Gordon's fishy favor on Gotham,love troubles on Downton Abbey and the awesomeness of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore

A lot went down on Gotham this week, as Fish Mooney barely managed to escape a gruesome fate, thanks to her henchman Butch and by calling in a favor from Det. Bullock.

She wasn't the only one who needed some dubious assistance here, as Jim Gordon's first full day back at the GCPD brought him a plateful of guilt, due to a witness to a murder being killed right inside the police station.

 Since the bad guys behind that were also cops(with crooked ties that went far up the chain of command), Gordon had no choice but to call upon his "friend" Oswald, who was reveling in the glory of Fish's downfall. Granted, it was rather naive of Gordon to actually think that his request that "no one gets hurt" was going to work but perhaps that caveat was simply meant to ease his own conscience there.

Lucky for him that he put in his favor before Fish showed up to get some payback. Granted, she didn't get too far with that but still, Penguin needs to watch his back a bit more closely these days. His good pal Jim Gordon might not always be there to return his favor:

There's been quite a bit of focus on Lady Mary's romantic issues on Downton Abbey this season as her break-up with Gillingham didn't go as well as she expected(no surprise there). However, a much more interesting affair of the heart  is developing as Lady Cora is enjoying a serious flirtation with  Mr. Brickner, a visiting art dealer.

While I highly doubt that Cora would take that particular turn away from her marriage, she has been getting some much deserved attention and praise for her intellect that Lord Grantham has been pointedly ignoring for some time here. Quit being such a jerk, buddy, and give Cora the respect and admiration she deserves and wants from you,genius!

Also, I do hope that Isobel says "yes" to Lord Morton, as his sincere proposal of marriage was so charming and sweet(plus it would irk Countess Violet to no end,another bonus there). As much as I think Lord Grantham is being quite the bore these days, I don't blame him a bit for going off at Miss Bunting during that last dinner. Woman, know when to quit while you're ahead, especially if you really want Branson to be your boyfriend or some much more:

We're at the second week mark for The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore and this late night series is not only an excellent successor to The Colbert Report, it's fast becoming must-see TV for it's own marvelous merits.

I am so glad that the folks at Comedy Central decided to promote from within(Wilmore was the "senior black correspondent" on The Daily Show for awhile) and despite what a certain reviewer might think, he's not just another Bill Maher.

 In fact, Larry Wilmore is a thousand times better and far more smartly succinct than that pompous pay cable personality is or ever will be. The format of TNS takes one topic, such as the Bill Cosby allegations, the anti-vaccine movement and the pop culture debate over the merits of the movie American Sniper, and gives it their full attention with a monologue, panel discussion and a segment called "Keep It 100", which insists on honest answers to tough questions.

The panel talks on TNS are conducted with more respect to each speaker than some "serious" news programs do and Wilmore's commitment to answering a Keep It 100 question himself at the end of each show(that question being provided by Twitter followers) rounds the whole topic of the day out nicely. If you haven't caught The Nightly Show yet, trust me when I say it is well worth staying up late for:

RANDOM NOTES:

KITTEN BOWL: I know this is the big sports weekend for most folks but for me, I have Downton Abbey and The Kitten Bowl as my can't hardly wait viewing. Yes, the Puppy Bowl was first(and will be on this Sunday as well) but watching a pack of cute kitties take the playing field is what makes this day so special for me and my fellow feline fans: