"Mr. Freeze"
It's great to see Gotham return as I've been a huge fan of Season 2 despite my mixed to negative backlash on Season 1. This episode has introduced us to two new villains being Mr. Freeze (who made a brief appearance in the last episode) and Hugo Strange. I am more than interested in seeing what the writers decide to do with two very significant villains from the comics.
First, let's talk about Mr. Freeze (Victor Fries). So far, I like what they've done with Freeze in keeping with the core mythology of the character. Nathan Darrow (the actor who plays Victor on the show) has done a pretty decent job in keeping Freeze's dramatic yet focus angle which perfectly contrasts with Gotham's more obviously whacky and insane criminals. There's also the character of Nora Fries who makes her debut on the show, played by Kristen Hager, who also does a great job in the role. I'm curious to see if she'll eventually end up in the cryogenic capsule as fans of the comics or animated series are aware of.
The suit that Mr. Freeze dons is pretty effective so far visually speaking as I was never expecting much looking back at how Gotham has treated its more costume heavy villains. I do wonder if they'll drag out his story to the end of the season, or will it be more like Firefly who had about 3 episodes to develop her character. Also, the visual FX on the victims being frozen or melted down to just blood and bones (as briefly shown in one of Victor's experiments) was pretty impressive given that the series has never really pushed the more science-fiction elements of the Batman mythos so far.
As for Hugo Strange, I'm already loving this actor's portrayal of the character. It almost feels as if I'm watching Hugo from Arkham City as well as the comics being ripped right out and placed into a live action setting. The look of the character accurately fits as does the performance, so it's a win-win situation so far. Let's just hope that his introduction to the show brings forward something interesting in the long run as he is a very significant character from the comics. I'd love to see Hugo interact with Bruce which I'm more than 90% sure will happen before the season ends. As for the whole idea of having Penguin locked up in Arkham, I'm not too sure where they're gonna take that story, but I'm pretty sure it'll end with Penguin escaping. Perhaps he meets a familiar face in there.
The story of Gordon hiding the truth behind Theo's murder is an interesting dramatic angle for the show to play around with. However, I am beginning to get a little bit tired of constantly seeing this character hiding secrets from people which eventually gets thrown into his face down the line. I'm hoping that this continuous game of hide and seek with the skeletons in Gordon's closet comes to a fitting end without feeling like a complete waste of time. I do like the character overall, but I have to wonder how far they're gonna take this "hero with a dark history" arc. Overall, this was definitely one of Gotham's better villain debut episodes.
Episode Rating: 8/10
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