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Was a I disappointed? Yes. Was I entertained? Also, yes.
LOWS
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None.
MEDIUMS
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1. Evil(?) Lee
Lee was uncharacteristically unreasonable this episode, but only for a while. And I kinda liked it.
She's got close ties to the mafia now and she's bitter and vengeful. Understandably so. And that sounds like a promising villain origin story. But, no. It just took her a bit longer to come around than I had expected. Or maybe I just expected her to get her frustration and pain out in a more low key way.
Either way, we never really found out if she was infected or...*gasp*. That's why she was so angry this episode! She's infected with the Tetch virus because Mario's blood got on her!
...Could be. That virus keeps sneaking up on us. Who knows?
2. Penguin and Nygma's Plot
How did Penguin lower the crime rate? I actually want to know.
He's the crime lord of Gotham in addition to the mayor. Did he shut down his shadier businesses? I'd think he'd want to increase them too. I mean, I'm not at all unhappy to hear that he's apparently downsized them. That's great...but how?
Anyway, I kinda liked that bright-eyed, bushy-tailed assistant that kept stopping Penguin on his way into the office. I dunno. I just feel like she has potential. I'd like to see more of her.
Also Olga? I'd like to see more of her too. And Gabe too. Where does Gabe always disappear to?
See, Penguin has, like, no friends these days. (I don't think even Gordon counts at this point.) And that only made Nygma less likable this episode, since he has all the allies right now (Barbara, Tabatha, Butch, Clayface). So it's five against one. Just feels like they're ganging up on him super hard, you know?
But the thing I really disliked this episode was the "ghost." More specifically, it's the fact that the ghost turned out to be a "ghost." I wanted it to be a real ghost.
First of all, I love ghost stories. Secondly, I thought we were finally getting the pay off for that little throwaway Penguin line, "I've seen [ghosts]."
When your character says something like that, you have to follow up. You have to either 1)tell the audience the instance in which Penguin saw ghosts or 2)establish that it's not that uncommon for Penguin to see ghosts. And if it's not that uncommon, show it happening.
This would have been the perfect time for it to happen. It would be awesome if Elijah actually came back to warn Penguin about Nygma.
Unfortunately, Penguin's one ally turned out to be just another one of Nygma's allies.
3. Selina and her mom
Selina forgave her mom a bit too quickly. Most things in this episode happened a bit too quickly, but that's a staple of these Gotham setup episodes. I guess I didn't mind much this time because, for one thing, I want the whole Penguin/Nygma war to get over with as quickly as possible.
Now there's the question of whether Selina's mom is pulling a con, trying to get money out of Selina and Bruce. I don't know the answer. It genuinely could go either way. That's one great thing about Gotham: it can really keep you guessing, right up until the end. Even in this episode, I wasn't sure until the end if the "ghost" was part of a plot by Nygma.
One the one hand, we know that Penguin has and possibly does see ghosts, and we didn't know how Nygma could create a "ghost" of Elijah. On the other hand, we knew that Nygma's only mission in life is to make Penguin despised and, clearly, making him crazy on live television would be one way to do it.
Anyway, it's the same with Selina's mom now. On the one hand, if that guy is her partner, he probably would have just settled for the money instead of going to see Bruce. Plus, Maria risked her life to save Selina from Talon, so if she's willing to die for Selina, would Maria steal from Selina? On the other hand, Selina's mom is clearly super shifty and it's unlikely that her relationship with Selina will end happily.
4. Jim
I liked the fight/confrontation scenes with Zsasz because, well, I like Zsasz. And also because I dunno about you but I felt a real sense of danger when Zsasz threatened Jim. It didn't last long, though.
I guess it makes sense that Falcone called it off because Lee asked him to. However, it also would have made sense if he refused to call it off, and I would have preferred a multiple-episode arc with Zsasz as the main adversary. That would have been more exciting.
But I guess they have to move on to the Jerome storyline.
5. The Jerome Storyline
What is going on? Didn't we see Jerome alive at the end of Season 2? Is he dead again? Just asleep maybe? Or did Strange not reanimate Jerome? If that's the case, I feel like the Gotham writers have some real explaining to do.
It's looking like a morgue night manager named Dwight is about to achieve what Strange only achieved by accident: legit resurrection, with memory and personality firmly intact.
First of all, Strange is a genius and an established character in the Batman universe, and he had extensive equipment, staff, facilities, funding, and backing from the Court of Owls/Wayne Corporation. This guy, Dwight, has what? A dirty warehouse and "Indian Hill lackey" on his resume?
