If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: The Arkham inmates are still running freely in Gotham and they’re only getting more difficult to catch. Gordon develops a plan, but reluctantly has to turn to Bruce for help. Meanwhile, Barbara finds out just how far her new friends are willing to go for her. (IMDB)
Writer: Danny Cannon
Director: Nick Copus
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 42mins
Airs: Thursdays at 8pm on CTV (Canada)/Fox (United States)
We’ve seen Jerome working towards his big plan over the last few episodes and this one saw him put that plan in action. Despite failing, he would still have something up his sleeve in what was one of the least shocking shockers of the series. Meanwhile, Barbara was still getting acclimated to her new life.
This episode started with Jerome and his gang kidnapping the interim mayor and a few other prominent members of Gotham. Bruce got his first “batmobile” from Alfred. Penguin had been having doubts about Jerome’s plan for a while now and he finally decided to voice his concerns to Gordon. He didn’t know much about the plan but he knew about the crazy gas.
Jerome’s big plan was to interrupt a music festival, setting up all his captives in chairs with dynamite collars around their necks. Of course he wanted Gordon to show up. Meanwhile, Freeze and Scarecrow hijacked a lab in order to make more gas. There were two empty chairs on stage because Jerome wanted Jeremiah and Bruce as well. This season has been especially gruesome and this continued here once Jerome detonated one of the collars.
Today just happened to be Bruce’s birthday. Selina showed up as she usually did, claiming that she didn’t know that it was his birthday. She confronted him about his douchey past but he didn’t have much of an answer. Their moment ended abruptly once Gordon and Lucius showed up. Gordon asked for Bruce’s help. They had a plan to cut the signal of his detonator, giving them enough time for snipers to take everyone out. Bruce was impressed with Jeremiah’s mind and also convinced Jeremiah to tag along.
Bullock to a team to check in on the lab and he found it in ruins and the gas was gone. Gordon’s plan failed as Jerome anticipated it and had the GCPD snipers taken out. Meanwhile, Penguin tried to convince Tetch and Scarecrow that the plan was madness as they were loading the gas onto a blimp. Tetch and Scarecrow knew that he had alerted Gordon so Penguin was knocked out and placed on the blimp so he could watch the gas being dropped onto the crowd at the festival.
Jerome tried to show that Jeremiah was just as crazy as he was. With the blimp coming, Gordon was fed up and shot Jerome. While everyone else was trying to flee from the blimp, Gordon chased after Jerome. Meanwhile, Penguin was still on the blimp and had to contend with the hypnotized pilot. Gordon had Jerome dead to rights on a ledge and he shot him again. It looked like he went over but he held onto a pipe. He tried to save Jerome, however, Jerome let go and fell to his death. Afterwards, Bruce offered to help fund Jeremiah’s work. Though Penguin saved the day, surprisingly, he didn’t know how to land the blimp.
Barbara ordered her team of assassins to kill members of a rival gang who showed up to her club. She then learned the history and secrets from the league of shadows and also why she was chosen. She found an old painting of a woman looking just like her, implying that she was a descendant of the league. Whatever path she was now on, Tabitha wasn’t going to be a part of it. After she got kicked out and beaten up, she was picked up by a group of men who claimed to serve Ra’s al Ghul.
Jerome may be dead but he isn’t gone as he made sure to send a gift to Jeremiah that sprayed him with a special type of crazy gas thus creating another Jerome.
Overall, this was surprisingly another good episode that continued this arc by showing Jerome’s grandiose plan fail and lead to his death. Jerome had mostly been an annoying character until this incarnation thanks to some better writing. It was obvious that his brother was going to assume the role eventually so the end didn’t come as much of a surprise (maybe that’s what his plan was all along?). Maybe Jeremiah will continue where Jerome left off and how will his relationship with Bruce come into play? Bruce got a batmobile which was a nice tidbit. Barbara’s story had become stale but it’s nice to see her have a direction and the battle between rival Ra’s al Ghul groups will be interesting to watch. With only 4 episodes left, it will be exciting to see if the season could end on a strong note.
Score: 8.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.