"A Legion of Horribles"
This week's episode of Gotham is exactly what I needed to fully win me back over to the show after the past two episodes' over the top Season 1-like tone. There are so many things to talk about in this episode as far as side characters go so be sure to check out the "Bonus Content" section of this review as always. Now, let's dig into what makes "A Legion of Horribles" such a fitting episode title this episode as it seems Hugo Strange has been working overtime now with rogues gallery picking.
A Game of Cat & Mouse...With A Flamethrower!
One of the best parts of this episode is seeing the continuation of Selena struggling to reach her friend Bridget while also avoiding getting burnt to death by her flamethrower. In the previous episode review, I was speaking about how mixed I felt about Firefly's outfit given her facial structure not matching the goggles and head piece in a visually fitting manner to me personally. However, for some strange reason, I hardly had any issues with it in this episode whatsoever as we also got to see the costume a lot more spotlighted here. The silver gauntlets on her wrist as well as the flamethrower back piece to the suit was a nice touch for the design as I feel Firefly might eventually evolve into a more mechanical armor as her comic book counterpart does (although I still would prefer a full face mask).
Again, I admire what the writers did with the character as it does go with the larger than life personalities created by Strange, but I feel as though the whole fire goddess idea might've been a little too far. I'm interested in seeing where this bizarre relationship will go now that Selena has the upper hand to some degree in the situation (psychologically speaking) as she quickly uses Bridget's insanity to her benefit. The ending scene shows the two standing together as Bridget aims her flamethrower at the wall which had me a little confused as I wasn't entirely sure whether or not she was firing at the same wall that Selena tried to escape through before. I'm really curious to see what happens to the two down the line given the situation currently taking place Arkham and I'm hoping that they don't kill off a potentially amazing future "villain of the week" with Firefly's character in some forced in redemption scene.
The Lecture Bruce Needed To Hear
 |
| I'm starting to wonder how many times we're gonna hear "I'm sorry Alfred" before the show ends. |
Throughout the series, there have been several occasions where Alfred would play the father figure role giving Bruce a lecture and/or warning regarding whatever extreme mission he was embarking on. However, given the fact that Bruce usually goes with his own instinct which places him and others around him into dangerous situations, it was nice to see Alfred really lay down the parental figure shoes here even harder with a very strong lecture in front of Gordon and Fox. It's easy to forget just how ridiculously stubborn Bruce can be in both a positive and negative light, and in this episode, I do believe that his actions and Alfred's words will finally hit hard on his conscience.
Aside from Alfred sounding even more angry and disappointed with Bruce than he normally does (and yelling at him in front of others like a child getting embarrassed by his parents in school), we do get a nice moment where he tells Bruce that he could've flew him somewhere far away if he wanted to but decided not to. The fact that he saw the same driven and motivated eyes that his father had was a strong message that he was witnessing Thomas Wayne's path all over again which is a theme that will eventually get thrown in Bruce's face later in the episode.
This whole episode in regards to the Bruce Wayne story arc is basically presented as a strong humbling experience for a very stubborn child constantly trying to face the world head on in a careless manner. I do believe that the season will end with a more open minded Bruce Wayne if episodes like these are any indication. I do love the idea of seeing the child who grows into becoming my favorite comic book character off all time hit some serious speed bumps along the way that shakes him up significantly making the journey even more impactful.
Even Hugo Strange Answers To Somebody
 |
| Not too sure how I feel about the mask design here, but it is being shown off on an old lady after all and not a mysterious assassin |
As if the introduction to the Saint Dumas Order wasn't enough of a surprise, Gotham throws us yet another cult group from the comics via "The Court of Owls". Once a mysterious lady was shown talking on the phone about Hugo Strange going too far while watching news footage of Galavan in his Azrael persona, my inner Batman nerd started to get excited from the sight of an owl mask laying next to the phone.
Not only is the Court of Owls (who in the comics are a secret society of assassins that existed in Gotham for generations) a newly introduced significant villain on the show, but it is also revealed that they are in fact Hugo Strange's boss who have been mentioned previously throughout the episode as the people he needs to impress.
