Penny For Your TV Thoughts?: Gotham S3 Ep. 11 Thoughts

"The Green Eyed Monster"

This week's episode of Gotham was by far one of the more climatic episodes of the season considering everything that took place. We have yet another villain of the week particularly targeting Jim's life and reputation, a heist mission surrounding a mysterious Court of Owls related object, and a new direction being taken with Ed and his future alliance. With several components being juggled around, let's dive into what makes this episode of Gotham another solid hit in its current streak of success.

First, let's talk about Ed's new story arc which is something that I've been patiently waiting to see once the whole "Who killed Isabella?" steam was running its course. In last week's episode, I theorized that Ed would discover Oswald's betrayal on his own causing him to loose himself back into his Riddler-like persona. Although I was wrong about him flying solo, I was happy to see Barbara being utilized as a puppet master to Ed's natural vengeful progression towards Oswald. Yes, I've actually been getting onboard with Barbara's character during these past couple of episodes despite my usually negative reaction to her. The fact that she lets Ed discover Oswald's secret on his own by just slightly tipping him off was the sign of a great villainous leader winning over partners (or pawns) in a genuine manner.

With a more subdued performance, I'm able to take the character seriously now.

We only get brief moments of her during the episode which was perfect as it kept her presence in the shadows while Ed's declining trust in Oswald is shown in the forefront. Because of this style of character presentation, Ed's alliance proposal with her towards the end actually feels natural and not rushed off by any means. Not only am I now excited to see what this partnership will bring for the two moving forward, but also how the political storytelling introduced previously will shift in a completely different direction. With Barbara now looking into becoming the new crime boss of Gotham, this will definitely force other key players to profoundly react. Perhaps that territorial war teased in the previous episode will actually come into fruition sooner than we think.

As for the heist mission portion of the episode, this was definitely the more entertaining segment for several reasons. For one thing, we get to see Alfred and Bruce embarking on another life threatening scenario which is always fun for me considering how much I enjoy seeing these characters grow together. With the previously introduced Whisper Gang members killed off (which we're given an abruptly brief confirmation scene here), it was cool to see another member quickly replace them to help continue their collaboration with Bruce. What's also fun is that we get to see Alfred as a badass yet again (hinting back to his past as a special forces soldier) which is always delightful to see alongside Bruce utilizing gadgets.

Yes, any form of symbolism pointing at his future as a cape crusading vigilante gets me excited, so of course watching Bruce struggle to tight rope balance (perhaps better done by a circus performer future side kick) while throwing himself in a dangerous secret mission is awesome in my book. However, surprisingly enough, the spotlight here actually goes to Selena Kyle who shows herself to be a capable member of the team. The moment she decides to take Bruce's spot as the tightrope walker was not only a great way of showing off her relevance to the current story, but also a nice way of teasing her feelings for Bruce. It's interesting watching these two grow sort of develop as a dysfunctional couple basically throwing each other into dangerous situations while strangely showing that they care for one another.

The entire heist scene itself was pretty captivating from watching Selena balance across a floor covered in alarm triggering lasers, the Talon stealthily showing up and almost killing off the entire team by himself, and seeing Alfred show off his moves against a highly trained assassin. My only nitpick here is the fact that we see the Talon killed off in an unsatisfactory fashion. After such a great introduction to the character, I honestly would've expected something better than a surprising vase to the head causing him to get taken out in the end. Well, we can only assume that he's dead I suppose as Gotham is no stranger to resurrecting villains. Either way, I do hope that we didn't see the last of the Court's more physical presence on the show as it added an interesting layer to their cult-like presence on the show.

Now, for the core of this week's episode which I honestly wasn't expecting to be yet another Tetch related story. It would seem that after 8-9 episodes of the Mad Hatter's introduction and reign, the name "Tetch" still rings strongly on the show as far as storytelling goes. We're treated to another cat and mouse game with Jim being tortured in some shape or form all under the umbrella (or hat I suppose) of Jervis. We learn that it was Jervis' scheme all along to have an infected Mario break Jim even further which essentially does happen here as Jim's attempts to save Lee causes their relationship to shatter.

