Gotham returned this week after a month off. While I was prepared to poke fun at every moment, I was pleasantly surprised with a terrifying story about a man who keeps women prisoner to be the “perfect” wife.
Pros:
Milo. Ventimiglia.: He has a lot of things going for him. He is sexy. And he is a really good actor. He far outdid anyone on the show this week. And his storyline was well written. The play on 50 Shades of Gray was not unnoticed. Considering I absolutely hate the series, I like the message that Gotham was putting across. I was particularly disturbed when he killed his prisoner and opened a chest with polaroids full of other women he has killed. This entire package of acting, writing, and direction is the best thing to happen to Gotham so far.
The Penguin making deals with Litchfield inmates: The Penguin made a deal with a barkeeper this week to be a silent partner. The barkeeper just happens to be one of the characters in Orange is the New Black, so I was instantly happy with this. While it was really over-the-top and silly to cut off a guitarist’s fingers for the deal to be made, I am really intrigued about how Penguin will get Don Maroni to this bar and kill him.
Penguin’s philosophy: Penguin had the best line of the week when he was talking about why money isn’t what he is after in having a stake in the small bar. “All kinds of things motivate people.. not just money.” Pretty good, Gotham.
Bullock’s lines: Harvey Bullock used to have some of the worst lines, and now he has some of the best. This week the kicker was “I deserve a model who likes pasty Irish guys and can cook.”
Fish Mooney’s Plan: For the most part, I liked Fish this week. Pretty weird, I know. But her plan was pretty brilliant. Setting up six of the big guys to fall to The Catcher while she and the weak ones ran to the helicopter was the badass thing I have been waiting for her to do all season. Also, mentioning that none of the big guys knew how to fly a helicopter when they questioned her about why they can’t take a helicopter was pretty funny.
Fish’s acting: When the Dollmaker catches Fish in his office, she acts like she is terrified of the Frankenstein type character in the building. It was only good because Fish acting scared is better than Jada Pinkett-Smith acting Fish.
Bruce the child detective: I like that Bruce decides to take it upon himself to find Reggie Payne in the city. He has a good start, but was pretty lucky that Selena was there to help him. She knew exactly where to go, and exactly how to play bad cop.
Selena the child killer: Speaking of playing bad cop, when questioning Reggie about what he did and why, Selena throws his pills out a window. When he tries to get them, she then pushes Reggie out the window, too. While Bruce hesitated about the decision, she just went for it. This is very telling about the two and where their morals lay.
Cons:
The lack of urgency during the breakout: Every time Fish decided to leave the building, the alarm sounded and she never ran for it. Let’s face it: The Catcher isn’t that fast to showing up for his duty. She could have made it out of there lots of times if she showed some sort of urgency. Also, the fact that she crept around like a Scooby Doo villain full of hijinks and no one noticed is just crap.
Fish’s eye: She dug her eye out of her skull. There are no scars, and I caught several times where her eye wasn’t blue. It could have been lighting, but I also could be right about them not putting a blue contact in for her.
Gordon’s lunch with Bruce: It could mean something in the future, but the scene when Gordon eats lunch at Wayne Manor was just filler. Gordon quickly forgot about investigating Alfred’s stabbing once his ego got in the way.
Gordon’s Ego: So I find it ridiculous that Gordon investigating the dead girl serial killer had to do with taking down Commissioner Loeb and just slid right past why he really took the case. He has an Ego. And the “young officer” who brought the case to him with the guise of justice just inflated Gordon’s Ego. That’s why he took it. And it screwed him in the end. I wouldn’t mind this storyline if the writing demanded more of the viewers then spoon-feeding us the answer and that it was the wrong answer.
Dialogue: The dialogue is absolutely dreadful. I know that this is a different world, but I want to feel some connection with it. Leslie says the serial killer is a “monster” when there has been worse shit in Gotham. Alfred says “Oh, dear” when he starts bleeding uncontrollably. Understatement much?
Easter Eggs:
Hmmm: I didn’t see any. Did you? Let me know!
Predictions:
Barbara and The Ogre: Even before I saw the preview, I knew that The Ogre wouldn’t take Leslie as the one Jim Gordon loves; he would take Barbara. Plus, she is just dumb enough to fall for it. I’m glad I was already justified in this prediction.
Fish Mooney will die: She kind of predicted her own death: “I’m going to get off the island, or I’m going to die trying.” Well she did get shot after all. In the stomach. It’s likely she won’t live after that type of wound.
Hush Comics gives “Beasts of Prey” a B- for building a better story line, Milo Ventimiglia’s acting, but still being otherwise pretty damn cheesy.
All images belong to DC Entertainment and FOX. They are credited to Jessica Miglio.
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