Synopsis: Gordon and Bullock set out to stop a biology teacher who has been harvesting the glands of his murder victims.
For the first time this season on Gotham, the show has a two-part episode… yet gave each one a different title. This week’s, “The Scarecrow”, surpasses “The Fearsome Dr. Crane” in nearly every way. It’s more intense, there’s more explanation, two future villains “faceoff” for the first time… and we had no Selina or Barbara! What an episode.
We left off last week with Gerald Crane forcing others to face their fears, and then killing them in the process. When cornered by Gordon and Bullock, he got away. We also got a glimpse of the future when Jonathan Crane himself made a brief cameo. This week continues the Crane mission but is a little more disturbing. The fear toxin itself is created and tested. As the first REALLY cool nod of things to come, we get a few glimpses of what young Jonathan has in store for the future.
On the normal side of crime, Falcone and Maroni come to an agreement to leave the Penguin alone. But it comes with a price, as Maroni clearly states when he visits Oswald in his new club (soon to be named “the Iceberg Lounge” I’m sure).
Finally, speaking of that ol’ bird, he gets a fantastic face-to-face scene with Edward Nigma. Their meeting was odd, funny and perfect. Plus, there was a riddle which I actually got (I’m horrible with riddles).
That’s the main gyst behind Gotham‘s latest effort. Each storyline is moving forward (albeit some more than others) and it’d be interesting to rewatch the first episode of the season to see how the show has evolved. It has, in some ways better than others, but it’s getting there. My main problem with the show (besides Barbara) is its inconsistency. We’ll have a good, solid episode surrounded by a few that just don’t know what they are or want to be.
“The Scarecrow” knew what it wanted to be, and accomplished its goals in the hour it was given. I’m scared to see what’s in store for the next episode, but I guess that was Gotham’s purpose this week anyway wasn’t it?
Rating: 8 / 10