Penny For Your TV Thoughts?: Gotham Season 2 Finale Thoughts

"Transference"

Those of you who have followed along my Season 2 episode reviews of Gotham will know that I absolutely loved the new direction that the series was taking with its characters, tone, storytelling, and overall entertainment value. With so many new villains popping up with their own respected story arcs included (as well as easter eggs for what's to come), this season eventually transitioned into one big feast of fan service and storytelling during the second half in the best way possible. However, as much as I can praise the overall experience of watching this season, there is something different to be said about the finale which I'll talk about here by diving into each major point of the episode.

What happened to Hugo Strange?

Not only did Hugo Strange seem completely out of character during several moments of the finale, but it was almost difficult to watch for me personally considering how much I fell in love with the character as a powerful season villain. Now, on paper, the idea of seeing this mastermind being broken down in fear from the monsters he created being loose as well as completely bowing down to this mysterious "council" is an amazing and brilliant way of setting up Season 3's rogue's gallery of powerful villains. Seeing your current season villain show fear and paranoia towards a future villain is one of the most effective ways of teasing the audience that something evolutionary is on the horizon.

However, in this episode, we see our cool and collected Prof. Strange cowardly trying to escape Fish Mooney in a very cheesy and over the top fashion via BD Wong's unfortunately terrible performance here (although I'd place more of the blame on the direction and writing of this scene). Just like I mentioned in my previous review, we've seen this actor fully deliver how smooth, villainous, and fascinating this character can be, yet he's been showing a completely different and pretty unwatchable side of the character in recent episodes. Seeing Hugo Strange break down in tears should be an impactful and interesting moment given the psychological nature of the character, yet it simply comes across as a randomly forced in and terribly incorporated scene.

Proof That Hugo Strange Is Still Amazing

If you're looking for any evidence that indicates Hugo Strange's awkward and terrible presentation recently being the fault of the director and/or writers and not of the character and actor himself, this episode basically presents that theory in one particular scene. With Jim still being under restraints with no way of escaping, we get a pretty cool moment with Strange essentially injecting him with some form of truth serum getting all the answers that he needs.

I absolutely loved the "Imagine I am God" scene transition

Once Gordon gets injected, the visuals start to shift into a very hazy and glaring style making the entire scene look and feel like a comforting yet unsettling drug trip taking place under Hugo's power. BD Wong's amazing performance begins to shine through here again as Strange's smoothly villainous dialogue and overpowering presence begins to own the screen as he normally does and should. Watching him effortlessly get inside of Gordon's mind to extract everything that he needs was not only entertaining to watch, but another great reminder of why this character is such a fascinating villain on his own. This is the Hugo Strange that I remember which makes the rest of the episode pretty disappointing to say the least in regards to the overall presentation of him.

The Riddler's Quiz Show...Why?

My issues with the way that they've handled the Nygma character ever since he's been locked up inside of Arkham sadly continues over into the season finale here. My rant about the writers not utilizing Nygma correctly doesn't come from the fact that he is indeed one of my top 3 favorite characters on the show, but the fact that they've done nothing but wasted a great deal of screen time for what can only be described as mini episodes entitled "The crazy Arkham adventures of Edward Nygma". There are so many interesting things that can be done with his character in an Arkham setting given his traits, yet the writers decided to basically use him as an expendable tool for Hugo to use.

That entire interrogation questionnaire scene with Ed, Bruce, and Fox felt completely unnecessary as it only leads to them waking up trapped next to Gordon in the end (which could've happened without him). What's the sense of that entire scene playing out then? It felt as if the producers or writers was struggling to find some forceful manner to insert more of a Riddler-like image of the character before the season ends. If this is indeed the case, then I definitely didn't enjoy the method that they chose to do so. Honestly, you could've simply showed him isolated in his cell rapidly asking riddles out loud with question marks carved on the walls surrounding him. Although a bit specific, this could've perfectly act as a visual method of showing the audience just how much he has fully transitioned into this borderline insane criminal persona.

Cool Set Up, Poor Pay Off

Gotham ended on a pretty high note during last week's Clayface cliffhanger. However, the pay off that follows it up does absolutely nothing for the character except for making a joke out of him. Watching Basil Karlo terribly impersonate Gordon was pretty entertaining for the most part and I even enjoyed his awkward interactions with Bullock and Alfred. However, just when the show was perfectly leading into the possibility of Bullock finding out Basil's identity via Gordon's suspicious reaction to his questions (which would've been a perfect way to remind the audience of their history together), the writers decided to use Barbara instead. Just like the Nygma situation, the show had the perfect tools to deliver something great, yet they decided to switch it up in a way that added absolutely nothing to the end result.

Using Barbara to find out Basil's identity does nothing for the Barbara character whatsoever but insert a not so comedic moment with her punching him in the face revealing his skin condition. With Bullock on the other hand, you would've had a far more entertaining reveal scene, and as I mentioned before, a reminder of how close him and Gordon have been as friends in and outside of the GCPD.

The Bomb Experts

Now, we may not have gotten the perfect comedic payoff to the Clayface/Gordon reveal, but we do get some pretty entertaining moments with Jim and Lucius Fox as they attempt to disarm a nuclear bomb. The scene on the elevator with the two talking about their lack of bomb disarming experience was funny enough, but it's the ultimate moment where the two mistakes Peabody's request for a cup of water for actually pouring water on the bomb as a way to disarm it (which surprisingly works). The look on their faces when they realize what they just accidentally accomplished was priceless to say the least.

The Passing of the Torch/Goodbye

Another great Jim Gordon moment comes towards the end of the episode where he decides to chase after Lee as his biggest priority instead of diving deeper into the dark and twisted criminal world of Gotham. It's a great scene watching him have his own personal life agenda for a change as well as the moment where he officially passes the torch to Harvey by telling him that he'll do great as a commissioner. What's great about this scene is the way in which it stays true to the characters by not making it a sappy emotional scene but instead a more comedic moment even though the context of the situation is a little sad.

It's the perfect way to sign off on both characters as it ends everything on a positive and promising note while laying down a pathway that leads directly into Season 3. This is how you give closure to a character in a season finale while keeping an open door for what's to come.

The Elephant In The Room

For any newcomers to the blog, I'll just quickly mention right away that I seriously dislike the character of Fish Mooney and always have since the first season. She was one of the weakest elements of that season and no superpowers will change that whatsoever. Now, let's talk about the fact that we see my least favorite character take control of Ms. Peabody, make Hugo Strange look like a cowering and clumsy henchman in a very awkwardly presented scene, and steals a bus full of Season 3 easter eggs on an unnecessarily long chase scene.

Not only do I still find Jada Pinkett Smith's performance off putting and belonging in a different Batman universe with a different tone as well as the character itself being boring and easily expendable, but the fact that they gave her an immense amount of screen time for the finale is a mystery in of itself. That entire chase sequence felt as though Fish's character could've been easily replaced by someone else with Fish just being a passenger on the bus instead which could've still lead to her reveal with Penguin and his men. Again, we have another villain (only one that I really dislike this time) being shown off quite a bit for no reason whatsoever except for the sake of spotlighting a character in a forceful manner.

Personally, I've never found Fish to be a compelling character and the idea of giving her superpowers to control anyone just makes her an even more overpowered dull character which are the worst kinds of villains. Was it interesting to see Penguin and Butch see her in person as being alive? Well, the real question is whether or not we actually need Fish for their character arcs down the line. I suppose I'll just have to walk into Season 3 with as much of an open mind as I had with the Season 2 premiere, but I do have serious doubts surrounding her character going forward.

Overall, despite my mixed feelings about the season finale, Season 2 has been arguably the biggest improvement that I've ever seen within a series. Not only were the new characters entertaining and fascinating to watch, but the majority of the story lines introduced were beautifully executed as well. With performances improving and artistic visual flare being incorporated, Gotham Season 2 has been a huge success officially turning me into a fan of the show which I never thought I'd be considering my many negative feelings about the first season. I simply cannot wait to see what the writers have in store for us in the near future as we inch ever so slowly towards the cape crusader's big moment.

Bonus Content

Fire & Ice: Battle of the Elements

Visually, this was definitely my favorite scene in the entire finale as we got to see two tech based villains battling each other resulting in Hugo getting damaged in between. It's great to see Mr. Freeze in action again despite my mixed thoughts about him essentially being a henchman for Strange, and the fact that we get to see him take on Firefly is pretty amazing. Although the fight itself isn't necessarily spectacular and impactful, the visual direction of the scene is definitely to be admired

The Penguin's Family Decoration

One of the more twisted and darkly funny moments of the episode where we see the Penguin deciding where to put Grace Van Dahl's "head lamp" for the sake of decorating a room

The Penguin's Assault Squad Scene

It's easy to forget with everything that's been going on that the Penguin is essentially a mob boss with a powerful arsenal at his disposal, so I really enjoyed the scene where we see Butch utilizing a gatling gun to take down the bus leading into a pretty cool scene of Penguin moving in after what he believes to be Strange.

Bruce's Vision After Being Drugged