If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
As quickly as the show returned, it is now about to leave again in order to make way for the 24 reboot. This season has lacked any real direction so far so let’s see if this episode will be any different and send the season off on the right note before it returns in April.
Synopsis: With Jerome on the loose with one Target in mind Bruce and Alfred safety is compromised, meanwhile Gordon’s Uncle Frank pays him a visit. And Nygma and Penguin are forced to confront their issues face-to-face with possible deadly consequences. (IMDB)
Writer: Seth Boston
Director: Louis Shaw Milito
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 42mins
This show has too many characters so the best episodes are the ones with one or two storylines and that was the case here. Gotham lost power at the end of the last episode so all hell broke loose. Jerome and his gang went crazy and were wreaking havoc throughout the city, leaving Gordon, Bullock, and the rest of the GCPD very busy. But what was Jerome’s ultimate plan?
The previews already gave away that his plan involved Bruce so that wasn’t much of a shocker. But for Gordon, he had to talk to Lee who still hated him. The whole Lee hating Gordon subplot hasn’t worked so far but it is what it is. As soon as we learned what was happening, Jerome and some of his cronies were already at the mansion. He wanted to kill Bruce then and there but in order to buy some time, Bruce convinced him to make his death more of a spectacle which Jerome acknowledged his ploy the buy time but also agreed.
The season has been building up the relationship between Penguin and Ed and this has all led to this episode. Ed and others have been working on bringing Penguin down and this was the episode where everything came together. Ed led Penguin to a trap when he thought he was saving him. But when Barbara, Tabitha, and Butch wanted him to turn on Ed, Penguin start to reevaluate his relationship and began to see things from Ed’s perspective. When Ed led him to the riverfront to kill him (it’s always the riverfront when you want to kill somebody in Gotham), Penguin tried to talk his way out of it by reminding him of their past and trying to convince Ed that he needed him. Ed thought hard about what Penguin said but the fact that he killed Isabella was hard to ignore so he shot him anyway and pushed him into the river.
Back to Bruce, Jerome took him away from Alfred but he seemed to be the more worried one. Alfred reminded him of his training and left him alone with some of Jerome’s cronies. Of course he survived with Gordon showing up just in time. He, Gordon, and Bullock found out where Jerome took him and brought the GCPD with them. Jerome took Bruce to his own twisted amusement park full of rides and very murder-y games like people throwing darts at a person instead of the balloon in their mouth or a dunk tank with piranhas in the water. Despite what was happening, Bruce was not afraid.
Of course Gordon, Bullock, and Alfred arrived just in time as Jerome was about to kill Bruce. Jerome still managed to fill a canon with various shrapnel but Bruce managed to free himself just in time. Amongst the chaos, Jerome followed Bruce into a hall of mirrors where Bruce wanted him to pay for what he did. Jerome gave up his gun but still had a knife but it didn’t matter as Bruce got the upper hand on him. Bruce managed to get a few punches in and dislodging his face but when he was in a position to kill him, he chose not to. When they got back outside, Gordon stopped him from getting back at Bruce and punched his face completely off before arresting him. His arrest seemingly calmed things down on the streets of Gotham
Alfred used the incident as a teachable moment. Alfred was proud of him and the man he’s becoming. Bruce told him the idea of killing Jerome felt right, like justice. Alfred teaches him about the line between vengeance and justice. He told him that this was what his training was leading to and gives him a rule to abide by which was to not kill. Kathryn gives a speech to CB (clone Bruce if you forgot) about needing him to fix Gotham. The other part of her plan was sending out Gordon’s uncle Frank (James Remar) to try and court him because no one refuses the court.
Overall, this was a great episode featuring a great performance by Cameron Monaghan and also having some actual character development with Bruce. The Penguin thing was surprising but not really. The Court of Owls angle will definitely be intriguing when the show comes back in April.
Score: 8/10
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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.