Gotham’s essentially been two shows since its debut. The first’s been about one cop trying to make a difference and the second about the rich little orphan boy he made a promise to. In the time since Harvey Dent, a new kind of Gotham’s emerged – one about the budding friendship between our very own Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. It’s Lovecraft that brings out the best in its two crazy kids if not flirting with some of the worst in its adults.
An attack on Wayne Manor unwittingly puts Bruce and Selina on the run from a string of assassins in the most unlikely of team-ups spanning Gotham City’s underbelly. David Mazouz and Camren Bicondova again prove mutually adorable together, infrequently stilted dialogue or not. While Bruce’s “nice way” brings out the humanity in the two of them, Selina brings the spunk, and it’s hard not to think of the two as inseparable decades before either of them pick up a mask.
Their tour of Gotham’s seedy side additionally reaps the rewards of some great action and tension to boot, a dramatic rooftop race not withstanding. Though it is a wonder how both of them hesitate to fight back when prompted to by a variety of Gotham’s crooks – particularly when we’ve seen them respectively claw and beat folks to a pulp in episodes past. There’s yet to be an instance where Bruce has had to hold his breath or poke hot candles, but Selina’s use of that fancy footwork of hers is something of an appreciated gratuity.
It was Lesley-Ann Brandt’s Arkham Origins-ish Copperhead that intertwined our misadventures Gotham with Jim Gordon’s casework for the week and doubly disappointed. The cool-headed assassin hired to silence the city’s two Wayne murder witnesses – our very won Selina and eponymous Dick Lovecraft – failed to leave any lasting impressions but did leave more than a mark on Gordon in the process, albeit it conveniently non-lethally. A hollow contrast to Anthony Carrigan’s delightfully creepy Zsasz, there’s little more to this Copperhead than her “copper” tinted-skin, far more garden snake here than cobra.
As would be his prerogative, Alfred came to the rescue of our crazy kids and it was rather enjoyable seeing our favorite butler get his due amount of the action. I don’t know how I feel about the ease with which Alfred shot down Copperhead’s henchmen, but there’s a lot of irony to be had if Gotham’s Batman is indeed against gun violence. Some more interesting gestures of his included seeing his tactics of bribery and subtle British charm essentially Jedi Mind tricking Fish Mooney into lending a helpful hand with one smooth sentence. Too cool, Alfred.
Winks and nods may have been at their lowest this week with Pamela Isley’s – *ahem* Ivy Pepper’s appearance during Bruce and Selina’s stop at an underground street kid bazar. Her family updates were more morbid than “scary” if not only grossly unnecessary for foreshadowing a villainess we might never see at this rate. I do commend the producers restraining themselves from having Ivy hold some sort of houseplant to hold and or caress at the minimum.
Meanwhile, a dead witness and a botched case finally pulled Gordon and Bullock’s partnership apart and the mayor putting Gordon on reassignment to Arkham Asylum. The perpetual fall guy regardless of the situation, it’s unclear when Gordon can and cannot be blamed for screw-ups. He may have spent half this season suspected of a murder he didn’t commit, but only now is he punished with *gasp* a new job. Because mayors can do that apparently. They can just tell you you’re a janitor or a plumber. Because what does the GCPD have to do with Arkham security? At the very least, it does put Gordon – and Gotham – even closer to the Batman show that’s long overdue.
Our Penguin versus the mob plot feels more distant than ever. John Doman’s Falcone has never been intimidating and his blood-soaked dinner with him and Fish felt cheap for a show capable of more creative violence. And the longer that Penguin surveils Liza amidst her plans against Falcone the more surprised I become that Falcone doesn’t suspect Liza himself, given how he on the ball he seems. Much more that she’s the most blatantly suspicious person in his ranks.
Whether LoveCraft reconciles Gotham’s tale of two shows is something only time and the halls of Arkham will tell. We may be able to assume Gotham will ever drop Alfred and Bruce’s storyline, even when it doesn’t feel needed, but if they did ever plan to give them a several episode break, Lovecraft felt like a nice place to leave them. What Gotham does well it does in the present, but it’s more difficult watching Gotham make all the right promises it can’t keep.
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Gotham airs Monday nights at 8/7 Central on Fox. The show returns in January for its midseason premiere. In the meantime, catch all the latest episodes at Fox.com and all the latest reviews right here at BagoGames.