I honestly wasn't a fan of continuing this season by having someone else infected with the Tetch virus as I felt that arc was sealed after Barnes was caught. However, I will say that it did lead to some dramatic and intense character moments. The moments where Jim confronted Mario was great as it showed Mario's power as Falcone's son more than his infection-based abilities (which we do see in other scenes). Jim constantly runs into obstacles here while struggling to fix his relationship with Lee showing once more that things never seem to never go his way no matter what he does. This seems to be the running curse for this character whenever someone close to him gets tangled up with his life as a targeted police officer.

The wedding scene in particular was one of the bigger highlights of the episode as it showed Jim coming out about his true feelings to Lee while telling her about Mario. This of course lead to an emotional crossfire between the two which I honestly wasn't expecting but was perfectly injected due to Mario's previously mentioned plan. The crowning moment however comes when Jim is escorted out by Falcone's men while the wedding event takes place. The amazing dramatic soundtrack, the beautiful cinematography of the wedding itself, and the overall transitioning between Jim fighting off Falcone's men and the ceremony were all done flawlessly. As far as epic scaled moments go for Gotham, this is definitely worthy of being nominated.

As for the final confrontation between Gordon and Mario, again, this character must be cursed with getting constantly screwed over in the end. Once Gordon finds out about Mario and Lee's whereabouts thanks to Falcone's help and fatherly concerns, the show tosses in an intense and downright creepy moment where Mario is about to stab Lee from behind right before Gordon interjects in the nick of time to shoot him down. What looks like the perfect save on his side unfortunately looks like a jealous ex committing murder through Lee's perspective being that she never saw Mario under the influence. It's a great dramatic cliffhanger as we also see Mario's knife being washed away beneath them making matters worst for Jim moving forward.

So, with such a climatic end to an episode leaving just enough room for speculations and jaw dropping reactions, where do we go from here? What I'm hoping for is that we finally step off the Tetch infection story thread and start moving forward towards a more Court of Owls focused direction. We have Carmine Falcone's connection still in question, Bruce Wayne's circle being forced into a life threatening position now, and Gordon's father assumably being a member of the illusive corporation. With several characters being linked to one central villain, I think it's about time that Gotham fully shifts its focus as I feel the season has now done its full share of teasing and lore building.

Bonus Content

1. Alice Tetch's Blood

The Tetch name continues to plague this city even after the Jervis's arrest. It's impressive to see one character's death being used as a key to create villains with dramatic connections to the protagonist.

2. The Court of Owl's Security

If having a laser grid covering the ground wasn't enough, I find it fascinating that the Court of Owls would have an assassin roaming around their outpost just for good measure. This makes me even more intrigued with the secrets that they keep in their vault(s).

3. First The Key, Now The Treasure

Now that the mysterious vault is opened...now what? A glass (assuming that's glass) shaped owl in a fancy vault just makes things even more intriguing. Is this a misdirect or something that can actually take down the Court of Owls? We're left with even more questions now than ever before and I'm enjoying every second of it.

4. The Last We See of Talon?

I would hate to see yet another potentially amazing villain killed off this season (the first two being Sid and Nancy). However, something tells me that we'll see the Talon return in some shape or form.

5. Selena Kyle's Cat-Like Traits

Just like Bruce Wayne is given Batman-like traits throughout the seasons, we get to see Selena Kyle being shown off in a more Catwoman-like manner as she successfully tightrope walks across a laser grid.

6. Bruce Familiarizes Himself With Gadgets

It's awesome seeing Bruce being surrounded in gadgetry as it opens up the door to a future of possible crafting of his own.

7. Selena Kyle's Mother?

The reveal comes flying out of nowhere, so I'm curious to see why Selena Kyle's mother would show up now and at such a convenient time.

8. The Mad Hatter's Hat

I found it funny that even in Arkham, Jervis finds a way to keep his image going despite his current situation.

9. A Cracked Ed

With Isabella's death hanging over like a storm cloud, we get to see a more blood thirsty side of Ed. When Barbara walks in to greet him, Ed quickly grabs a pen in an attempt to stab her. We also him daydream about publicly killing Oswald with a knife which is revealed to have actually been concealed in his pocket.

10. Victor Zsasz