Hugo Strange's mission of resurrecting people from the dead was always something that I found interesting yet never really given any context to except for the easy plot point of just calling him a mad scientist for the sake of it. However, with the Court revealed to have been utilizing Strange as a scientist working for them to accomplish the power of immortality, the plot now thickens to such a massive and intriguing degree. It's truly amazing to see how the show managed to dive into two separate cults in the Batman universe in the span of 2 episodes while keeping Hugo at the center of everything.
I'll also point out the possible negative of Strange being revealed to be working for someone instead of acting on his own power which could've downgraded him as a powerful season villain. Fortunately, the show has brilliantly emphasized on the fact that Hugo has been working on his monster unleashing plans on his own which was completely out of the boundaries of the Court. The only connection between the two is within the reincarnation program which only covers some of the characters created so far. In my opinion, Strange is still as strong of a major villain as he was before but has now been added with an extra layer of mystery to his background.
Bruce Confronted The Demon, Now He Confronts The Devil Himself
One of my favorites scenes in the series so far is the moment when Bruce finally confronted Matches (the guy that murdered his parents) as it was a beautifully directed, flawlessly performed, and truly intense character driven moment. I was more than interested in seeing just how they might top such a scene as Bruce finally confronts Hugo Strange about issuing the order to kill his parents, which to my surprise, was another great scene overall. What makes this scene surprisingly good actually comes with BD Wong's striking performance who has been a bit of a hit and miss situation recently.
Wong's amazing performance and portrayal of Strange was one of the best things to come out of the entire series from the moment he arrived on the show. However, in the past 2-3 episodes, I've been starting to see a bit of an upscale of cheesiness being poured down into his performance through some of his dialogue. It's bizarre to say really as he obviously shows that he can present Strange in a very powerful, mysterious, interesting, and serious manner without acting like a 90's Batman movie villain in the process. However, in the scene where he finally meets and talks to Bruce Wayne face to face, BD Wong slides right back into that smirking evil genius persona that I absolutely loved before as he toys with Bruce's emotions.
It's a great character driven scene overall showing the villain for what he's known for which is digging deep within someone's psychological state for his own gain. We see Strange constantly hitting on the idea of Bruce making the same costly mistakes that his father did which of course emotionally picks at him deep down. It's also a great show of character for Bruce to stand up to his biggest enemy all on his own despite getting captured in the end. The little moments where he'd force a smile to attempt to play along in the conversation while still getting riled up during certain conversation points was a perfect show of how much he has matured along the way while still having lots to learn in the future.
The Calvary Is Coming
I've been really looking forward to the moment where the GCPD swoops into Arkham to uncover Strange's secret facility and it looks like Bullock (thanks to Alfred) is is bringing the police force with him to do exactly that. It's nice to see Harvey taking charge temporarily as we get some pretty entertaining moments such as his slightly awkward press conference about Azrael as well as him stating that he'd rather deal with another bizarre criminal than a crowd of reporters. It's also cool to see the GCPD in action for a more hunch driven mission being that there is no concrete evidence leading the case which Barnes would've never agreed to. I'm excited to see where this police charge will lead to as I sense a huge battle or spectacular twist coming along.
Introducing...Clayface!
Just when you think Gotham has thrown enough comic book content at the screen with its character reveals this season, we have yet another well known Batman villain making his debut here with none other than Basil Karlo (aka Clayface). I honestly have no idea what to expect anymore with this show as far as comic book characters go which is both a good thing and a bad thing considering the era in Batman's career being presented here. Either way, it is pretty interesting seeing Basil earlier in the episode during one of Hugo's reincarnation experiments showing signs of being able to stretch his skin out to extreme lengths. Not the Clayface that I visually envisioned, but there honestly isn't much to imagine with a character of that power in the first place, so I'm sort of up for anything at this point.
