Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 22, Transference [SPOILERS]

OVERVIEW
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Exciting, action-packed, and beautifully shot as ever, this episode wraps up Season 2 with a big cliffhanger.

"Jim Gordon"
Source: http://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/styles/article_main_wide_image/public/2016/05/gotham_finale.jpg?itok=7THDvZLa

LOWS
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1. Possible Lost Story Threads

Because Season 2 is now over, I feel justified in criticizing a few big-picture things about the show. Mostly, I am nervous that some story threads have been lost. I mean, what happened to Strange's plans for Penguin? What good did it do Strange to find out that Gordon actually did kill Galavan? I fear we may never know.

MEDIUMS
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1. Penguin/Barbara/Butch Team

Okay, I've wanted Penguin and Barbara to be friends ever since they first met in Season 1.

They hit it off so well. Barbara seemed to genuinely appreciate the sympathy from Penguin regarding Jim. And sure, Penguin most likely wanted to use Barbara to get closer to Jim, but still! Penguin and Barbara do have compatible personalities. Just listen to their exchange of high-class, dainty chit chat the first time they met.

My desire for a Penguin/Barbara friendship grew stronger when Barbara remembered Penguin at their next encounter. They had only ever spoken for maybe five minutes, so he must have left an impression.

However, I honestly thought there was no chance of a Penguin/Barbara friendship after she was an accomplice (after the fact, at least) to the kidnapping of Penguin's mother.

(Barbara offered Penguin her drink, saying he needed it more than her, and then left the room just minutes before Galavan revealed that he had kidnapped Gertrude. So, Barbara definitely knew about the kidnapping. Who knows? Maybe Barbara even helped with the kidnapping.)

But after this episode, maybe there is a chance of a Penguin/Barbara friendship.

Penguin actually sought out Barbara's help in decorating his house. They utilized a severed head and everything. Doesn't that sound like the perfect bonding activity for a couple of high-class, dainty psychopaths?

Also, it gave me great satisfaction when Penguin praised Barbara both in front of Butch (who kicked Barbara out of his house, just a couple episodes ago) and on the phone. It gave me satisfaction because Barbara obviously appreciated it.

As for Butch, I think it's a fun dynamic he has with Penguin. Butch is the sidekick who rolls his eyes in disbelief at all the twisted things Penguin does. That dynamic works well, so I can see why the writers would bring it back as quickly and easily as they have.

HOWEVER, this brings me to the problems with this Penguin/Barbara/Butch posse:

Problem 1: No explanation has been given for what motivates Penguin after losing his mother AND his father, the only sources of love in his life. (Love is the only real motivator, a theme that I thought the Gotham writers were building into the story. See my previous Gotham reviews.)

So, basically, I have to assume now that Penguin has snapped back to his old self after killing Galavan and I have to assume that Penguin really does not intend to kill Butch and Tabatha. Now, our only hope is if the writers reveal in Season 3 that Penguin is really not ok. (See my Review of Unleashed for my thoughts on Penguin snapping back to his old self.)

Problem 2: No explanation has been given for why Penguin decided to exact revenge on no one else but Galavan. He did, at one point, vow to kill Tabatha and he did, at one point, send Zsasz to kill Butch. So why has he just now decided that Butch and Tabatha and Barbara are all off the hook?

I mean, maybe Penguin realizes that, usually, exacting revenge just causes more trouble. But doesn't he also realize that his reputation is at stake?

How does he expect anyone to take his threats seriously now? Remember when he tried to save himself from being tortured by Ms. Peabody by telling her that everyone who has ever crossed him has regretted it? Well, if that threat didn't work then, it certainly won't work now. I'm just saying.

Problem 3: No epic battle ever took place for kingship of Gotham's crime world. It seems that Butch has just given the crown back to Penguin. Easy as pie.

Problem 4: Lately, Penguin's role has been reduced to that of a Gotham staple who's just always there and always happens to be helpful to the good guys, because, really, that's what the fans want to see. But I want to see what's going on in his head, and that insight has been denied us for so many episodes and so many major developments now...

3. Firefly and Freeze
I loved that Firefly seems genuinely attached to Selina now, and I loved the epic battle between Freeze and Firefly. I didn't love that after the battle was over, they both seemed to just sit there, like mannequins, with nothing going on in their heads. I also didn't love that we didn't find out what happened to them at the end of the episode. I guess they were arrested? I dunno. Did they fight back? Or did they cooperate like mannequins? Once again, I dunno. Let's hope we find out early in Season 3.

HIGHS
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1. Humor
There were a number of laugh out loud moments in this episode. I always appreciate a good laugh.

2. The promise of an exciting Season 3
There's apparently a Bruce clone, and I'm pretty sure I saw Jerome's red hair and heard his laugh. a lot of fans were hoping Strange would reanimate Jerome. It's nice to see that the Gotham writers are giving those fans a little something to hang on to.

3. Nygma
Nygma's always great, and Lucius Fox is always great, too. Fox is a very likable minor character, but he's especially likable in contrast to Nygma. Fox is living proof that being very smart doesn't mean you have to be insane, arrogant, or violent.

4. Music
The musical score in Gotham is always spectacular. It really sets the mood. The opening scene in this episode shows us the layers underneath Arkham, Gordon tied to a chair on one layer, and the bomb on the next layer. I mean, we all know Gordon and the others are going to get through this. They're the main characters. But the music puts you on the edge of your seat anyway.

5. Hugo Strange
"Guilt is useless. Love is our guide." It's interesting that a sociopath like Strange can be so wise. I mean, that whole creepy therapy session/interrogation with Jim Gordon offered a lot of insight into both characters. Gordon is burdened by guilt, and while Strange loves to play God, he likes to play a benevolent god sometimes.

And I agree with Strange's final thoughts on love and guilt. People say the mark of a sociopath is a lack of guilt, as if guilt would guide them to be better people. But when it comes down to it, love guides you to be a good person, not guilt. If you love others, you not only feel sorry for hurting them, but you also try to avoid hurting them in the first place, and you ALSO try to do better than just "not hurt" them. You're kind to people if you practice love.

6. I love Gotham
I've realized that some shows you love because you think those shows are GOING somewhere interesting. Often, however, they go nowhere. And then you look back on those shows and realize they were a complete waste of time because you didn't enjoy each episode for what it really was; you just thought there would come a point where you would love each episode for what it really was.

Not so with Gotham.

I love every episode for what it is. I love it for the amazing performances, the mood, the cinematography, the musical score, and the philosophical insights. Even if this series does go to crap -- which I highly doubt it will -- I will still look back on it as a decent use of my time.

I love Gotham. It's brilliant. And I'm so excited for Season 3 in just a couple weeks!

RATINGS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General: 9/10

Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 8/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 21, A Legion of Horribles [SPOILERS]

OVERVIEW
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fish Reanimated
Source: http://hitshowstowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/gotham_221JN_0406_hires1-1000x600.jpg

This episode set up the finale for Season 2 with exciting confrontations.

LOWS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
None.

MEDIUMS
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1. Bridget as Firefly

I liked Bridget's creepy voice and constant theatrical declarations of her own goddess-hood. 

I also thought it was interesting that Selina clearly WOULD kill Bridget if it came down to her own life vs. Bridget's, but at the same time, she obviously really cares about Bridget and has taken great risks to save her. Also, Selina jogged Bridget's memory a bit, and Bridget decided not to kill Selina. 

I want to get excited for more Firefly and for more exploration of her relationship with Selina, but the season is already almost over. I'm just not sure how much of Firefly we will see.

2. Fish

I was excited to see Fish come back to life, but the fact that she came back with her memory intact -- that's just fabulous. And her powers! Can Fish get any cooler at this point? I mean, in terms of everything except her evilness. That's not cool of course.

I have reservations, though, because when Galavan came back, he had a brief 3-episode arc and then he was torn away from us. I hope Fish 2.0 will last longer than that.

HIGHS
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1. Bruce Confronting Strange

I love seeing little philosophical conversations popping up in the middle of stories, especially when such conversations are relevant to the subject matter. Bruce and Strange had a conversation about the certainty of moral principles and the doubt of scientific inquiry. And finally, Strange asked Bruce whether he would prefer his father be moral or be alive. Bruce chose as probably few people would choose, but I think he chose right, and I guess that's what makes Bruce Batman.


RATINGS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General: 8/10

Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 7/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 20, Unleashed [SPOILERS]

OVERVIEW
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A very entertaining and action-packed episode in which Gordon goes after Galavan as Azrael, Nygma attempts an escape from Arkham, and we check back in with Penguin.

Penguin all dressed up
http://media.comicbook.com/2016/04/gotham-220-0034-hires1-179274.jpg

LOWS
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None.

MEDIUMS
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1. Azrael's death

I like that at least there's a possibility that the "real" Azrael will eventually show up (he supposedly just disappeared in olden times). But I really liked Galavan as Azrael. I thought he was dark and menacing and soulless and a great villain. I'm sorry to see him go so soon.

2. Firefly

I was excited to see firefly back. I liked how they charred the Gotham logo for her. But I'm not sure how much her reappearance will amount to, since the season's already almost over.

3. Penguin
We see Penguin decide to go after Galavan, and Penguin's subsequent scenes are fun, but I worry.

I worry because he seems so much like his old self and so readily forgives Butch and Tabatha. At this point, Penguin's behavior could be an act or a temporary state of mind. But, it also may not be.

If it is an act or a temporary state of mind, it needs to be reasonably explained in the next episode.

Another option, I suppose, would be to explain it in the next season, since this season is almost over. I mean, Penguin seemed ok near the end of Season 2a, but was clearly not ok at the start of Season 2b, and I had no complaints about that

However, if Penguin's current behavior is not an act or a temporary state of mind...I'll be disappointed. The Gotham writers have written Penguin so well so far. Too well to have him pull a Selina Kyle now.

Selina, at the end of season one, became evil as a result of seeing Fish Mooney sail out of the mist on a boat. I couldn't understand Selina's reaction, until recently, when I saw a video of Camren Bicondova explaining that Selina saw Fish as a mother figure.

Ok, yeah. That makes sense. I remember the longing that Selina expressed when she told Bruce that her mother would eventually come back for Selina.

However, there was no indication that Selina saw Fish as a mother figure, and frankly, there needed to be. The story needs to speak for itself. It shouldn't have to be explained after the fact by actors on a panel.

I mean, I could come up with several, different explanations for why Penguin snapped back to his former self.

For example, maybe Galavan's return showed Penguin that there is always hope for his wishes to come true. A few episodes back, Penguin said that he wanted to be able to kill Galavan more than once. Impossible. And yet it happened.

I could see how, in a twisted way, this would instill a great sense of hope in Penguin. That hope could definitely fuel Penguin for some time.

The thing is I shouldn't have to come up with explanations of my own. The writers are supposed to tell you why the characters act the way they do, or at least, give you clues that allow you to figure it out with reasonable certainty.

HIGHS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Nygma and Selina

It is in this episode that Nygma decides to try and escape by himself, without his Arkham "friends", through the air vents. He had a hilarious encounter with Selina and showed us in the audience that he still has some good in him. 

Without asking for anything in return, he cautions Selina against entering Arkham because there are monsters in the basement. He does end up making a deal with her for his own benefit, but at least he cared enough to try and keep her out.

2. Barbs got kicked out of Butch's and Tabatha's place

Obviously, poor Barbara. But I think the fact that Tabatha let Butch kick out Barbara shows why Barbs didn't wake up from her coma thinking, "I need to reunite with Tabatha." She woke up thinking of Jim Gordon, Makes more and more sense all the time.

RATINGS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General: 8/10

Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 7/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 19, Azrael [SPOILERS]

OVERVIEW
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Thus episode was gorgeously cinematic in terms of the visuals and action. The supernatural elements and character moments were especially gripping. I have almost nothing but glowing compliments to give about 'Azrael.'

LOWS
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None.

MEDIUMS
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1. Penguin
Penguin had two brief scenes this episode. The first had him talking to corpses amid torn-up furniture, apparently going mad as he hung around the house with no purpose in life. A promising scene, because it showed an obviously understandable response from Penguin to all the recent losses in his life.

As I have said in nearly every review of Gotham I have written, I am so very pleased with how the Gotham writers have handled Penguin since the loss of Gertrude, his mother. It has had a lasting effect on Penguin, as it obviously should. It's notable, however, because most TV shows tend to gloss over their characters' pain and adjustment to loss. Perhaps most TV writers consider such subject matter too dull to hold an audience's attention for more than an episode or so. The Gotham writers, however, have shown that they trust their audience to be smart enough to appreciate psychologically realistic characters.

Penguin has been shown dealing with the loss of his mother in every episode he has appeared in since that loss. That's at least 12 episodes, over half a season. And he lost his father, too, and has also been dealing with that ever since. Honestly, since the loss of his mother and father, all his responses have been obviously understandable responses to pain and loss.

In Penguin's second appearance this episode, he sees Galavan on TV. "Hello, old friend," he laughs gleefully with no hint of anger. (We will have to wait until the next episode's review to see exactly what this means, but honestly -- tiny spoiler alert -- it might mean the end Penguin's obviously understandable responses, which troubles me.)

HIGHS
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1. Galavan as Azrael
The supernatural aspects of the show were front and center this episode, with the return of Galavan from the dead, and him finding his identity in a story of saints and demons and resurrectected knights. I much prefer Galavan as Azrael. The overly calm attitude that made Galavan boring made Azrael interesting, after he did calm down, that is. And somehow, Galavan's voice sounded so much more badass coming from behind a metal mask. I am really liking Azrael.

2. Nygma
Oh, Nygma.

In just this episode, the audience gets half a dozen new reasons to love Nygma.

For those of us who would secretly like him to be our hero (in spite of everything he's done), he plays the role of a hero to some extent in this episode.

Near the start of the episode, he (very entertainingly) mediates a conflict between some of the lesser minds of the asylum. On more than one occasion, he protects them from getting hurt or from hurting each other. (Take, for example, even the brief moment wherein he fly-swatted one inmate as that inmate reached out to strangle another inmate). He does a better job of being a therapist to the inmates than Professor Strange does, as Nygma himself points out. "Everyone has a story," says Nygma, "and they just need to be listened." What an understanding and empathetic thing to say.

HOWEVER, at the same time, Nygma fulfills the desires of those of us in the audience who want him to be a crazy evil genius.

At the same time as he is 'mediating,' he is manipulating the inmates of Arkham. He says so himself. As he protects them, he earns their loyalty and builds a little group of followers. There is certainly much he can accomplish on his own. At one point, he rather casually escapes the rec room, like he could have done it all along. However,  using his new friends, he's able to do much more than that, and he discovers Strange's secret experiments.

Of course, he's terrified by those experiments and decides to escape alone without his "friends."

The thing is it's still easy to believe that his kindness toward the other inmates was more than manipulation. Slight spoiler alert -- the next episode has Nygma trying to help someone, this time, obviously not expecting anything in return. That's a testament to...well, something!

Nygma is a great balance of good and bad, and he's complicated enough to be interpreted in slightly varied ways.

3. Barbara
Poor Barbara just doesn't fit in, even with her evil friends (as opposed to her righteous acquaintances). Butch thinks she's scary, and Tabatha just doesn't really understand Barbara. I mean, Barbara is clearly in a lot of pain, as she flips hurriedly through TV channels. In a frenzy. With no clear goal except to distract herself from whatever it is she can't stop thinking about anyway.

If you ask me, the fact that she didn't even notice when Butch took the remote away shows that she is desperately trying and failing to forget about something very unhappy. That very unhappy thing is most likely her situation with Jim and her overall loneliness. But all Tabatha can say is, "Relax." Not helpful, if you ask me.

4. Strange's Collection of Books
King Arthur, Shakespeare, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass...Strange's evil laugh as he held those books in his hands. Can you say exciting? =)

5. Beautiful Visuals
The red and black Gothic theme, the large scope, the cinematic action scenes -- wonderful!

6. Azrael's Effect on Batman
I thought it was interesting that Bruce was clearly affected by seeing Azrael jump around all Batman-like with his cape and everything. I don't know much about Azrael, but I seem to recall that he takes over as Batman in the comics for a while, so maybe that's part of what this episode was alluding to. For me, it was just neat to realize that that's probably what Batman will look like if he ever shows up in this series, and to think that apparently Bruce took inspiration from a villain.

7. Captain Barnes's Ideas about the Moral Compass
Barnes once again brought up his philosophy that the law is the line you don't cross. It was more thought-provoking this time because Gordon was much more resistant to such a philosophy, having seen for himself how the law can fail.

I agree the law is no concrete indicator of where to draw the line, but then you have to ask where DO you draw the line? Gordon said that HE decides that. Of course, if everyone said that, it would be chaos. So, it is interesting to see how this same conversation is different between Gordon and Barnes this time, and it is interesting to ponder where this conversation will go next.

RATINGS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General: 9/10

Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 8/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 18, Pinewood [SPOILERS]

OVERVIEW
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was a good episode, but, due to the absence of Penguin, it was not as captivating an episode as the average Gotham episode. At least, not in my opinion. Let's go through the lows, mediums, highs of the episode.

LOWS
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1. Penguin
This episode suffered from a severe lack of Penguin. A complete lack of Penguin, actually. Combine that fact with the fact that the promo for Episode 19 showed no signs of Penguin either AND the fact that I was finishing up my classes and graduating college, and you have the explanation for why I didn't finish up Season 2 of Gotham until quite recently.

(Now, having finished Season 2, I do recognize that Penguin's lack of screen time in the last few episodes allowed other characters more screen time. And I did really love seeing more of Nygma, for example. But the simple truth is that Penguin is still the main draw for me when it comes to this show.)


MEDIUMS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Freeze
Freeze was back, and I was glad to see that he had changed drastically as a result of his wife's death and his own near-death. I was glad to see that he was angry. That makes sense. He was only in the episode for a couple of minutes, though, and so, we didn't get much of an insight into what he's really going through.

2. Karen Jennings
First off, I liked Karen for the fact that she, with her awesome crocodile hand, helped edge the show into the supernatural realm it sprang neck deep into at the end of the episode when Strange brought Galavan back from the dead.

I love me a good helping of the supernatural.

However, I feel like Karen was supposed to be -- and genuinely could have been -- this really awesome female version of the type of badass, lives-alone-in-the-woods, tragic-past, heart-of-gold character we all love.

But something about her just didn't click. I don't know if it was the dialogue or the actress they chose for the part (even though she did a fine job, nothing against her, sorry) or what, but it felt like a major missed opportunity.

I feel like, if she had clicked as that type of character we all love so much, we, the audience, would have been much more heartbroken by her death and Bruce's intense reaction over losing her would have been more poignant.


HIGHS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Barbara
I like how well Barbara manipulated "The Lady." Barbara really did have all the answers. And as a viewer, I never really thought that Barbara wanted to team up with The Lady and kill Gordon, but if I were The Lady, I totally would have believed it.

This episode used Barbara and her journey to bring up an interesting paradox -- no one is an island, and yet, at many of the most crucial points in our lives, we all HAVE to be islands.

I mean, when Gordon told poor Barbara that, if she wanted to be a good person, that was entirely her responsibility and he couldn't help her at all? Half of me said, "Well, how can you expect her to be a good person with no support from anyone?"

The other half, however, said, "You know what? You're absolutely right, Gordon. To be a good person, the desire to be good has to come from inside yourself." If Barbara wants to be a good person, she has to do it because it's the right thing to do, and not simply to please Jim. If she does it simply to please Jim, it won't last. It can't.

And it made me realize the answer to a question I had been pondering. Remember how Penguin couldn't change and be a good person, and I was like, "Why not? What are the Gotham writers trying to show by having Penguin and Barbara return to a state of innocence only to relapse?"

The answer was so obvious that I completely missed it: the desire to be good was simply not an authentic desire of Penguin's. It was a product of his environment (if you can call Strange's horrible experiments an "environment"), and it was dependent on his environment. Placed in a murderous environment, of course Penguin relapsed into his murderous ways.

Barbara gave me a lot of food for thought this episode. I still don't see how she can be a good person without any support, and yet, I see why she has to be.

2. Gordon
I liked that Gordon didn't appreciate what Barbara had done. I liked that he didn't feel "gratitude" just because she'd gotten him the information he wanted. After all, she accomplished her task by kidnapping Gordon and threatening him with a electric...zapper thing.

The emotional damage from something like that doesn't just go away because it "turned out alright in the end," although the narcissists and manipulators of the world would have you believe otherwise.

This is what I love about Gotham. It's a smart enough show to consistently express the fundamental truth that emotional damage is the only real damage you can do a person.

3. Timeless Atmosphere
Another thing I love about Gotham is the timeless atmosphere of the show. I know that this atmosphere was purposefully created in the show by combining elements from several different eras. Cell phones from the early 2000s, computers from the 80s, architecture from the Middle Ages, etc.

When I binge-watched the first season of Gotham last Fall, I KNEW that it was a current show, barely more than a year old, but I FELT like it was an old classic from the 80's or 90's. It was in fact jarring to start watching the show weekly, as new episodes were released, because it forced me to acknowledge the fact that... well, it's not an old classic from the 80's or 90's.

Now that I've gotten used to watching it weekly, however, it's just like it was last Fall. I KNOW it's a current show, but it's so hard to remember that as I'm in the midst of watching any particular episode. It feels so much like a timeless classic, and I love that about it. =)


RATINGS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General: 7.5/10

Compared-to-All-the-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 7

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 17, Into the Woods [SPOILERS]

This was a very good episode. It was surprising, intense, and emotional. It was definitely worth the two-week wait, even if the two-week wait did leave me overly attached to a certain Penguin-is-hallucinating theory.

 Let us begin. Here are the highs, mediums, and lows of the episode.

LOWS

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

None.

MEDIUMS

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Penguin

a) Penguin is not hallucinating?

With every episode that Penguin spends in the mansion and/or with his family, it becomes less and less likely that Penguin is hallucinating all this stuff with the mansion and/or his family. At this point, it's very unlikely that Penguin is hallucinating it. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem because, normally, I hate it when large, exciting portions of a story turn out to be hallucinations.

However, I spent the last two weeks thinking about how much sense it would make if Penguin was hallucinating (see my Review of Episode 16 to see why I thought so), and how good a twist it would be if it turned out to be the case.

If it turned out to be the case that Penguin was hallucinating, it could still be very exciting, depending on the reveal of what Penguin was actually doing this whole time. Maybe he found an abandoned, broken-down mansion near Gotham and wandered around it for weeks, surviving off of who knows what.

Or, maybe -- and here's the really exciting option -- maybe he wandered straight into another of Hugo Strange's "medical establishments."

I think that's the exciting option because it would demonstrate the terrifying extent of Professor Strange's power. Imagine if Hugo could program everyone to wander straight into one of Hugo's establishments, all the while hallucinating that they had found happiness. (Even if he had that power, he probably wouldn't use it, though. This episode basically established that Hugo just likes experimenting on people.)

And Hugo did say he had plans for Penguin, post-Arkham. The longer we, the audience, go without knowing what those plans are, the bigger our expectations grow. If an ongoing hallucination had been the extent of Hugo's plan, I would have been satisfied. It would have been an immediate and adequately shocking plan.

I can't say I'll be as satisfied with whatever it turns out Hugo's plan for Penguin actually is, especially if it's very far off in the future.

But the thing is, I'm still not mad. I LIKE that Gotham knows how to keep it simple. See, a lot of shows these days are like, "Here's an exciting story development...Psych! It's really this other exciting development." Which is entertaining enough the first couple of times, maybe.

But when the "twist" is used too often, it negates every exciting development, because who knows what the truth is anymore?! When everything's a plot twist, nothing's a plot twist.

If Gotham had been like, "Here, Penguin found his long-lost family and then lost another parent...Psych! It's really a hallucination designed by Hugo Strange," I think it would have worked for Gotham because Gotham has been saving up its twists and keeping things simple.

Most Gotham story developments are just as they seem. For instance, Lee really did move down South and, almost definitely, lost the baby. She hasn't been kidnapped (a possibility that didn't occur to me until after I wrote the review for Episode 16). And it's intense enough that she lost the baby and moved away. Gotham does not need to replace that story development with another intense story development. I appreciate that the Gotham writers seem to know that.

b) Penguin is Penguin again

Anyway, back to Penguin. It seems he is once again himself. At first, he begged to stay with his step-family because his father loved them all so much and wanted them all to be together. By the end of the episode, though, Penguin had discovered the truth about his step-family, murdered and cooked his step-siblings, tricked his step-mother into eating them, and stabbed his step-mother to death.

I have to say, for a moment, I was shocked that Gotham went that far with the cannibalism thing. However, for a moment BEFORE that moment, I thought Penguin had cooked the dead dog and was feeding it to Grace. THAT idea was upsetting to me. As a vegetarian, I personally feel that it's no worse to eat humans than to eat other animals, so upon reflection, I realized I wasn't that upset about the cannibalism thing.

I was still upset about the dead dog, but let's talk about that.

At the start of the episode, Penguin said that he couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to. Maybe he was mistaken...or maybe -- after all, Strange brainwashed Penguin pretty well -- he wasn't. See, later in the episode, when he finds the bottle his father last drank from, he offers some of the beverage to the family dog, who drinks it and dies. At that moment, Penguin turns evil again.

Now, either Penguin consciously tried to kill the dog to prove the wine was poisoned (in which case Penguin COULD hurt a fly) or Penguin inadvertently killed the dog because Penguin COULDN'T consciously distrust his step-family.

If so and if that inadvertent murder triggered Penguin's evil side, that scene might be an interesting statement on how sometimes two perfectly good values (trust and kindness) conflict with each other, and a Catch-22 like that can break a person.

I'm probably reading too much into it, but if the Gotham writers explore such an idea further, I'd be very interested in what they have to say.

c) Penguin still has nothing/no one he loves

Finally, on Penguin, I'm still concerned by the fact that he hasn't gone anywhere new as a character. As I said in my Ep 16 review, we've seen Penguin lose a parent and exact vengeance on the people who murdered his parent. We've seen where that gets him: left with no one to love and no reason to go on.

So far, the Gotham writers have done an excellent job of not just dropping Penguin's issues (of having no love and therefore no motivation to do anything). I'd hate to see them come this far just to drop Penguin's issues now and have him inexplicably begin re-conquering Gotham.

His situation is no different now than it was at the start of Season 2b. I mean, sure, he has a mansion now, but is it even legally his? And how is it going to help? A mansion can't replace a parent.

As I said, I'm concerned. But I'm going to wait and see what happens.


2. Easy Three-Episode Wrap Up

By the fourth episode of Season 2b, I was seeing a pattern: the three-episode story arc. I had hoped the story arcs would be longer than that, but this episode wrapped up the Gordon-as-a-convicted-criminal arc, the Nygma-in-his-first-outing-as-a-supervillain arc, and the Penguin-family arc. It seems three-episode story arcs are to be the format for this half-season.

On the downside, this format gives us some artificial-seeming wrap-ups, like the resolution to the conflict between Gordon and Captain Barnes. On the upside, this format has been giving us a particularly kick-ass episode every third episode, and there are some threads that do continue, like Lee being gone and having lost a child.

HIGHS

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Nygma

This was one of Nygma's best episodes.

It revealed Nygma's insecurities about his "friends." For instance, Nygma couldn't convince himself that Penguin was a good friend who wouldn't snitch, and Nygma outright asked Gordon if he was really his friend or if Gordon just felt sorry for Nygma.

The emotion felt extremely real when Gordon confronted Nygma in the woods. I very much appreciate the fact that Gordon did not jump straight to "Me good. You bad. Me puts you in jail." He expressed the confused, hurt emotions anyone would feel in Gordon's position. I like that that whole scene was allowed to happen. It made sense.

See, a practical villain would have shot Gordon right away, but we have already established that Nygma is not a practical villain. He's a narcissistic, hammy super-villain who voices his evil thoughts out loud to himself. He WOULD have a whole conversation with his prey at gun-point or reveal to them the reason he framed them for murder.

It makes perfect sense and it's emotionally satisfying to see Nygma and Gordon have the conversation they had in the woods.

I also enjoyed the conversation that Nygma and Gordon had in Nygma's apartment. I'm glad Gordon was at least called out for being a murderer. That is, I'm glad that the Gotham writers are bringing up the spectrum...of evilness.

I mean, I think it's clear that Gordon doesn't need to be locked up like Nygma probably should be. I think Gordon is not as dangerous as Nygma. Nygma thinks murder is thrilling, while Gordon is in fact basically a good person. Just this episode, he put himself in jeopardy to save someone else from a mugging, for example. However, the difference between Gordon and Nygma is by no means crystal clear, and I'm glad that fact was brought up.

Also, I was surprised when Nygma knocked Gordon out by electrocuting him after Gordon found out that it was Nygma who called internal affairs. I genuinely didn't expect that.

I wasn't surprised when Gordon got Nygma by having Captain Barnes and Co. hide behind the trees to overhear Nygma's confession, but Gordon's plan was smart, start to finish. And once again, it made sense with Nygma's character, since we'd previously established that Nygma is paranoid and would absolutely fall for a plan like Gordon's, which preyed on Nygma's paranoia.

2. Barbara Keane "just really needed some sleep."

Is that really the explanation they're going to go with? Well, I'm all for it. I've always thought that there would be, like, half as many wars in the world if people just slept more. If only because they'd have less time to fight.

Make sleep, not war.

On the other hand, it does seem a little too convenient that Barbara just woke up all sane and good. If it turns out that Dr. Strange actually brainwashed her in her sleep somehow, I'd accept that explanation too.

Either way, I think I'm seeing a pattern here of the villains returning to a state of innocence in order for the writers to answer the question, "Can people change? Explain why or why not."

Obviously, Penguin couldn't change, and from the promo for next week, it seems like Barbara can't either. For both Penguin and Barbara, I think it's a bit early to explain why or why not.

I'll need some time to think on it.


CONCLUSION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, this was a very exciting, emotional episode and offered a lot of food for thought.

RATINGS

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General: 9/10

Compared-to-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 8/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn [SPOILERS]

I just now checked my email and saw that Twitter emailed me tweets about how Gotham has been renewed for Season 3! Yayyyyyyyy! (I really need to keep up better with the social medias.)

Anyway, awesome episode. Highs, lows, and mediums, here we come.


LOWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Pacing
That was the only thing off in this episode, really. It just seemed a little rushed. Everything that happened was very exciting, but it gave you no time to digest any of it or to show the characters digesting any of it.

For instance, at one point or another throughout the episode, everyone casually mentions that they heard that Penguin was released from Arkham. This, even though it was implied that Dr. Strange was not going to tell anyone that he was releasing Penguin, and the fact that Penguin is an infamous criminal who took over Gotham's underworld once, evaded police capture for months, and could probably do it all again.

Butch doesn't seem worried about it. Gordon and Bullock don't seem worried about it. Nygma doesn't seem like he ever intended to reach out to Penguin, if Penguin hadn't reached out to him first. Captain Barnes doesn't even say anything about it. And so on.

Also, Gordon gets put in jail and Penguin finds his (possibly legit) long-lost family. These are very intriguing developments, but they happen so quickly. There's even a time jump over much of their proceedings, which doesn't allow any of it to sink in.

In fact, in terms of pacing, this episode reminds me of the first episode of Season 2b. I thought that that episode was so rushed because it was setting up the story elements for the rest of the season. However, most of those story elements played out in just two additional episodes. And now another set-up episode?

It makes me wonder if Season 2b is going to be composed of a series of 2-to-3-episode story arcs. It wouldn't surprise me if the Gordon-jail storyline and the Penguin-family storyline play out in just two more episodes.

I'd prefer longer, more intricate story arcs.

However, come to think of it, Season 2a started with a short, 3-episode story arc with Jerome, and the rest of the season carried out only a few, specific storylines. Maybe that's the structure we can expect from Season 2b as well.

Yes, now that I think of it, that seems most likely. If that's the case, I'm super excited to see the Gordon-jail and Penguin-family storylines play out over the whole rest of the season.


MEDIUMS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Butch and Tabatha
I know that Butch and Tabatha were mostly in this episode to show Penguin's struggles as a newly "sane" person. Butch also provides some comic relief. And all of that's done very well, and Butch's style of crime-lordship is interesting to contrast with Penguin's.

Overall, crime in Gotham doesn't seem to be any worse in Gotham under Butch's reign. Who knows? It might even be better. However, Penguin was always dressed to impress and having business meetings with his underlings (specifically telling them not to bother decent Gotham folk, which is one of the lines that endeared Penguin to me, by the way).

Butch, on the other hand? Butch seems to lounge around all day in his bathrobe with Tabatha, ignoring calls from his nephew about Selina robbing them. Butch and Tabatha are living the good life. It's just an interesting contrast.

Nonetheless, I have a couple of problems with Butch and Tabatha as characters.

First of all, I thought it was strange that Butch and Tabatha blamed Penguin for: 1) messing with Butch's mind and making him a slave, and 2) killing Tabatha's brother, Galavan.

With regards to complaint #1, that was Zsasz. And sure, Penguin never tried to un-brainwash Butch, but still. If Butch were going to blame Penguin for something, I'd think he'd blame him for the whole hand-chopping thing.

(By the way, where is Zsasz, anyhow? Well, he probably skipped town when Butch came into power. Zsasz'll be back when Penguin returns to power. Mark my words. Zsasz'll be back...Zsasz'll...zazzle, lol.)

With regards to Galavan, well, Tabatha is just being hypocritical in blaming Penguin for that, since Galavan never would have died if she hadn't left him for dead.

If you ask me, it's obvious that she never actually cared about Galavan. She was just scared of him.

My overall problem with Tabatha is her lack of redeeming qualities. It seemed like the writers were giving her a redeeming quality with her protective attitude toward Silver, but now Silver has disappeared along with anything that might make Tabatha the least bit likable.

She spends all her time mocking Penguin's poor mother, tar-and-feathering Penguin, and pretending to be upset about her brother's death. (I mean, like I said, I can't believe that she's genuinely upset about it.)

I'm not sure what the writers are doing with Tabatha. You usually don't keep such an utterly unlikable villain around for this long. We'll see if they can give her some redeeming qualities or what happens.


HIGHS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Penguin
Penguin is finally out of Arkham, so thankfully, we no longer have to watch him being horribly tormented/brainwashed/"rehabilitated". Sadly, I can't say that watching him outside of Arkham is exactly pleasant. But I CAN say that everything concerning his character continues to be brilliant.

The writers are skipping no steps in Penguin's development. There are basically three or four people he interacts with in this episode, and these interactions show where his character is at emotionally.

a. Butch and Tabatha

So, Dr. Strange brainwashed Penguin into having this sense of remorse, a desire to be good, and a need to make right what was wrong. Which is why he visited Butch and Tabatha with an offering of cupcakes and a sincere apology.

Well, that turned out badly. Quite predictably, it almost got Penguin killed. And it DID get him tar-and-feathered. Thankfully, he didn't seem to sustain any real injuries from the tar. But this scene also revealed something else.

Like I said earlier, Tabatha made fun of Penguin's mother's suffering, and Tabatha did it right to Penguin's face. It upset me, and I'm not even Penguin. How did Penguin react?

He laughed and complimented Tabatha on her impression of his mother.

...Remember how in my review of last episode I said how I wasn't sure I wanted Penguin to go back to normal? I mean, he seemed so happy and good-hearted last episode. And even though I knew it would never happen, I thought maybe he could leave Gotham and live happily ever after if he didn't revert back to his old self.

Well, now I see that he is neither happy nor good beyond a superficial level.

Strange didn't really fix Penguin. In fact, in the end, I'm convinced Strange made Penguin worse.

See, the fact that Penguin wasn't upset by the idea of his mother suffering shows a deep lack of empathy. Now, Penguin has always lacked much empathy, EXCEPT with regards to his mother. That was his only real redeeming quality: his love/empathy for his mother. And if he's lost that?

Well, I don't think he really has lost it for good, but I also don't think it will come back until he reverts back to his old self.

Basically, then, Strange has done nothing but leave Penguin naive and vulnerable (old Penguin would have known that Tabatha and Butch would hurt or kill him) and stripped Penguin of his actual redeeming traits.

You could say that Strange made Penguin kind and remorseful, but those are very much outward qualities. If they don't stem from empathy (as most, if not all, good qualities do), then they're not sustainable. I've seen now that Penguin's kindness and remorse do not stem from empathy. They're basically fake.

Now that I think of it, I'm actually very impressed with Gotham for not sending a message that you can fix a person with horrible mental torture. I didn't think about it before, but that actually would be the message they were sending if Penguin did turn into a good person.

Long story short, I see now that it's necessary for Penguin to revert back to his real self. He can't develop as a person unless it comes from a real place. Even from a real place, it's going to be hard enough for him to develop anyway.

b. Nygma

So, again, Strange instilled in Penguin a need to right the wrongs. In an effort to follow through with what Strange brainwashed him to do, Penguin visited Nygma and told him that violence and anger are not the answer.

Nygma could tell that Penguin is not right in the head, but he sent Penguin away anyway. I think this is important because of what I've said previously: Love is the only real motivator. I've been thinking about that since Nygma told Penguin that the promise of freedom comes with having nothing to love.

