Gotham has had some issues in the past trying to convert classic Batman Villains to this procedural cop show. With the likes of Harvey Dent, Doll Maker and a few others it’s come across as showy and unnecessary, we aren’t ever going to see Batman fight these guys so why bother, I’m not going to get excited to see Jim Gordan fight a Bad guy that is meant for Batman. So what made Firefly work this week was that it was a villain reinterpreted for this show. Instead of a crazy flying arsonist with burns covering half his body it was a timid girl who wanted know part of this life of crime. Something that is more approachable for a couple of cops. Even her wrongdoing came off as an accident, and you felt sympathy for her. And the idea that she is afraid of fire and doesn’t want to get burned, so she builds a suit is a pretty great reason to go ahead and build a supervillain suit.
This week Gotham was Stronger that previous simply for the fact that the two villains we watched were interesting to see. Penguin is losing his mind and is growing more and more impatient as his mother sits in a jail cell. His strange control over Butch seemed to come into play as Penguins plan is to give Galavand a Trojan Horse in the form of Butch so he can save his mother. Penguin learning about Galavands plan was pretty silly, at least in the way it was portrayed. The weird looking period-specific characters were a strange choice. I suppose they thought hearing an old woman describe the crime was not enough.
So many Guns…
But the story in itself reminded me that at least a few people care about this universe of characters when the old woman said that the founding families of Gotham were the Elliot’s, Cain’s, Crowns, The Dumat, and the Waynes. I remembered that this is a show that has access to over 80 years of Batman history…then once I’ve seen what they’ve done with it I get sad again. With obvious references to a few different plot lines all throughout Batman history, it was a fun nod. –The Elliots being a reference to Tommy Elliot and HUSH, The Cains being a reference to Cassandra Cain a Batgirl. and the Dumas being a reference to John Paul Valley and the Templar order. — while none of that improves the show itself it was a cool touch.
But enough of all this praise were is the weird tone shifting Gotham I know and loathe. Well, its still there in a few places but for the most part that was kept at bay. But the Strikeforce, for example, was another weak spot. If you are going to kill a character and expect us to mourn, we need to know who the heck that guy was. I’ll be honest other that the tiny girl I have no idea who any of the other guys on that strike force was. They had no personality and absolutely no characteristics. I have to assume that it was the same guy who talked a bunch during this episode because that’s how TV works. And the fact that his death affected such a major part of the plot also annoyed me. Gordon is now getting in bed with Galavand –politically of course– and all because of some red shirt that died in the line of duty.
Swingers Party
And Nigma is just weird, everything about him, and not in the way the show wants me to think. Why are we following so much of this guy? He has no plot to tie into everyone else. He doesn’t even have tangential ties to Galavand or Penguin. Now we get to see his bizarre romance and fondu knowledge, but at least we get to see more Morena Baccarin, that’s always nice. This week’s Gotham felt like a slight improvement from previous week’s. With so many comic book adaptations on television right now it’s impossible to think Gotham does anything better than any of them on a consistent basis. But at least for one week Gotham gave great character moments to two central Villains that’s more than Arrow or Flash have done since Slade Wilson.
