Love can make you do some crazy things – especially if you’re on Gotham. The show’s become an odd gold mine of evil weirdos you love to hate and for better or worse, Gotham‘s always been at its best when it’s been at its kookiest. That’s the only justification I can give for how unusually entertaining Under the Knife was this week for all the wrong reasons; or maybe all the right ones by Gotham‘s logic. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they sure are a turn-on for that cop’s wife on your arm if you’re a deranged serial killer. I’m just calling them as Barbara Gordon sees it, folks.
Spoilers Follow
It’s hard to think of Barbara’s season-long stint as a disheveled drunk rooming with two homeless kids as character-building. It’s been equally tiring watching her become a thorn in the side of her own story-arc, whatever it’s been about. That she should be swapping saliva with the Ogre is, sadly, as logical as Barbara’s limbo-low standards allow and serves as something of an outlet for her exuberantly dramatic dialogue. If exploiting Barb’s bizarre state of mind means taking her somewhere more interesting than playing dress-up with a fourteen-year-old, by all means Gotham, go right ahead. I mean, if she insists on dressing and talking like Cruella De Vil.
There’s a lot of things I’ve expected from the Ogre storyline and him kidnapping Leslie was certainly one of them, as far as Gotham’s damsels in distress go. Nevertheless, I’ll give Gotham its due credit for the first bit of reverse-psychology it’s employed and not go for the 100 percent obvious choice, i.e. killing the character living on the villain’s own street. Bringing Barbara into the equation as the Ogre’s victim-turned-partner was a rather neat avenue if women being either victims or psychos is the ultimatum that Gotham insists on making. In the goose chase of Joker stand-ins the show’s led us on, I’m more certain than ever that Barbara might very well be our Harley Quinn. She’s blond, she’s needy, and I’m beginning to think she’s just nuts enough to show up in red-and-black tights by season two.
As far as the episode concerned itself with the guys, there’s a lot less here to say than I’d have liked. Gotham may be a lot of things, but a procedural crime-drama it isn’t. While Under the Knife finally told us just why the Ogre’s placid stares are exactly that placid, there’s not much more than Milo Ventimiglia’s Jason Lennon than some lonely Dexter wannabe. It’s all the more convenient that Ed Nygma’s dark side finally surfaced courtesy of another of the GCPD’s most jerky. Yes, it seems that Gotham‘s women can never just date the nice guy, including Kristy Kringle. Seeing the bruised arm of his office crush and her creepy, badge-wearing boyfriend, of course, inspires Ed to shove something sharp up her abuser’s privates in only the most stupidly dramatic cues you can imagine. Riddle(r) Man is born!
It’s all the stranger that it’s this brand of crazy that Gotham should shift tones in. Jim and Harvey keep calling the Ogre a “serial killer,” yet we’ve hardly heard a mention of the Ogre’s victims, much less of their means of disposal. Meanwhile, Gotham decides to dump a fully-furnished sex dungeon on us even as one of those “they kiss and then then we fade out” primetime network series. We may not know if Barbara will wind up becoming the Ogre’s one, true, mad lover or just a kinky phase of his, but either way, it’s an interesting dynamic for a 8/7 Central show on a Monday night.
It’s on those notes that Under the Knife decides it’s also going to be about its kids – two kids just coming off of covering up a murder. I’ll admit that Bruce and Selina’s scenes together always bring a goofy grin to my face for all the silly feels that David Masouz and Cameron Bicondova lend to the characters and seeing their crashing Wayne Enterprises’ ball also become their first “date” was rather amusing. Like I’ve argued before, their presence always feels like a different show, a better show even for what it is, but it still feels like it has yet to converge with the adults’ storyline in any meaningful way. Oh, and no one saw Selina pickpocket the same guy twice on a dance floor?
And remember when Gotham used to be about the Penguin too? It feels like high time that Under the Knife finally bring us right back to the feud between Don Maroni and Penguin – you know, the one that Penguin’s been lopping off fingers prepping for. It’s seemed like the Penguin could’ve knocked out Maroni episodes ago given the firepower he’s so good at hiring and there’s always Falcone as a threat for him to worry about, if not a returning Fish on a microlevel. Alternately, a heated dinner discussion was all it took for Maroni to throw a potential wedge between Penguin and his own mom (curse you, Maroni!) as she learned (or relearned) the truth about her blatantly bloodthirsty son’s killer hobbies. I adore Carol Kane’s kooky Mama Cobblepot, but it’s getting old watching Penguin take out his angst stabbing people.
A very weird and admirably atypical Gotham entry, Under the Knife gives Gotham the facelift it needed, if not the one it actually deserved – or maybe it’s exactly what it’s deserves. In the march to the show’s penultimate episode, I’m still not sure what show Gotham’s trying to be. If it’s fated to be a variety show of assumed serial killers, junior proms, and murderous lab geeks, then I guess I’ll call myself satisfied if PG sex dungeons are part of the Gotham’s shockingly looney-toon equation.
Gotham airs Monday nights on FOX at 8/9 Central. Catch all the latest episodes at FOX.com and all the latest reviews hear at BagoGames.