right attitude.

Capt. Barnes chews out Gordon for getting rough with a suspect. This seems an amazing 180 from Barnes whatever means necessary to clean up Gotham stance two weeks ago.

Bullock follows up with Ivy to learn where Selina’s hiding, but it’s a little too late as the Pike brothers kidnap their sister. Lest you forget Selina is the A+ tail-kicker on the show, she casually disarms one of the brothers, but doesn’t bother trying to use the shotgun to stop their getaway.

Bullock reminds Gordon the last time they saw Selina she had a shotgun aimed at them setting up the visual gag of Gordon finding Selina and she aims her newly acquired shotgun at him. Gordon promises to bring Brigit in safely

Reunited with her brothers, Brigit realizes she can actually fight back and burns them. Somehow, one remains alive long enough to give Bullock a quick Halloween scare. Bullock gets the best line of the night when Gordon blames him for the suspect finally dying.  “Oh yeah, my kicks did it? Maybe it’s because he’s friend like a taquito.”

Selina catches up with Brigit, who is empowered by her new attitude and wants to rescue the captive girls. Selina loses her tough girl facade long enough to hug Brigit before calling Gordon to help Brigit before things get worse.

This girl is on fire! Brigit is now fully embracing the flame and burning folks at the auction block before Gordon and company arrive. It’s kinda weird how Bullock and Barnes are never with Gordon at the same time. It’s either one or the other.

Brigit’s gas canister springs a leak and when she starts shooting her flames at Gordon and the officers, she triggers an explosion that ignites her. But being Gotham, she’s still alive unbeknownst to Gordon and taken to a secret offshoot branch of Wayne Enterprises, which is experimenting on people.

I hated how vague Gordon was in explaining to Selina what happened with Brigit. It felt like a concerted effort on the writers’ part to drive an irreparable wedge between the two. That of course discounts the fact Selina completely turned on him last year.

Now let’s talk about the real idiotic aspect of tonight’s show. Kristin was talking to Lee about how awful Tom Daughtery treated her, but she kinda worries if Nygma isn’t too nice.

After dinner and a session in Nygma’s bedroom, Kristin starts talking about Tom and her concerns what will happen when he returns. Nygma immediately tells her that won’t be a problem because he killed him. Kringle fittingly freaks out and a surprised Nygma chokes her to death while trying to calm her down.

Yeah it’s a tragic twist to a love story, but for a season plus of buildup, to kill Kringle in such weak fashion felt like such a cheap way to go. And with his second murder in as many seasons there’s no point in delaying Nygma’s shift to full-fledged villain now as he has no hope of retaining any audience sympathy.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Depressing storyline resolution and continued idiotic character decisions made for another downturn in the continued roller coaster that is Gotham.