However, what I wasn't expecting to happen is his character being utilized in such a profound manner as Strange straps down Gordon after capturing him to engage in an body altering experiment with Basil. This was arguably the most comic book-like moment on the entire show as Hugo uses a machine to allow Basil to accurately take on Gordon's facial features with only a wig being added for extra measure. It's a pretty crazy scene seeing Basil completely transform into Gordon and even starts mocking his voice towards the end with a creepy grin on his face.
Not only does this go down as the most wildest and off the wall cliffhanger on the show, but it also opens the door to so many possibilities considering the police force coming to save Gordon. What happens to Jim now that Strange has created a mirrored version of him to some degree. How will this affect Bullock's police raid once he sees a false Gordon walking around unknowingly. So many questions to be asked which makes this scene such an amazing twist for the show. I also have to point out the moment Hugo tells Gordon that he lives in the past and that he is merely evolving the world through his creations. I do believe the quote is "The future belongs to my children and that future is here". There's also that pretty awesome rotating shot of a fully transformed Basil, Hugo maniacally laughing in the middle, and a petrified Gordon on the other end.
Who would've thought that both Clayface, The Court of Owls, and a few other character reveals would take place in an episode of Gotham that revolves around Bruce Wayne finally confronting his true parents' killer. This was definitely the better of these past three episodes and a major step forward in the right direction that the series successfully set for itself previously. With so many colorful characters being thrown at the screen here, I was surprised to see how well the show managed to keep things focused on the bigger picture which was Hugo's rise in power and Bruce undergoing a huge humbling moment in his life. Overall, this was a great set up episode for what's to come and I simply cannot wait for next week to come around. Still no cape and cowl...not a problem.
Bonus Content:
Fish Mooney Has Powers Now?
 |
| Not the big character resurrection that I was hoping for, but the fact that she returned with her memory back and the ability to force someone to do her bidding by simply touching them was interesting. However, I'm simply not buying the idea that she miraculously has powers after being brought back from the dead, so let's hope that the writers have something special in store for us. |
The Court of Owls Signature Mask
 |
| As I mentioned before, I'm really hoping that the show does the Court of Owls justice especially with their mysterious character design. The mask from this shot looks great, but I do wonder if we'll be seeing it worn by the assassins known as The Talons in the near future. |
The Riddler Is Now An...Interrogator?
 |
| Wasn't too sure how to feel about this scene as Nygma feels like a randomly inserted villain here. As much as I absolutely love the character over the majority of the cast, I do feel as though his presence is being wasted as someone being thrown around by security and now Strange as a recruited interrogator for the heck of it. |
Firefly Is Actually Fireproof
 |
| Not only am I warming up to the new suit fully (no pun intended), but the scene where Selena discovers that Bridget is in fact fireproof, I immediately started to get excited for how this character might potentially progress in future plot points. I'm still envisioning a Season 3 scene where Mr. Freeze and Firefly goes on a killing spree in Gotham and a certain cape crusader is forced to stop them by any means necessary in a flash forward moment. |
Cornelius Stirk
 |
| Although not a major character reveal, we do get a brief scene introducing another Batman villain by the name of Cornelius Stirk (a psychic cannibal from the comics). I'm pretty sure Gotham won't include his powers to control someone's visual perception of him, but it is cool to see that they kept his man eating tendencies intact. Funny seeing Nygma scared for his life during that scene. |
Gotham's Version of Clayface
 |
| Definitely one of the wilder characters to be introduced on the show. I'm curious to see how far they'll take his abilities as his comic book counterpart can do some pretty insane stuff given his body structure. |
A Quick Glimpse of Poison Ivy...I Mean Ivy
 |
| Definitely one of the more quicker character appearances in the episode. We get a very brief scene of Ivy on the rooftop where Selena was to meet Bruce. I honestly completely forgot about her even existing on the show, so perhaps this was a nice friendly reminder or just a wasted cameo. |
The Continued Fallout of Galavan
 |
| Something that I mentioned in the previous episode review was the fact that Galavan's bizarre public return should really stir up a huge reaction from the city, and although we haven't seen some of that, we do get a nice indication through The Court of Owls concern as well as the press questioning Harvey |
Episode Rating: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment