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Jerome's return, Lee's fabulous fierceness, and the difference between Oswald and Edward.
LOWS
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None.
MEDIUMS
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1. Jerome
So, I guess Jerome didn't come back to life at the end of Season 2. I mean, fine, whatever. We only heard and saw him in the horde of monsters coming out of the bus.
It baffles me to no end that the writers on Gotham are so inconsistent in...well, consistency. I mean, just two episodes ago, we saw the culmination of an extremely well-executed twist -- Mad Hatter infecting Mario with the Tetch virus. I mean, all the seeds were sewn for that, right from S3E3 and on. Because the groundwork was laid so well, it was one of the best twists I've seen on TV.
Clearly, the Gotham writers are capable of meticulously planning a half season, and yet it was only a half season that separated Jerome's appearance at the end of Season 2 from this 3-episode arc. (Well, I guess, this 3-episode arc is actually part of Season 3a. Go figure.)
I just don't get it.
But, ok. I honestly don't care THAT much. I do think it would have made a lot more sense if Strange had been the one to bring Jerome back, but from what I'm seeing online, most fans liked the way Jerome officially did come back.
In my (very subjective) opinion, Jerome has only one real purpose, and that is to keep fans happy and boost ratings. I never clamored for his return. I'm still pretty much indifferent after this episode.
I personally wouldn't mind if he died again, but I'm hoping he doesn't die because I know he's the only reason a lot of fans watch Gotham, and the only reason Gotham keeps airing is because a lot of fans watch it, and I want Gotham to keep airing.
As for Cameron Monaghan's performance, it was good. He did a great job of getting emotions across with just his voice and body language. However, I do think his performance would have benefited from more actual face time. Sometimes, I thought his vocal performance was just little too close to Heath Ledger's Joker and I lost sight of what makes Jerome unique.
In Season 2, for instance, he had this great scene where he stared Commissioner Essen down while machine guns went off in the background, and Jerome's eyes did this really fantastic blinking thing...You know what I'm talking about, right? It was great. I'd like to see more of that kind of acting from him.
Also, I didn't love the way he interacted with Lee. It seemed a little too adult and a little too menacing and creepy. Has he always been that menacing and creepy? I guess so, now that I think about it. He was pretty creepy hitting on Essen and Barbara.
On that note, he clearly has a thing for older women. That fact, by the way, opens up the potential for Harley Quinn to be an older woman, as she would be if she was a therapist working at Arkham.
I honestly find age gap relationships to be completely fascinating, and if the younger person in the relationship turned out to be the abusive one...well, that adds a whole new dark twist on it. (I'm not saying age gap relationships are necessarily dark and twisted. I know they're not, and healthy age gap romances are the hottest ones, IMHO. Just, too easily, age gap relationships can be abusive.)
It feels weird to say all that because I know Jerome is only supposed to be around 18/19 years old. However, he clearly doesn't see himself as young because, as I said, he had a very age inappropriate interaction with Lee. And that bugged me because another thing that makes Jerome different from other Jokers is that Jerome is young.
I remember his Season 2 conversations sounding a bit young and awkward, even when he was hitting on Barbara. Now, if he's going to act like he's 40 anyway, what's the point of him being 18/19? (I kind of have the same problem with Bruce, though, so I guess if either Batman or Joker is going to act like his grown up self, they both should.)
That ending, though. That was terrifying. I recently had a power outage in my apartment and, remembering an episode of Monk where a killer created power outages in order to sneak up on people, I grabbed a shovel and kept it close at hand until the power came back on...That was in the safety of my own home in a super safe neighborhood. Just imagine how scared the citizens of Gotham must be, with the crazy cult members who were making trouble before the lights even went out and before they even saw Jerome.
2. Dwight/The Cult
I see now why they didn't want Jeri to be the cult leader for this 3-episode arc. Dwight is not supposed to be charismatic. He's supposed to be a little bit disposable, because he dies.
More importantly, however, I still have some problems with the fact that he was able to bring people back to life. This episode solved some of my problems with it because it highlighted the fact that Dwight had a large and diverse cult following to help him with funding and staffing and avoiding detection by the police.
On the other hand, I had a reason I was ok with Gotham characters coming back to life in Season 2, and that reason was that it looked like it would be extremely difficult to bring people back to life because you'd need expensive equipment and a mind as brilliant as Strange's.
Well, now it seems that anyone who worked at Indian Hill can cobble together the right equipment and figure it out.
Basically, then, death means nothing now, and I hate that.
3. Selina, Maria, Bruce
So, Selina's mom did turn out to be a con artist. And Selina was right to be mad at her and at Bruce. I would like a better understanding of what was going on in Bruce's mind when he decided to lie to Selina. Obviously, a lie is just as damaging to a person's trust whether it's done for monetary purposes or not. The reasons behind it make no real difference. Is it just me or is Batman really random? He draws these arbitrary lines at killing people and at lying if it's for the purpose of getting money.
So, I guess Jerome didn't come back to life at the end of Season 2. I mean, fine, whatever. We only heard and saw him in the horde of monsters coming out of the bus.
It baffles me to no end that the writers on Gotham are so inconsistent in...well, consistency. I mean, just two episodes ago, we saw the culmination of an extremely well-executed twist -- Mad Hatter infecting Mario with the Tetch virus. I mean, all the seeds were sewn for that, right from S3E3 and on. Because the groundwork was laid so well, it was one of the best twists I've seen on TV.
Clearly, the Gotham writers are capable of meticulously planning a half season, and yet it was only a half season that separated Jerome's appearance at the end of Season 2 from this 3-episode arc. (Well, I guess, this 3-episode arc is actually part of Season 3a. Go figure.)
I just don't get it.
But, ok. I honestly don't care THAT much. I do think it would have made a lot more sense if Strange had been the one to bring Jerome back, but from what I'm seeing online, most fans liked the way Jerome officially did come back.
In my (very subjective) opinion, Jerome has only one real purpose, and that is to keep fans happy and boost ratings. I never clamored for his return. I'm still pretty much indifferent after this episode.
I personally wouldn't mind if he died again, but I'm hoping he doesn't die because I know he's the only reason a lot of fans watch Gotham, and the only reason Gotham keeps airing is because a lot of fans watch it, and I want Gotham to keep airing.
As for Cameron Monaghan's performance, it was good. He did a great job of getting emotions across with just his voice and body language. However, I do think his performance would have benefited from more actual face time. Sometimes, I thought his vocal performance was just little too close to Heath Ledger's Joker and I lost sight of what makes Jerome unique.
In Season 2, for instance, he had this great scene where he stared Commissioner Essen down while machine guns went off in the background, and Jerome's eyes did this really fantastic blinking thing...You know what I'm talking about, right? It was great. I'd like to see more of that kind of acting from him.
Also, I didn't love the way he interacted with Lee. It seemed a little too adult and a little too menacing and creepy. Has he always been that menacing and creepy? I guess so, now that I think about it. He was pretty creepy hitting on Essen and Barbara.
On that note, he clearly has a thing for older women. That fact, by the way, opens up the potential for Harley Quinn to be an older woman, as she would be if she was a therapist working at Arkham.
I honestly find age gap relationships to be completely fascinating, and if the younger person in the relationship turned out to be the abusive one...well, that adds a whole new dark twist on it. (I'm not saying age gap relationships are necessarily dark and twisted. I know they're not, and healthy age gap romances are the hottest ones, IMHO. Just, too easily, age gap relationships can be abusive.)
It feels weird to say all that because I know Jerome is only supposed to be around 18/19 years old. However, he clearly doesn't see himself as young because, as I said, he had a very age inappropriate interaction with Lee. And that bugged me because another thing that makes Jerome different from other Jokers is that Jerome is young.
I remember his Season 2 conversations sounding a bit young and awkward, even when he was hitting on Barbara. Now, if he's going to act like he's 40 anyway, what's the point of him being 18/19? (I kind of have the same problem with Bruce, though, so I guess if either Batman or Joker is going to act like his grown up self, they both should.)
That ending, though. That was terrifying. I recently had a power outage in my apartment and, remembering an episode of Monk where a killer created power outages in order to sneak up on people, I grabbed a shovel and kept it close at hand until the power came back on...That was in the safety of my own home in a super safe neighborhood. Just imagine how scared the citizens of Gotham must be, with the crazy cult members who were making trouble before the lights even went out and before they even saw Jerome.
2. Dwight/The Cult
I see now why they didn't want Jeri to be the cult leader for this 3-episode arc. Dwight is not supposed to be charismatic. He's supposed to be a little bit disposable, because he dies.
More importantly, however, I still have some problems with the fact that he was able to bring people back to life. This episode solved some of my problems with it because it highlighted the fact that Dwight had a large and diverse cult following to help him with funding and staffing and avoiding detection by the police.
On the other hand, I had a reason I was ok with Gotham characters coming back to life in Season 2, and that reason was that it looked like it would be extremely difficult to bring people back to life because you'd need expensive equipment and a mind as brilliant as Strange's.
Well, now it seems that anyone who worked at Indian Hill can cobble together the right equipment and figure it out.
Basically, then, death means nothing now, and I hate that.
3. Selina, Maria, Bruce
So, Selina's mom did turn out to be a con artist. And Selina was right to be mad at her and at Bruce. I would like a better understanding of what was going on in Bruce's mind when he decided to lie to Selina. Obviously, a lie is just as damaging to a person's trust whether it's done for monetary purposes or not. The reasons behind it make no real difference. Is it just me or is Batman really random? He draws these arbitrary lines at killing people and at lying if it's for the purpose of getting money.
HIGHS
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1. Lee
In this episode, Lee continues her aggressive streak, and I continue to dig it. I still think she might have the Tetch virus, but regardless, I love her fierce side. I love how she tried to trick Jerome into shooting himself, and I love that she ain't taking no shit from Gordon. Who is he to suspend her from work? What makes him think he knows what's best for her? Huh? Huh? I love it. :)
I am confused, though, about her threat to tell the commissioner that he and Harvey were beating a suspect. Last I heard, the commissioner was Essen and she died. So who is it now? Did I miss something?
In this episode, Lee continues her aggressive streak, and I continue to dig it. I still think she might have the Tetch virus, but regardless, I love her fierce side. I love how she tried to trick Jerome into shooting himself, and I love that she ain't taking no shit from Gordon. Who is he to suspend her from work? What makes him think he knows what's best for her? Huh? Huh? I love it. :)
I am confused, though, about her threat to tell the commissioner that he and Harvey were beating a suspect. Last I heard, the commissioner was Essen and she died. So who is it now? Did I miss something?
Anyway, until now, Lee was always a pretty vanilla character. I liked her, but I didn't love her. I'm starting to love her now.
2. Gabe
Good old Gabe, trying to warn Oswald. Listen to him, Oswald! (In Oswald's defense, he's going through hell at the moment, reliving his mother's kidnapping with Ed being "kidnapped.")
3. Penguin
Poor Oswald. At the start of this episode, Oswald's down in the dirt, still reeling from seeing his father's "ghost," and all Oswald does is ask for Ed. I bet you at this point Oswald is as dependent on Ed for emotional support as for strategical support.
And the frenzy Oswald went into when Ed was "kidnapped!" It was so like Oswald's reaction to his mother's real kidnapping back in the day that, well...it's given me a whole new perspective.
As tragic as it is and as much as I wish Nygmobblepot hadn't gotten to this point, I see now why Ed wasn't a good match for Penguin; I'm getting hit for the first time with the pain of Penguin's unrequited love; and I care about this "war" storyline now.
I was just waiting for this war to be over with, actually hoping that the writing would be sloppy and Penguin would get over it as soon as it was over.
But now I'm seeing it being done correctly, and though I have serious problems with how Gotham got here and where it's going (in circles), I can't help but want to support this Nygmobblepot War storyline now. Just because it's being done correctly.
It's taken Gotham a while to get back to doing this, but this episode showcases the purported strengths and weaknesses of Nygma and Penguin. Nygma is showing his talent for reading and manipulating people, and Penguin is showing his talent for sensing what's going on in the crime world and he's showing his #1 weakness: love.
This sounds super corny, but the reason I've always loved Penguin is that Penguin is the kind of person who lives and dies by love. This episode made me believe again in that particular characteristic of Penguin. It made me believe Oswald could actually maybe die from the pain of his love for Nygma, once he finds out about Nygma's betrayal.
Yes, Nygma's betrayal. I know he's only doing it because Oswald betrayed him first. (I mean, if you don't count the time Nygma threw Oswald out on the street because Oswald's niceness was freaking Nygma out.) But this episode just solidified what I've always felt.
Oswald deserves this betrayal. I've said it before. Technically, Oswald is so horrible a human being that he deserves every bad thing that's ever happened to him. But technically, Nygma is so horrible a human being that he deserves every bad thing that's ever happened to him, including Isabella's death.
The difference between Oswald and Nygma is the strength of their love for their loved ones.
I mean, yeah, Nygma was hurt when Isabella died, but Nygma will carry on and be fine. In many ways, he already is. Not so with Penguin. Penguin is still hurting from his first great loss: the death of his mother. And Nygma's betrayal will damage Penguin as much as Gertrude's death did.
The difference between Oswald and Nygma is that Oswald genuinely didn't expect Isabella's death to hurt Nygma as much as it did, while Nygma clearly knows that his betrayal will destroy Oswald completely, both emotionally and (Nygma hopes) physically.
This time next year, Penguin will still be hurting from Nygma's betrayal. This time next year, both Penguin and Nygma will still be alive. This time next year, Penguin will be the King of Gotham again, but he'll never kill Nygma because Oswald will never forget the love he had for Nygma, not enough to kill Nygma anyway.
The difference between Oswald and Nygma is that Nygma has murdered/attempted to murder his loved ones and Oswald hasn't.
Nygma killed Kristen. He tried to kill Gordon. He's trying to kill Oswald. These are all people he expressed profound feelings for. But those feelings don't go as far with Nygma as they do with Oswald, who clearly didn't kill his mother or father.
Obviously, there are other differences. For instance, Nygma is more cerebral, and Oswald is more emotional. And that's closely related to everything else I've said I guess. But anyway, there are a million little differences between the two. The difference that makes a difference to me, though, is their capacity for love.
Oswald loves Ed more than Ed could ever love anyone.
And that's why I'm 100% on Oswald's side now, his faults be damned.
I liked this episode because it reminded me why I'm Team Oswald. I love Oswald because it's rare to find a character who cares as much as I do, who takes as long to heal as I do. I appreciate stories that serve the fundamental purpose of helping the audience feel less alone.
I also appreciate the fact that I have no idea how this Nygmobblepot War is going to end. I mean, obviously, both Oswald and Nygma will live. However, as with most narratives, it's not a question of "if" but a matter of "how." How will both Oswald and Nygma get out of this alive? Seems like a "two contenders enter, one contender leaves" situation. Soooo, how will it all work out? My curiosity is definitely piqued.
RATINGS
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Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 7/10
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