WTF?
Secondly, I thought Jeri was the leader of these Jerome fanatics. She certainly had a lot more charisma than this guy. What happened to her? I want her back.
Thirdly, during that convention of crazies watching Jerome's police station footage, I was struck with the feeling that Gotham was showing us a depiction of Jerome's real life fans.
Gotham has always been its most meta when it came to Jerome, which is fitting since Jerome has crossed over into the real world more than any other part of Gotham.
Take, for example, when Theo and Barbara discussed Jerome's death and Theo stated that Jerome was an interesting character but had limited potential, and Barbara disagreed. I could almost picture the writers of the show having that same conversation while deciding whether to kill Jerome off.
More prominently, however, Jerome has hardcore fans both within the show and within the real world.
Watching the Jerome fans watching Jerome this episode, I was suddenly like, "Is that what his real fans are like? Boy am I glad I'm not one of them." But the thing is, if I feel good that I'm not one of his fans, are his fans feeling bad that Gotham is parodying them?
Now to be honest, I loved Cameron's performance as Jerome. I thought it was nuanced and captivating and Jerome himself did have potential. I thought it would be fascinating to really delve into his feelings about his parents.
And I loved the whole idea that "nothing's more contagious than laughter." I thought it was brilliant how Jerome's virus piggy-packed on laughter. I loved the warning Gotham relayed about how laughter can infect us and how our legacies, good or bad, can live on even if the world's memory of us dies.
I thought all of that was very real world...maybe a little too real world, hmm? I mean, if Jerome's real life fans are anything like the fanatics in this episode.
So, if the writers are seeing this kind of behavior in Jerome's real life fans, I can understand why they might want to parody it within the show. I think it's kinda brilliant. I think it might open some people's eyes.
On the other hand, I'm not sure it's helpful to the show's ratings. I'm not sure it won't offend a bunch of fans. I just don't know.
But it certainly gave me something to think about. How much has Jerome's legacy bled into real life?
(On a side note, I didn't like that Jim and Harvey broke up the party when, as yet, nothing illegal had taken place. That was also a little too real life...)
Lee was uncharacteristically unreasonable this episode, but only for a while. And I kinda liked it.
She's got close ties to the mafia now and she's bitter and vengeful. Understandably so. And that sounds like a promising villain origin story. But, no. It just took her a bit longer to come around than I had expected. Or maybe I just expected her to get her frustration and pain out in a more low key way.
Either way, we never really found out if she was infected or...*gasp*. That's why she was so angry this episode! She's infected with the Tetch virus because Mario's blood got on her!
...Could be. That virus keeps sneaking up on us. Who knows?
2. Penguin and Nygma's Plot
How did Penguin lower the crime rate? I actually want to know.
He's the crime lord of Gotham in addition to the mayor. Did he shut down his shadier businesses? I'd think he'd want to increase them too. I mean, I'm not at all unhappy to hear that he's apparently downsized them. That's great...but how?
Anyway, I kinda liked that bright-eyed, bushy-tailed assistant that kept stopping Penguin on his way into the office. I dunno. I just feel like she has potential. I'd like to see more of her.
Also Olga? I'd like to see more of her too. And Gabe too. Where does Gabe always disappear to?
See, Penguin has, like, no friends these days. (I don't think even Gordon counts at this point.) And that only made Nygma less likable this episode, since he has all the allies right now (Barbara, Tabatha, Butch, Clayface). So it's five against one. Just feels like they're ganging up on him super hard, you know?
But the thing I really disliked this episode was the "ghost." More specifically, it's the fact that the ghost turned out to be a "ghost." I wanted it to be a real ghost.
First of all, I love ghost stories. Secondly, I thought we were finally getting the pay off for that little throwaway Penguin line, "I've seen [ghosts]."
When your character says something like that, you have to follow up. You have to either 1)tell the audience the instance in which Penguin saw ghosts or 2)establish that it's not that uncommon for Penguin to see ghosts. And if it's not that uncommon, show it happening.
This would have been the perfect time for it to happen. It would be awesome if Elijah actually came back to warn Penguin about Nygma.
Unfortunately, Penguin's one ally turned out to be just another one of Nygma's allies.
3. Selina and her mom
Selina forgave her mom a bit too quickly. Most things in this episode happened a bit too quickly, but that's a staple of these Gotham setup episodes. I guess I didn't mind much this time because, for one thing, I want the whole Penguin/Nygma war to get over with as quickly as possible.
Now there's the question of whether Selina's mom is pulling a con, trying to get money out of Selina and Bruce. I don't know the answer. It genuinely could go either way. That's one great thing about Gotham: it can really keep you guessing, right up until the end. Even in this episode, I wasn't sure until the end if the "ghost" was part of a plot by Nygma.
One the one hand, we know that Penguin has and possibly does see ghosts, and we didn't know how Nygma could create a "ghost" of Elijah. On the other hand, we knew that Nygma's only mission in life is to make Penguin despised and, clearly, making him crazy on live television would be one way to do it.
Anyway, it's the same with Selina's mom now. On the one hand, if that guy is her partner, he probably would have just settled for the money instead of going to see Bruce. Plus, Maria risked her life to save Selina from Talon, so if she's willing to die for Selina, would Maria steal from Selina? On the other hand, Selina's mom is clearly super shifty and it's unlikely that her relationship with Selina will end happily.
4. Jim
I liked the fight/confrontation scenes with Zsasz because, well, I like Zsasz. And also because I dunno about you but I felt a real sense of danger when Zsasz threatened Jim. It didn't last long, though.
I guess it makes sense that Falcone called it off because Lee asked him to. However, it also would have made sense if he refused to call it off, and I would have preferred a multiple-episode arc with Zsasz as the main adversary. That would have been more exciting.
But I guess they have to move on to the Jerome storyline.
5. The Jerome Storyline
What is going on? Didn't we see Jerome alive at the end of Season 2? Is he dead again? Just asleep maybe? Or did Strange not reanimate Jerome? If that's the case, I feel like the Gotham writers have some real explaining to do.
It's looking like a morgue night manager named Dwight is about to achieve what Strange only achieved by accident: legit resurrection, with memory and personality firmly intact.
First of all, Strange is a genius and an established character in the Batman universe, and he had extensive equipment, staff, facilities, funding, and backing from the Court of Owls/Wayne Corporation. This guy, Dwight, has what? A dirty warehouse and "Indian Hill lackey" on his resume?
WTF?
Secondly, I thought Jeri was the leader of these Jerome fanatics. She certainly had a lot more charisma than this guy. What happened to her? I want her back.
Thirdly, during that convention of crazies watching Jerome's police station footage, I was struck with the feeling that Gotham was showing us a depiction of Jerome's real life fans.
Gotham has always been its most meta when it came to Jerome, which is fitting since Jerome has crossed over into the real world more than any other part of Gotham.
Take, for example, when Theo and Barbara discussed Jerome's death and Theo stated that Jerome was an interesting character but had limited potential, and Barbara disagreed. I could almost picture the writers of the show having that same conversation while deciding whether to kill Jerome off.
More prominently, however, Jerome has hardcore fans both within the show and within the real world.
Watching the Jerome fans watching Jerome this episode, I was suddenly like, "Is that what his real fans are like? Boy am I glad I'm not one of them." But the thing is, if I feel good that I'm not one of his fans, are his fans feeling bad that Gotham is parodying them?
Now to be honest, I loved Cameron's performance as Jerome. I thought it was nuanced and captivating and Jerome himself did have potential. I thought it would be fascinating to really delve into his feelings about his parents.
And I loved the whole idea that "nothing's more contagious than laughter." I thought it was brilliant how Jerome's virus piggy-packed on laughter. I loved the warning Gotham relayed about how laughter can infect us and how our legacies, good or bad, can live on even if the world's memory of us dies.
I thought all of that was very real world...maybe a little too real world, hmm? I mean, if Jerome's real life fans are anything like the fanatics in this episode.
So, if the writers are seeing this kind of behavior in Jerome's real life fans, I can understand why they might want to parody it within the show. I think it's kinda brilliant. I think it might open some people's eyes.
On the other hand, I'm not sure it's helpful to the show's ratings. I'm not sure it won't offend a bunch of fans. I just don't know.
But it certainly gave me something to think about. How much has Jerome's legacy bled into real life?
(On a side note, I didn't like that Jim and Harvey broke up the party when, as yet, nothing illegal had taken place. That was also a little too real life...)
HIGHS
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1. Barnes
I love Barnes. I just love him. I love him so much. More Barnes, please. He doesn't even have to do anything. I'll be content just to listen to his beautiful rants again and again.
RATINGS
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Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 5/10
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