[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Director: Hanelle M. Culpepper
Writer: Robert Hull
Stars: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue & David Mazouz
Summary
Gordon investigates an assassination attempt on Mario while Nygma seeks vengeance and Bruce and Selina research the mysterious key.
Positives
It is so great to have Gordon as a cop again. I forgot how much I enjoyed Gordon and Bullock being detectives together. Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue have great chemistry so I was thrilled to see them get so much screen time as partners. I also love that Bullock gets to be acting captain again. Logue is a lot of fun in that position and I hope Bullock gets the official title soon.
The mystery revolving Mario is interesting by the end. I’m still not invested in the character but the plot around him is more enticing. There are two major twists one of which is fairly obvious while the other completely blindsided me. The episode ends on a fantastic note with the latter twist. It actually makes me appreciate previous episodes more and adds nice context to why Mario is the way he is. It’s really well done.
Corey Michael Smith is a lot of fun in the Nygma plot. He really gets to go over the top and he plays it well. I also like that Nygma is designing contraptions and torture devices. He actually makes a guillotine for a hand; it’s hilarious. Barbara also gets to play detective in this plot which was surprisingly fun. It’s interesting that she seems to have that in common with Gordon; I wonder if that’s intentional. I really hope she tries to become a detective at the GCPD at some point. That would be hysterically funny.
The plot with the Court of Owls is starting to interest me. There is a group in the episode that was once in league with the Court but they were betrayed. This group has given Bruce a chance to destroy the Court in some way. I just enjoyed getting to know more information about the Court and some context for the story.
Negatives
The scene between Gordon and Lee towards the end is a little silly. She is literally getting married tomorrow and she thinks it’s a good idea to make out with another dude. I like the sentiment behind it; they were ripped apart by unfortunate circumstance and tragedy. They never got closure from the relationship. But the kiss is a little much.
Verdict
This is a really solid episode; Gotham is on a roll this season. It might actually be the best DC show on television this season so far. Its only real competition right now is Supergirl. The episode adds some nice layers to the story that they were obviously planning. It’s a very focused episode but never lose sight of the show’s insane tone. This is an excellent episode and I had a lot of fun watching it.
