Returning to Gotham and Downton Abbey,meanwhile Agent Carter is on the case

Welcome back to LRG's TV Thursday and our first stop of the day is in Gotham, where Jim Gordon is adjusting to his new job at Arkham, Selina and Ivy camp out at his seemingly abandoned apartment and Fish Mooney is making more moves to become the queenpin of the city.

Speaking of evil ambition, Oswald,aka "The Penquin", got a slight setback this week, as his attempts to shake down the waterfront resulted in some brief jail time and a black eye. Turns out  his new boss Maroni isn't as easy to manipulate as our fierce feathered fiend was thinking he was. Oswald managed to swallow his slice of humble pie convincingly yet I have no doubt that another name was added to his personal enemies' list:

The debut of the brief series, Agent Carter, aired a double dose of  old school awesomeness as Hayley Atwell took up the mantle of the Marvel character she brought to life in the first Captain America movie.

Set in 1946, Peggy Carter is working for "the phone company" as a secret agent who is constantly being sent off to file and make coffee by her male counterparts. When old ally Howard Stark is being accused of selling deadly weapons to unfriendly folk, he and his reluctant butler Jarvis turn to Peggy for help in clearing his name.

However, Stark is not being completely truthful with her(as we'll see in the weeks to come) and her keen wits and sharp moves are allowing Peggy to remain one step ahead of her co-workers, who would see her aid to Stark as treason. However, there is a deeper plot underway involving mysteriously silent men that may only be foiled by our Miss Carter.

This show is just so smart and snappy that it feels like it ought to be illegal to be this good. Atwell is just as amazing here as she was in Captain America:The First Avenger(a movie that I always liked) and why she wasn't considered to play Wonder Woman is beyond me.

This seven part series is intended to tie in with the current season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.(which returns in March) but you don't have to had watched that show in order to enjoy this one. If you didn't watch the premiere, do so with haste because it may be some time before we get another great female friendly action packed thrill ride like this anywhere else at any time soon:

Downton Abbey made it's fifth season debut with the expected amount of entertaining angst, a lot of it from Lady Edith who is not being subtle when it comes to visiting her love child.

The fire that occurred in Edith's bedroom offered quite a few opportunities as Thomas managed to save his job by saving her life(he's still a sneaky creep,tho) and a solution to Edith's tricky situation may be at hand. I'm rather peeved at Lady Mary's highhanded comment to Anna(who asked what had happened) "Oh, Edith decided to set her room on fire." Really, Mary? Your sister could've been roasted but oh, no, you're too miffed about your little bedroom meeting with Tony being interrupted to care about that!

Despite my ire at Lady Mary, I am pleased with many of the storylines  that were set up, as Violet attempts a little matchmaking, Daisy decides to freshen up her math skills and what is up with Baxter's criminal past? Ah, Downton, never a dull moment there:

RANDOM NOTES:

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW: Having seen the US version of this celebrated culinary series, I was familiar with the format but wonderfully surprised at just how charming the original UK series is. It is currently airing at a PBS station near you and should make for a tasty diversion indeed: