The anvil and the hammer are both tough: one hits hard but the other can take it. TV Shows have to be like anvils. With audiences and critics ever trying to beat them down, they have to be strong enough to take the hits and the heat but still stand firm. Those with the hardest and sternest resolve can take every blow to forge a truly brilliant piece of entertainment in the process while the weak will split in sunder. Since Gotham’s final episodes return it has been taking a lot of hits and it looks like the cracks are starting to show as it delivers another underwhelming episode.
The Anvil or the Hammer – With The Ogre holding Barbara captive, Jim is more hellbent than ever on finding him before it’s too late. Bruce attempts to access Bandersalw’s office safe, Edward Nygma is dissolving his own evidence and Penguin makes his move on Maroni.
The ever-too recurring Gotham tradition id to teases a great story element at the end of one episode before quickly delivering a more disappointing result in the next. After a whole season of her character going nowhere and achieving minimal empathy, suddenly Barbara shocked us all last week as she willing walked into The Ogre’s “Shades” playroom. The idea of her suddenly becoming his partner in crime was both unexpected and a fantastic opportunity of redemption for her character that gets dismissed barely minutes into this week’s episode. Though even with plan A out the window, she still had the chance to shine her showing strength and overcoming The Ogre herself, which would both make for great viewing and launch her in a new positive direction.... nope! Instead writer John Stephens spends the entire episode making her nothing more than a damsel in distress waiting for her white knight to save her. He even goes full stereotype with multiple crying and fainting fits. This is not just dropping the ball; this is falling flat on your face with your pants around your ankles for this most disappointing resolution possible. The entire Ogre plotline that’s dominated Gotham’s final run return is even casually discarded for a very throwaway victory for Jim. Barbara’s forced victim selection does nothing for us we barely know the unlucky pair as characters. Neither does speculated over the Barbara/Jim/Leslie love triangle again and if anything only confuses Jim’s motives. We’re left as uncaring as before over Barbara’s fate and possible trauma while concerned that Leslie may be making an end of season exit.
The shining light from this week’s Ogre storyline is Jim and Harvey’s investigations at The Foxglove bondage/S&M nightspot. Gotham frequently produces some of its best material when fully committing itself to fun with a hint of creepiness, and the many exploits of the club members on the tracking shot walk through get some great laughs and even sport some very lavish costumes. Bullock himself looks hilariously dapper in his attempt to scrub up and his playing of the cop card is the biggest and best laugh of the episode. We’ll never know just what took place on stage but it must have been really bad to Harvey do things by the book. Nygma too also provides some good twisted humour as he cleans up last week’s accidental multiple stabbing. His reaction feels the right move for the show by setting this killing as a seed for future darker growths. He clearly still identifies with right and wrong but his final clue dropping scene with Miss Kringle is the real payoff. This is the first instance of giving into his riddle loving nature by deliberately planting a concealed personal signature. Here, he’s using classic Riddler traits but in a more positive capacity. Hopefully, over season 2 we’ll see this slowly transition into using them in a more dark and negative way, most likely out of necessity or opportunity, before finally seeing him consciously committing acts of crime.
The best results this episode comes from the Bruce Wayne junior detective scenes. In this case, it’s great to see Gotham not rushing towards a game changing climax but setup for future seasons as the corruption of Wayne Enterprises is further unravelling with last week’s Banderslaw as the current head figure. The scene of the pair having “the talk” is an unexpected gem of the series as Banderslaw is open and honest not only about the company’s many questionable practices but the long standing Wayne family awareness of them. With the inclusion of the final scene tease, it circles nicely back to the Wayne parent’s murder and giving Bruce a more focused long-term objective. Not only that but it sets up the opportunity for a huge modern comics adaption; The Court of Owls. Bat-gloved fingers crossed we will see the Wayne conspiracy expand out into this organised crime secret society with Bruce pitted against them. The introduction of a young (well, younger than Morgan Freeman) Lucius Fox played by Chris Chalk (Homeland, The Newsroom) also appears pivotal. Fox’s scene with Bruce clearly marks him Bruce’s (and his late father’s) side and should become an inside man ally throughout season 2.
Finally the Penguin/mob war story is enjoyable but flawed. The twist setup of Penguin’s plan in motion is a good surprise and it sees him utilising his strengths of manipulating others but the end result feels a touch unsavoury. If Gotham was going to do an all out guns blazing gang war it should have done it by now; not rush into for a big finale. For the last, God knows how many weeks Falcone has been the aptly named Gangaster Not Appearing In This Episode. Now after such a long break, we’re supposed to care who wins the Maroni/Falcone showdown? The season did plenty of great investment and development work on both these characters early in series but to suddenly return to their conflict in this way feels rather shambolic. Maybe this was the plan all along but in that case the continuity of the extended episode run leaves much to be desired. However, if this gets Penguin into a bigger position of influence by the end of it much can be forgiven as we all want to see the little waddling fellow given the chance to really stretch his sinister wings.
Gotham’s final episodes return continues to fall short of expectations despite showing merit in places. There’s still no sign of wherever Fish Mooney has flown to and Commissioner Loeb is a non-entity. The Joker is right in that we should all “inject a little anarchy” into our lives but Gotham needs to take its chaos out of the driving seat and convince us that much of this season actually mattered more than it currently appears. It has one episode left to do this; for their sake and ours let’s hope it’s a good one.