ON TV: Gotham S2 Episodes 3 & 4 Review FEATURED MOVIES/TV TV/NETFLIX by Brian Toglia - October 15, 2015 Article by: Brian Toglia Note: This week marks the first of my double episode reviews. I will try to keep them separate but I reserve the right to do some crossover commenting! S2 E3 The Last Laugh Kill ’em with a smile! Ep. 3 starts out with a bang, or should I say a crash? Jim and Harvey a doing some “subtle” interrogation pertaining to the Arkham breakout by throwing perps through windows from the second floor of an abandoned building. So yea, Jim and Harvey are kinda mad about the killing spree the Maniax went on last episode. Shortly after the interrogation we catch up with a very Heath Ledger sounding Jerome in his father’s apartment. No love loss there. Their exchange is quick with dear ol’ dad saying Jerome’s legacy will be “death and madness” while putting a curse (carnies with their curses, ya know) on his estranged son. Gordo and His Happy Bartenderness (couldn’t help myself) bust in, after getting info from the airborne thugs, just in time to see a knife intersecting will daddy’s brain via the eye socket. This ain’t your daddy’s Gotham City! Selena helps Bruce find an escape route, but he won’t leave Alfred behind. (This episode kind of stalls in the middle so I’ll move to the most interesting part.) We pick up the story at the Gala for the Children’s Hospital. Yes, they are having a gala during one of the worst violent crime streaks in Gotham history. In attendance are Bruce, Alfred, Galavan and Lee. Some minor character interaction ensues, including Alfred hitting on Jim’s girlfriend, Lee, and Bruce talking to Ms. Kyle (she is back with a bit more prominent role). It seems there is a Magician performing at the gala, and its none other than Joker Jerome and his lovely assistant Harley Barbara (looking a whole lot like you know who). Magic is performed, jokes are told and guns are fired. Long story short, Galavan plays the hero and stands up to Jerome and promptly gets knocked out by Har… I mean Barbara weilding a hammer (complete with a familiar sounding Bo-ring)! All part of Theo’s plan. What wasn’t part of the plan, as far as Jerome knew, was Theo getting up and plunging a knife into the Maniax leaders throught. Jerome falls to the ground, heartbroken and betrayed by this person he saw as a father figure, and dies with a cracked smile and blood (over his lips running to his cheeks, you can see it right!?). I guess Jerome isn’t the Joker. Maybe he is the inspiration to the eventual Joker, but that kind of takes the starch out of the character if he were to be a copycat of Jerome. Hard to see the play here. Maybe in this version of the Bat-verse, Joker is more of an idea then an actual person. If we learned anything from Christopher Nolan, it’s that “idea’s” are more powerful than any man. Theo goes off script and takes down Jerome. We finish the episode with Jim and Harvey paying a quick visit to Penguin and then a quick montage of people going crazy in the city stabbing other people while laughing maniacally. Is this an actual curse on the city or just psycho’s copying Jerome? We shall see! Jim and Harvey “Subtle Interrogation” Jim intentionally left alive Jerome sounds like Heath Ledger Legacy will be death and madness Oh man, knife in the eye! Catwoman makes a comeback. Alfred hitting on Lee Gala for Children’s Hospital Barb in a pink Harley outfit,sorta Harley’s hammer! Joker gets killed by Theo? Blood on face reminds of joker Penguin calls Jerome pure chaos Harvey comes in and yells at penguin People start killing other people for fun… laugh like joker while doing it. Joker virus or curse. Been done in another medium before Ep. 3 see’s the likely end of the Maniax story arc and kills off its best character so far. Still ultra-violent for an 8 pm Monday night show. Hope they keep it up! 3.75 / 5 Stars Pros Jim and Harvey are back together Great violence Catwoman a little more prominent Balls to kill Jerome this early… Cons …Jerome is dead! What now? Gala during major crime spree S2 E4 Strike Force The Fix is in! This episodes starts with an irate Penguin. He wants to know who is messing up his little crime Eden with all of this “pure chaos”. He finds out soon enough with Theo’s sister showing up with an invite to a one on one with the Hero of Gotham. A lot of this episode deals with Galavan’s posturing to become mayor of Gotham. At first Penguin resists Theo’s offer to help him with his plan. It seems he learned a thing or two from Falcone in the first season about needing order in Gotham to conduct a crime family properly. After a little finessing (kidnapping Penguin’s mom), Mr. Cobblepot agree with the mayoral candidate. There are two other people running for mayor that Galavan needs Penguin to “take care” of. He also wants a “missed attempt” on himself to be made, which turns out to be the “Cheese of the Week” moment. A failed drive by while Theo is giving a speech. He picks himself off the ground and continues his speech, as if nothing happened. In fact, he uses it to announce his mayoral run! Wow, that’s some seriously bad writing! Theo Galvan announces that he will, in fact, be running for mayor. Back at GCPD, the now shorthanded squad gets to meet their new boss. Enter Captain Barnes (Michael Chiklis), who gives a rousing speech and proceeds to fire any cop with a sketchy past. Things are a changin, it’s the straight and narrow at GCPD from here on out. Barnes quickly makes Gordon his number two and decides to recruit some uncorrupted cadets from the academy to make a Gotham Strike Force. It’s all a bit heavy handed but pretty much what you would expect after the recent assault on the precinct. The Strike Force team is not to tolerate ANY crime. To round out the episode, we see Bruce at his new school in one scene then meeting with Galavan to thank him for saving his life at the gala in another. Also, we had Alfred slap Selina for killing his friend last season and a new love interest for Master Bruce being introduced (Galavan’s ward). Edward Nygma finally gets a date with Ms. Kringle and Gordon confronts Penguin about his involvement in killing a mayoral candidate. Penguin trying to figure out arkham break Michael Chiklis is Capt. Barnes Gordon second in command Penguins mother kidnapped by Galavan Gordon building an elite police squad aka GCPD Strike Force Lol. Drive by attempt and Galavan keeps up his speech Penguin kills one mayoral candidate but misses the second one Bruce meets Galavan Silver St. Cloud Galavan’s ward Obvious setup to control Bruce Wayne Love Victor Zsasz Nygma finally gets a date with Kringel thanks to his alter ego Gordon confronts Penguin Strike Force going after Penguin Episode 4 was relatively calm compared to the first 3. We did have some good moments that should lead to future drama/violence. It’s going to be interesting to see who Theo Galavan really is in the coming season. There are theories but I won’t write them here… 3 / 5 Stars Pros Good use of Penguin Alfred slapped Selina! Michael Chiklis is the new boss Nygma gets a date Cons Awful drive-by scene Galavan’s ward is obvious Stay tuned here for more Gotham reviews in the coming weeks.