See, Penguin has a friend in Nygma, and Nygma's not a bad friend...depending on how you define "friend." It was very sweet when Nygma agreed to visit Getrude's grave for Penguin. But that wasn't a great inconvenience to Nygma. It would have been a great inconvenience to babysit a brainwashed Penguin and try to get him help. So, Nygma wouldn't go that far.

Of course, it's Nygma's choice how far he's willing to go to help Penguin. But if he really loved Penguin as a friend, no amount of inconvenience would matter. He would try to help Penguin.

Old Penguin knew not to ask Nygma for too much, but new Penguin seems surprised by the fact that Nygma doesn't want that much to do with him, just like new Penguin seemed surprised that Butch and Tabatha wanted to kill him. Like I said, Strange made Penguin naive and vulnerable.

After being turned away by Nygma, where does Penguin go but to his mother's grave. See, if you ask me, Nygma reminded Penguin of the fact that he really has no love left in his life. That remembrance brought about a new bout of despair because, as I said, love is the only real motivator. Without love, how can Penguin continue?

Penguin expresses such thoughts out loud to his mother, "To be honest, I don't know if I'm gonna make it without you."

I'm just so impressed with the Gotham writers for not just dropping this "no love" issue with Penguin. They continue to show the falsehood of the whole "no love = freedom" idea as long as it stays relevant, and it's relevant as long as Penguin has no love. What's more, the writers show how complex this issue is because it can seem to go away for just a little bit, but it always comes back, and will continue to come back as long as Penguin really has no love.

To go through it all:
1. Penguin was in despair when his mother died, but then a quest for revenge gave Penguin a sense of purpose and Nygma gave Penguin a sense of hope for freedom. The quest ended, though, and it turned out Penguin wasn't so free without anything to love.

2. Penguin was in despair when he was put in Arkham, but then Strange instilled a new sense of purpose and hope in him. The purpose, however, was fulfilled after Penguin apologized and tried to do good to everyone, and the hope was not based on solid ground (good things don't always happen to good people).

3. Soon, therefore, the despair came back.

But now we get to the long-lost father.

c. Penguin's long-lost family

This might actually be a lasting revenue of hope and motivation for Penguin. We'll see. But as soon as Penguin finished expressing his despair, his father showed up.

At first, I thought that this guy and his family were hired by Strange as part of his evil plot for Penguin. But now, I'm not so sure.

Elijah, Penguin's alleged father, claimed that his parents paid Gertrude off and sent her away. That would explain why she seemed to have money even though she didn't seem to have a job. Also, Penguin and Elijah kind of look alike.

Besides, there's clearly something wrong with Penguin's step-family, so if the whole family were fake actors, that would be ridiculous. It would negate all the drama Penguin is going to experience within the family.

Also, it would help Penguin return to power if he actually is the heir to a fortune.

ALSO, if this family doesn't work out in some way for Penguin, what will be his lasting source of hope and motivation? What's going to keep him going? Is he just going to keep hopping from one false source to another?

Maybe, yes. That wouldn't be so bad. Hard to watch, yes, but at least, it would make sense, as long as it doesn't continue on for too long. If the cycle is endless, Penguin is sooner or later bound to give up.

At this point, I have a ton of faith in the writers to be creative and, only with legitimate psychological motivation, keep Penguin going, living, and rising back to the top of the crime world.

2. Nygma
This is basically The Riddler's coming out episode, his introduction to super-villain society. And it's awesome. It's intense, smart, and produces lasting consequences for Jim Gordon at least. Not to mention Bullock is determined to find who framed Jim, so Nygma's little plot will likely produce lasting consequences for himself too.

Poor, crazy Nygma still doesn't know that Gordon never even suspected him in the disappearance of Kristen Kringle. Nygma probably just made himself even more likely to be discovered. Paranoia's a killer.

3. Gordon and Lee
I never expected Gordon to actually get put in jail for Galavan's murder. I felt sorry for Lee and for Gordon when they said goodbye, but I'm excited to see where this whole storyline goes.

4. Barbara Kean
Barbara's alive! Aliiive! Well, I mean, we always knew that, but she's awake now.

It think it's intriguing that she woke up because she heard about Gordon being arrested, and I'm excited to see what she'll do.



RATINGS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General: 9/10

Compared-to-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 8/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 14, This Ball of Mud and Meanness [SPOILERS]

[WORST CRIMES DISCLAIMER: This episode shows a character being tortured.]

Wow! This episode was so incredibly good!

Let's go through the low, medium, and high points of it.

LOWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
None!

Everything was so good!

MEDIUMS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...None?

Everything was so freaking good!

HIGHS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Penguin
I am just so impressed with everything regarding Penguin: Robin Lord Taylor's acting (as always), the fact that he is still haunted by his mother's death, and the direction the writers seem to be taking him in.

At this point, I think it's safe to say that Penguin did not intend to be captured by the GCPD or to be put in Arkham. I only suspected he might have intended for that to happen because he was so calm and he claimed to be crazy when Captain Barnes dragged him into the department.

But, no. If Penguin had planned for all this to happen, I'm sure he would have planned to have some recourse available to him, someone looking out for him maybe. Penguin wouldn't have let things get as far as they have.

Hugo Strange has now successfully brainwashed Penguin.

Strange did this by inducing horrible hallucinations in Penguin (using Dr. Crane's fear formula, it sounds like).

In a very vivid scene, Penguin hallucinates about an evil version of himself killing his mother with a baseball bat. His real self (who's still evil, but would never hurt his mom) can only watch from the chair he's tied to.

That hallucination seems to confirm that Penguin still blames himself for his mother's death, which is a sentiment he expressed to Nygma in Season 2a. In Season 2a, Penguin says that his mother died because of his weakness. He was saying how her death was an example of how the murder-road that Nygma wants to follow only leads to pain.

It's true that Penguin's mother never would have been murdered if Penguin hadn't been so evil and power-hungry. So, considering that, Penguin was right to feel guilty for her death. Well, maybe not guilty for her death, exactly. But guilty for all the evil things he did that obviously caught up to him.

I expected he would feel guilty for doing them simply because they put his mother in danger, and not so much because they were horrible things to do.

However, there is also the fact that Hugo brings up "remorse."

He brought up "regret" when he first met Penguin, and this episode makes it clear that Hugo's priority in brainwashing Penguin was to make Penguin feel remorse for his crimes.

Therefore, it's possible that Penguin's guilty hallucination was designed by Hugo to make Penguin feel remorse, and it wasn't so much a reflection of Penguin's real feelings of guilt.

However, at the very least, Penguin's hallucination shows how much pain he's still in over his mother.

The hallucination is just the latest in a long series of such depictions, showing Penguin's lasting pain over his loss, and I love it because it's realistic and relatable. Any real person would still be feeling the pangs of loss after going through what Penguin has. It's just that a great many TV shows don't allow their characters to remain depressed for very long. Real-ness be damned.

And I was afraid Gotham would be no different. They gave Penguin three episodes in which to mourn his mother in Season 2a, and I thought, "Well, I guess that's it." And I thought three episodes was generous, as TV shows go. But, nay! It seems Gotham is being truly generous.

As horrible as it sounds, I'm glad Penguin has remained sad since his mother's death. It simply makes sense for him to have done so.

How does the hallucination scene prove that Penguin remained depressed since his mother's death?

I mean, it doesn't PROVE anything, really. I just feel like we can assume that Crane's formula brought Penguin's worst fears and regrets to life. It just caused him to suffer more acutely. He's been suffering ever since his mother was first kidnapped, just less acutely.

I now feel pretty confident in my theory that Penguin became too depressed to competently lead his men, and that's how Butch took over.

I was scared that it would turn out that Penguin planned to let Butch take over and that Penguin planned to get captured by the GCPD, as part of some sort of hammy plot. That, to me, would indicate that he very quickly got over his mother's death and moved on to making new evil plots.

Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case!

So, Hugo brainwashed Penguin into being kind, remorseful, and normal. Obviously, Penguin has to revert back to being a villain at some point. Up till now, I couldn't wait to see Penguin rise to power again as a gentleman of crime, King of Gotham's underworld.

However, after the scene in which Penguin plays that word association game, after actually SEEING Penguin as a good, kind, normal person...I'm not at all sure I want him to go back to the way he was.

Wouldn't it be nice if Penguin could just be a good person, leave all the bad stuff behind, and maybe move away from Gotham and live out his life peacefully somewhere else?

I remember having similar pointless hopes when Penguin was recovering from his gunshot wound in Nygma's apartment. Penguin actually said that he was leaving Gotham. As much as I knew that that would never happen, it didn't stop me from hoping.

Oh, well.

But this brings up the very important question of where his character could go from here. Really, he could go anywhere, and that's very exciting. I mean, obviously, he'll end up being some sort of crime lord again, but will he be a kinder crime lord or a crueler one?

Some people might think the answer is obvious, but I think it could go either way.

What's even more interesting is how he's going to get there. Basically, he's starting from scratch. He has the emotional disposition of a baby and he has no power left in Gotham, so how are the writers going to get him from point A to point B?

I think the answer will have something to do with Hugo's promise that "good things happen to good people." Obviously, the truth is that bad things sometimes happen to good people, and good things sometimes happen to bad people.

Therefore, when Penguin discovers (or re-discovers, more likely) the truth of "good things for good people", it will likely impact his desire to be good. If you're only good because good things are promised you, and then you don't get good things, why would you continue to be good?

But the real question is, why would Penguin continue to be anything? As I've said in previous reviews, love is the only real motivator, and he lost the only love in his life when he lost his mom. Then, because he had no real motivation to hold on to his power, he lost control of his men. (I theorize.)

So what's going to happen to Penguin? What actions will he take while he's under Hugo's control? What are Hugo's uber-mysterious plans for Penguin? And once Penguin is no longer under Hugo's control, what's going to motivate Penguin to go forward and reclaim his throne?

I'm so very excited to see what the writers have planned!

2. The Joker Cult/Nightclub/Whatever
The nightclub was a like a character in itself.

Apparently, people will put on punk clothing, clown masks, and Joker-esque makeup and come to this club to rock out to live music while footage of Jerome is projected onto the walls.

It's scary.

I mean, the last time we saw people watching footage of Jerome, these people were so immediately and massively affected by the footage that they started laughing maniacally and murdering people left and right.

But the people in this club don't seem quite that crazy. And that's part of what makes it creepy. Is it just that Jerome's footage has lost its power and these people aren't that bad?

Or are they vicious barbarians who have simply learned to reason?

It's like these people are SECRETLY evil, and they're just biding their time, being smart, plotting in secret to take down civilization, rather than making the mistake of creating chaos in the open and going to jail for it.

Combine the stagy costumes and makeup with the secret Jerome-cult undertones, and you get a theatrical, creepy, mysterious delight of a fictional nightclub.

3. Jeri
And Jeri is the obvious leader of said secret Jerome-cult. I mean, like I said, it's not clear if such a cult even exits, but if it does, I'd totally buy Jeri as the leader of it. She's perfect for it. She embodies the nightclub.

She embodies "theatrical, creepy, mysterious, and delightful."

Her appearance (very much inspired by Joker/Dead-Jerome), singing, and some of her antics are theatrical. She's creepy and mysterious when she tells Bruce about Malone and gives no reason for her actions other than "Who doesn't like to play God?" And she's delightful every time she speaks with that cute, Southern accent.

I hope Jeri comes back. I think she'll make a great villain.

4. Bruce Wayne
David Mazouz is just getting better and better as Bruce Wayne. His facial expressions were heartbreaking when he was talking to Malone.

Also, his massive character growth in this episode is very convincing.

To paraphrase Bruce, "You can't kill murder. The only way to start fighting these things is to not do them." I was surprised that I actually understood Batman's "no killing" policy, for once. (Has it ever been explained before? I just thought it was a given part of Batman's character.)

I believe he came to the right conclusion. And it was very well-explained HOW he came to that conclusion. Matches Malone was a horrible, horrible person, but he was a person, and Bruce saw that.

I personally believe the golden rule is always supposed -- SUPPOSED -- to apply. No matter how much a person might want to be cruel, a truly good person will do unto others as he/she would have them do unto him/her. That means always forgiving and never hurting.

The fact is, though, that no one is truly good. Everyone is at least a little bad. And is it even possible to always follow the golden rule? Sometimes, maybe you're caught between a rock and a hard place.

Moreover, sometimes, maybe a very deep aversion to doing something can be considered the same as an inability to do it. Not wanting to do something can make it extremely hard to do. Can it maybe become so hard as to be considered impossible? Where is the threshold of impossible?

That is a discussion for another time.

Anyway, Bruce sounds very much like a pacifist in his closing lines. This episode explains his belief that one should not kill others. But as Batman, he does physically attack others. I wonder what will happen to him to make him think that it is okay to physically attack other people if it is not okay to kill them.

I am looking forward to finding out. The Gotham writers sure are taking us on a heck of an emotional and philosophical journey!

5. Matches Malone
Malone fascinated me because he was an unusual example of why Gotham needs Batman.

Malone talked about how tired it can make someone to keep getting away with his evil deeds. It makes him wonder whether there really is a God. I can totally imagine myself thinking that in his position.

The story of Job tells us that sometimes bad things happen. God lets them happen for reasons beyond our understanding. God gives us the promise that it's always for the best in the end. In the end, Job was happy, and his story inspired billions and billions.

But I've always struggled with the conflicting ideas that God loves us and yet He lets bad things happen to us. I struggle with the idea that I'm supposed to have faith in God to help and protect me, when I know that something bad could happen to me at any time. If it's for the best, it will happen.

For instance, if I'm driving into a blizzard, I don't worry about crashing if I remember that God is protecting me. If, however, I remember that it might be for the best that I crash, I get worried again. Because God might let it happen.

Anyway, the fact is that it hasn't ever happened. In general, the things we worry about don't happen, because God does protect us and want us to be happy. But when the bad things do happen? It can be hard to keep having faith. When they happen regularly? When you're the one DOING them? I imagine it's a million times harder.

Well, Matches Malone did horrible things regularly, and it tired him out. There's no rest for the wicked, because they don't or can't have faith. Without faith, they have to worry.

So, if Batman protects the good people of Gotham from the bad people, it might benefit not only the good people, but also the bad people. It might keep their faith alive, too. Interesting, no?

7. Nygma
Nygma was so wonderfully over-the-top this episode, talking to himself all evil and crazy-like, out loud, in public, and no one seemed to notice. I mean, Nygma's always been weird, so maybe the people around him just don't notice anymore, but whatever. It was great. Classic villain. I absolutely loved it.

The only thing that disappointed me was that I expected Penguin to show up at Nygma's apartment at the end, which he didn't. It would have been hilarious if he did, but it's intriguing that he didn't. Where else does Penguin have to go?

Guess we'll find out next week, on Gotham! (This show is making me feel like a kid again, watching a Saturday morning superhero cartoon!)


RATINGS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General: 10/10

Compared-to-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 9/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 13, A Dead Man Feels No Cold [SPOILERS]

[WORST CRIMES DISCLAIMER: This episode shows a character being tortured.]

Another great episode. Let's go through the low, medium, and high points of it.

LOWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

None, really. It was a very Gordon- and Wayne-centric episode, and therefore, it wasn't overly exciting to me personally. However, I have no complaints about the Gordon and Wayne aspects of the episode. In fact, they were pretty good. You can see both Jim and Bruce have changed a lot since the start of the series.


MEDIUMS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Nora and Victor "Freeze"
I am amazed that the writers of this show, in just two episodes, got me to care as much as I do about Nora and Victor. "No no no no no," I whispered when Victor was freezing Nora with the wrong freeze formula.

I was so hoping he would notice that Nora had switched the formulas, because I really wanted her to live. I believed in their love for each other, and I wanted them to be together eventually. (Maybe they still can? Maybe Nora's brain is still frozen and intact and they can re-animate her in a different body? I'm not ready to give up hope.)

On the other hand, I'm not sure what Nora was thinking when she switched the formulas. I saw Victor's suicide coming from a mile away. Did Nora really not see that coming as a result of her death?

I realize that maybe she thought she would prevent further violence on Victor's part, since he promised to be out of jail when she unfroze and he would likely kill to keep a promise like that. And I realize that she was very sick and maybe not entirely in her right mind at the moment, but still...it bugs me a little that she didn't seem to realize how much her death would affect him.


HIGHS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Penguin
Robin Lord Taylor's acting is massively delightful even when the circumstances of his scenes are the exact opposite of delightful. My only complaint is that I wanted more Penguin. Not more of Penguin in those particular circumstances, though. No, it would be nice if we could skip all the bad parts, but it looks like the writers are building to something with Penguin, and it's better if it's not rushed, I suppose.

2. Lee
I'm starting to really like Lee. In this episode, she stood up for poor Nora when the police wanted to use her as bait. Lee is not a complicated character, and she never shows much fear. Even so, her kindness to Nora and understanding attitude toward Victor made Lee likable.


RATINGS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General: 8/10

Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 7/10

Review: Gotham Season 2 Episode 12, Mr. Freeze [SPOILERS]

Overall, I was well pleased with the Season 2b premiere.

My only complaint was that the episode seemed a bit choppy in terms of pacing, compared to a usual Gotham episode. Maybe it only felt that way because I binge-watched the whole first season just a few months ago, and sometimes, binge-watching changes the way the pacing is perceived.

Or maybe this episode really was choppy in terms of pacing because the writers were trying to touch on each and every character's story and set it up for the rest of the season. (Even though a ton of characters were in this episode, by the way, Bruce and Alfred weren't.)

Now for the things I liked about the episode.


1. Penguin

For the most part, we are left to guess at exactly what happened after the mid-season finale. But I see at least two reasonable assumptions: 1) Penguin became too depressed to competently rule his men anymore, or 2) Penguin purposely let Butch take over, and Penguin purposely let himself get captured by the GCPD as part of some sort of evil plan.

I much prefer to assume theory #1, since it so perfectly addresses the issues I talked about in my review of the first 1.5 seasons. What issues? Namely, the idea that having no love means having freedom, and the question of how Penguin could go back to being so sunny so soon after his mother's death.

See, if theory #1 is correct, here's what I imagine happened with Penguin in and after the final episodes of Season 2a:

1. Penguin believed Nygma when he said that having no love means having freedom. Penguin needed to believe that because he was in so much pain at the time.
2. Penguin's quest for revenge on Galavan allowed Penguin to carry on as his usual, sunny self.
3. Once Galavan was dead, Penguin couldn't carry on like that. As I said in my previous Gotham review, love is the only real motivator. Without love or some sort of quest based off of love, Penguin didn't have anything to push him through the hard times. The GCPD cracked down on his criminal organization, and Penguin lost control of his men.
4. In this episode, Penguin was far from being sunny, but he was still delightfully sassy and entertaining. He was still himself. He was just a very depressed version of himself, which makes perfect sense.

Therefore, because it makes so much sense, psychologically, for Penguin to become so depressed after killing Galavan, I hope that that turns out to be the case.

But from Penguin's general attitude when being taken in by the GCPD, I have a suspicion that he let himself get captured.

I'm confident we'll find out the truth before long.


2. Nygma

The scene of Nygma comforting Penguin in his prison cell was very sweet. I like that Penguin reacts to Nygma with the same kind of warmhearted chuckles with which Nygma's fans (like myself) also react to him.

That scene also seems to confirm theory #1, above, that Penguin did not plan to get captured, since Nygma did not seem to be in on any evil plot that involved Penguin letting himself be captured.

That scene also, however, raises the question of why Nygma has given up on trying to convince Penguin NOT to give up. It could just be that Nygma really doesn't see a way for Penguin to get out of this whole being-in-prison situation. Who knows?

We'll have to wait and find out, I suppose. I imagine all will be revealed when it is revealed whether Penguin planned to be captured or not.

I also like that the writer's aren't rushing Nygma's transformation into The Riddler. He is obviously different now, more openly angry toward others, but he hasn't quit his day job to pursue crime full-time or anything like that. Yet.


3. Despite the four-week jump, we don't skip most of the hard stuff in Gordon's story.

I hate it when TV shows end a season/half-season on a cliffhanger and then come back a few months later with a sizable in-story time jump. That is, I hate it when shows end on a cliffhanger, time jump over all the interesting stuff that happened after the cliffhanger, and come back to the story when everything has simmered down.

Often, the characters will simply describe what happened, or brief flashbacks will show what happened.

What's the point of ending on such an exciting note if you're not even going to let us SEE what happens at that point?

Show me the interesting stuff, the hard stuff that the characters had to go through at that point, because that's the stuff that really defines the character and keeps the story gripping.

We may have skipped some of the hard stuff for Penguin, but I'll be okay with that as long as the truth is revealed eventually and the truth turns out to be theory #1 (Penguin becoming too depressed to rule his kingdom). See, in that case, Penguin is still going through the hard stuff, so we didn't entirely skip it.

However, when it comes to Detective Gordon, it seems we didn't skip any of the hard stuff. We pick right up with him being questioned about Galavan's murder. So, it seems, with Gordon, we merely skipped a lull in his life.

That's the right way to employ time jumps, as a way of skipping the boring parts.


4. Mr. Freeze and Nora Fries

As I've said before, it is common to try and make villains sympathetic by showing the audience that the villains love other people. However, much of the time, it's done wrong and I'm not convinced of the love these villains supposedly have for other people.

For example, I wasn't convinced of Loki's love for his mother in the second Thor movie, because he was just never that nice to her.

But Gotham does it right. It convinces me of the love these villains have for other people. It 100% convinced me of the love Penguin had for his mother, and now, it has convinced me of the love Mr. and Mrs. Fries have for each other.

If Nora had ratted on Victor after the cops picked her up, I'd think, "Oh, see, look, Mr. Freeze. Here you are killing a bunch of people to save someone who can't appreciate it even a little bit." And I just wouldn't care anymore. Not about Victor as a villain, and not about Victor and Nora's relationship.

But Nora DIDN'T rat on Victor. I love how plainly she expressed her feelings on the subject. She said that Victor had done horrible things, and she was inexpressibly sorry for that, but he did them for her, so she couldn't betray him. I mean, that's just a very realistic set of conflicting feelings. It's how I imagine I would feel in her situation.


Overall, a very good episode.

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RATINGS:

General: 8/10

Compared-To-All-The-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 7/10