It was ironically appropriate that last week’s premiere commenced to the sounds of Perfect Day (and also hilarious how it timed with Fear The Walking Dead doing exactly the same a day earlier). Could it have been much better for Gotham? It was an outstanding return that was a firm knuckle sandwich to the throat of many voices openly writing the show off. It was evolved and improved in every way and to top it all off the show runners subsequent confirmed that they will be adapting the highly acclaimed Court of Owls storyline from DC's New 52 Batman reboot. It’s a good time to be a Gothamite. Yet one success doesn’t make a pattern or a trend. Gotham still needs to follow it up this week to make us believe we’re witnessing the dawn of great show rather than just a lucky shot.... and it most definitely does! As the villains start to run riot so does the entertainment. Gotham is now confirmed as essential viewing.
Knock, Knock – After convincing Gotham’s mayor to take a “leave of absence”, Theo Galavan sets his newly liberate Arkham residents loose on the city under the alias of The Maniax. Jerome quickly establishes his leadership but their actions are no laughing matter. Meanwhile, Bruce and Alfred bring in someone else to help with Thomas Wayne’s old files.
Megamind told us the difference between a villain and a supervillain is presentation. This is immediately a fun and well explored area as Theo Galavan sets his new team of criminals (The “Maniax”) to work. He has murderers, rapists, and cannibals in his ranks but that isn’t enough. They need style and stagecraft to deliver a fear inspiring persona. Unsurprisingly, young Jerome is the star pupil but this fits in well with not only his implied Joker destination (“The laugh is fabulous, use that”) but his circus origins from last season, his first demonstration to Theo screams of observational traits from circus ringmasters. As for Jerome, Cameron Monaghan fairs much better this week. There’s a greater degree of control to his mad sadistic energy, which confirms the hopes that his antics last week just an OTT audience re-establish. Now, he feels like someone we’re really going to love seeing running off the leash. At times, he’s positively magnetic as he asserts his will and desire for leadership amongst the group. The episode does an excellent job in establishing a bigger picture goal and purpose to Galavan’s appetite for destruction. His hilarious opening of him blackmailing the Mayor out of office combined with his speech about creating peoples worse fears then giving hope, implies a clear object: he’s going to run for Mayor in his place. So he’s already creating the widespread problems for him to miraculously solve while winning over the voters. The episode is highly effective in quickly establishing the impact of the group’s activity. In fact the level escalation at the episode’s climax is genuinely shocking with some brilliantly disturbing material.
As the villains assemble, there’s some great mirroring in the protagonists with hero teams forming or regrouping. The biggest case is Lucius Fox being recruited to team Bat-origins. Chris Chalk made a welcome impression in his brief appearance last season, and it’s great to see him reappearing this week in the beginning of his cast regular status. There are links to the more familiar Morgan Freeman portrayal as Fox is brought on board for his technical knowledge, to help uncover Thomas Wayne’s secret files. It would be very natural for Fox to be the gateway towards other tech developments. His recruitment is also a surprising highlight of the episode as Alfred’s convenient run in gets bathed in tension while Alfred decides over trusting him. He achieves an impressive level of cold intimidation for all the English breakfast imagery he uses. Bruce and Alfred’s scenes stumble this episode. They have some great moments together but their fall out is a big waste. Any such plot gambit should at least carry some lasting significance, not be taken back 10 minutes later! Similarly on the rallying heroes ,we have the reunion of Harvey Bullock and Jim. Of course, this was always going to happen, but the episode plays on the circumstances well. It pledges Bullock with plenty of reasons to stay as a civilian (like his lady, now fiancé, from last season wanting him to stay) but his tip off to Jim skillfully demonstrates that though he can drop his badge and gun, he can’t block out his detective mindset; it’s just who he is. The climactic events provoke necessity for him to re-don the hat and trench coat. Once more, this city needs its best alcoholic crime stopper.
The best overall success of this episode is the humour. Knock Knock nails it in both darker context and straight out lunacy. From little gems like the bodies past the newspaper window to chainsaw vs. samurai sword, and of course a good whip round with the mayor. Naturally, Jerome takes centre stage as his Joker foreshadowing gets laid on thick and fast. There is a little danger of overkill but thankfully it’s so much dam fun we can overlook it. As the man (he’s confirmed as 18) himself proclaims, “There’s nothing more contagious than laughter”. Some of smaller plots are creeping along nicely. Edward Nigma’s attention returns to seeking Ms Kringle’s affections, but his newly-found split personality skews into a bizarre Me, Myself, and Irene scenario (“maybe she’s like me better”), which triggers an endless circle of Jim Carey/Riddler references. Barbara may not feature as prominently as we’d like following last week, but the episode explains this well as, for now at least, she’s being saved as an anti-Jim Gordon specialist. She does get a wonderful scene when unleashed onto him. Penguin and gang are completely absent this week but the content is so good they’re surprisingly not missed. Hopefully, we’ll get to see them back next week and enjoy how they react to the new Maniax in town. Will Oswald see a threat or an opportunity?
The stakes are higher, the thrills are greater, the characters are bigger, bolder....... and every episode doesn’t end in a shoot out. Season one already feels like a different show. Several good long running plot points are already in place, and despite the short term delights, their results will still pass the verdict on this series. The court may not yet be in session but this episode is one hell of a hoot.