"Burn The Witch"
Here are my thoughts on this week's episode of Gotham which was definitely a step up from the previous episode, but contained a few nitpicks and signs for caution worth mentioning:
Pros:
Gotham Is Back...Sort Of
Aside from a couple of overly cheesy Fish Mooney moments (no surprises there), this episode actually came pretty close to giving me back the tone and style that I missed during the middle portion of Season 2. The attention to visual flare that I loved about that season can be seen during the train station sequence at the end and the dark and mysterious atmosphere that I very much enjoyed for the majority of Season 2 does bleed through a little bit here within the different character stories taking place. If this any indication for what's to come, then I have high hopes for this season as far as presentation goes.
Hugo Strange Returns
It's nice to see Hugo Strange again as I personally thought that he was one of the bigger highlights of Season 2 until they eventually downgraded him during the ending portion of the season. However, I'm still eager to see how much they utilize him here and for what purposes. Strange is such a significant piece to the puzzle that is Gotham's paranormal edge at the moment, so it would be a shame to see his character wasted or randomly forced in just for filler scenes.
Fun With Jim & Valerie
It's been only two episodes in and I'm already enjoying the fun back and forth dynamic between Gordon and Valerie as individuals with their own separate agendas that so happen to force them into working together as somewhat partners. Now, I can't say that I'm 100% onboard with the possible idea of inserting yet another love triangle of sorts with Jim and Lee as I feel that we've already had our fair share of that type of story arc previously. I also fear that the writers might force in a soap opera edge to the show where it really isn't needed at the moment considering the much more interesting stories taking place.
As I said before, these are merely just warning signs to me as I am open to the possibility that they can spin something surprisingly entertaining out of this dynamic between the two characters. Hey, maybe it'll give Gordon something else to do instead of just moping around, drinking, and chasing monsters.
An Eye For The Bizarre
One of the biggest things that I was looking forward to seeing this season was the new bizarre and obscure experimental villains taking over Gotham, and although we're not entirely giving a significant amount of super villain scenes here, we do get to see a couple of powers being shown off here. It's the right amount of tease considering how early we are into the season. Perhaps if we hurry along in getting rid of a certain character that I've ranted enough about now, then we might just get to see more of these crazy characters in a more individually magnified space.
The Birth of Poison Ivy
I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I actually found myself geeking out over the whole Ivy rebirth concept, and although the episode didn't live up to the different stylistic approaches that I had in mind for her grand entrance during the beach scene, I did enjoy the way that they presented her as sort of a clueless child-like adult. The scene when she looks down at the trashed plant in disgust and back to that guy who threw it out carelessly was perfectly in line with the character from the comics.
I just hope that the writers get to fully dive into her deep connection with plants during this season more intimately as they've never really taken the time to do so beforehand with her character. Ivy is a character that requires a little bit of a sensitive touch with her character development as there are several ways to adapt her from the source material to the Gotham-verse depending on how "grounded" they'd want to keep her. All I can hope for now is that they take their time in showing her evolve from a young and isolated child towards what we can safely presume to being a seductive and dangerous criminal down the line.
This is too much of a major transition to take likely and there's of course the affect that it will have on her relationship with Selena. There are so many areas to mess up here, but there's also an equal amount of room to present something amazing as far as storytelling goes.
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| I loved the idea of having the leader of the Court nonchalantly remove her mask as a way of implying the unnecessary theatricality of their meeting |
Meeting With The Court
Last but not least is the Court of Owls confrontation scene. Ever since their reveal in Season 2, I've been eager to see how the series would visually present this powerful secret organization, and I must say, after watching this episode, I think the studio did a pretty solid job at invoking the Court's power as well as the alluring mystery behind them in just one dialogue driven scene. Not only do we get to see what I assume to be the leader of the court unmasked, but we get a good sense of the confident power behind her. This is a villain that will truly put Bruce Wayne's ability to adapt to an obstacle to the test, and judging by the share fear on his eyes after his encounter, we may have just seen a mere tease of Gotham's most powerful villain. I simply cannot wait to see more of this story arc taking place during the season.
A Fun Brief Reminder of Bruce Wayne's Age
Although very brief, I absolutely loved the fun and light hearted exchange that Bruce has with Alfred as they joked around what Bruce should do now with his free time. It was a nice reminder of the relationship that these two have together and the comedic awkwardness of what it would be like if they attempt to live a normal life after everything that has happened recently. When Bruce's doppelgänger interrupted their refreshingly hopeful moment, I actually got a little annoyed which, believe it or not, is a good sign that the writers have been doing a magnificent job at making you care about them as people in need of closure despite what we know will eventually take place in the future.
Cons:
Let's Cook This Fish Already!
To avoid the risk of digging through the same well yet again as far as negatives go, I'll just say that Fish Mooney and Barbara was surprisingly just a smidgen more manageable to watch this time around. However, I did find myself yelling at the screen with excitement hoping that Penguin would've shot her during their encounter scene and finally getting the show back to where it should be. You can only imagine my disappointment with the events that took place right after.
Did Gotham Just Waste Two Potentially Great Villains?
Now, as I mentioned before, I was really looking forward to this season due to the fact that Gotham's gallery of villains was starting to expand and lead deeper into the more supernatural corners which we started to get implications of during Season 2. With Fish Mooney's entourage of "monsters", I couldn't wait to see some of these characters having their own highlighted moments of total domination and/or story arcs to re-emphasize just how twisted Indian Hill was much like Firefly, Mr. Freeze, or Karen Jennings. Unfortunately, the two characters that I was most excited to learn about (the coked up looking speedster and the leather bound woman with the breathing mask) ended up getting seemingly killed off here in an anti-climatic fashion before we even got to know anything about them.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing potential being wasted right before your eyes and I honestly felt that frustration strongly during that scene (agin assuming that we did in fact see their bodies getting burned by the angry mob). One of my fears from the season premiere has finally presented itself here regarding potentially great villains of the week getting wiped off of the show in order to make room for something much less appealing (more Fish Mooney and crazy Barbara screen time for example).
Now, that's not to say that I'm not in the least bit interested in the other villains that will appear in the upcoming episodes. However, I am now officially equipping myself with the safeguarded mentality of avoiding excitement for seeing any of these "monsters" in their own character spotlight episodes just as Season 2 offered up. I can only hope that I'm completely wrong with my current perspective.
Overall Thoughts:
Even though I enjoyed this episode overall and would easily consider it as a bit of a step forward from the premiere as far as quality goes, I found myself feeling pretty disappointed by the direction in which the writers are handling their potentially amazing villains so far. I fear the idea that I might possibly be crossing off interesting characters left and right without ever getting to know them or see them in their own highlighted scenes showing off their abilities and design which would be very displeasing to say the least considering the overall current theme of the series.
Bonus Content
Oracle Foreshadowing?
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| I honestly wasn't sure what to think after Barbara randomly told Jim about her dream which basically described a handicap individual and a baby. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only Batman fan who reacted to that scene with a confused expression. Whether this moment was done for the writers to shove in the most upfront easter egg into our faces or we just witnessed one of the most off the wall foreshadowing scenes ever. |
Penguin for Mayor?
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| Watching the Penguin slowly win the hearts of Gotham's residents is pretty interesting considering where his character ends up leading to in some iterations. I'm curious to see just how far this incarnation of the character will go as far as ranking goes as we might just end up seeing voting posters down the line with a certain psychopath on the cover. |
Gotham's Visual Flare
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| As I mentioned in the positives above, this episode of Gotham definitely hints at the show's return to the amazing cinematography presented in the previous season. |
Episode Rating: 8/10
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