Gotham Easter Eggs and DC Comics References: Spirit of the Goat

Tonight's episode of Gotham was...well, it was a very Batman-inspired episode. We got guys with animal totems wearing dark, horned masks. We got Catwoman breaking into Batman's house while he slept. We got...well, you can see a bunch of it below.

It had more little winks and nods to DC's continuity and universe than most episodes of Gotham, too, even when you remove from the equation the fact that Edward Nygma was basically standing on top of his desk screaming "I'm the Riddler! THE RIDDLER!" at the top of his lungs.

Oh! it's also worth noting that tonight's episode was written by Ben Edlund, creator of The Tick, who has written episodes of Angel, Firefly, Supernatural and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

What did we spot? What did we miss? Read on...!

Masks!

Yep. Once again, we get a masked character (The Balloonman episode, for starters, had some, although not quite in the same way). This time, though? It's difficult to escape the idea that the black mask with the exposed mouth and pointy ears is...reminiscent of somebody...!

"The Goat hasn't cast his shadow..."

Yes, there's apparently a "Shadow of the Goat" motif going on here.

In all seriousness, while that's a reasonably common colloquialism, it's clear that it was meant to be a wink and a nod to the shadow of the Bat in this instance.

Orphans!

The news report says that "The Wayne family opened their home to the children of the city orphanage..."

...much as Bruce Wayne did at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.

Sudden appearance of the masked man

Another way The Spirit of the Goat is reminiscent of Batman is in the way he suddenly, silently appears beside his victim. This one may be an overt reference or just a trope of crime fiction, I can't honestly tell.

Virginia Dix?

Could Bullock's old partner be related to Virginia "Dixie" Dix, an ally of El Diablo?

Okay, probably not. But this show tends to have a lot of "maybe? Kind of? Eh..." kind of answers to these questions and here's another.'

Nygma's Coffee mug

Anybody else notice the green coffee mug with a question mark on it? 

...What was that? It was impossible to miss? Carry on, then.

"The Goat of Gotham City!"

I haven't the foggiest idea whether or not the premise of this episode may be tied to a 1946 story in Detective Comics #108. I can't find it legally online and do not own the Batman Archives Volume 5, where the story is reprinted.. But since they use the phrase "the Goat of Gotham" at one point in the episode, it seemed worth at least mentioning.

Liberty Penny

Could the mention of a 1913 Liberty Penny be a wink and a nod to the classic Penny Plunderers story and, in turn, the giant penny in the Batcave?

Well, probably not. The date on that one is typically either 1939 or 1945, but not 1913, which is the date on the Spirit of the Goat pennies. But...we knew somebody would ask, so we looked it up.

Bruce critiquing totems

He doesn't get why they used a goat.

...Ha?

The Hastings Family

Seems likely, doesn't it, that the Hastings Family seen in this episode may be related to Doc Hastings, who made an appearance in another old issue of Detective Comics? I'm going to say so, anyway.

Catwoman steals from Bruce...again.

Again, as we saw in The Dark Knight Rises, we get Selina breaking into Wayne Manor and taking something away, with Bruce none the wiser (for now).

Dan Hedaya

Not really a reference, but he has been in a comics-based movie before!

...He was in The Addams Family!

Blackgate

The prison where Allen and Montoya say they're going to send Gordon in the final scene? That's one of DC's most notorious prisons and a place where most of Batman's villains end up at some point. It's also neither Arkham Asylum, nor Iron Heights (which is used frequently on Arrow and The Flash), so points for style!