Like most episodes of Gotham these days, there’s some good stuff here as well as some really not so good stuff. Let’s start with the stuff that I liked, though. There was a great false sense of finality here, enough to really warrant it as a midseason finale. You have a whole group of major cast members, most of whom don’t interact with other until big events like this (here’s looking at you, Alfred). But this already gets us into problem territory because it immediately feels too final. We’ll get to that, though.
I liked everything between Bruce and Silver. There were times when it got very preteen romance, but it wasn’t, really. They’re still playing each other, they’re just finally calling the other out for it. I continue to be excited every week about how well they’re developing Bruce’s character. This week was no different. Bruce is kidnapped and it’s very possible that no one is coming to save him. Yet he remains completely calm. It looks, at first, like he’s already having a classic Batman moment where he’s thought of six methods of escape before he was even thrown in his cell. It’s not that, though. Instead, Bruce is calm because the idea of death really doesn’t sound that bad to him. He even says that he is going to see his parents soon.
When Bruce naturally is rescued, he looks almost saddened by the fact. He cryptically tells his band of rescuers “I had a plan.” It’s unclear, which I like, whether he meant he actually had an escape plan or if he had truly planned to just die and let his suffering be over with.
That was the really good stuff, a heavy midseason finale action with a strong emotional core. Then there’s the rest.
Last week, I swear I was joking when I said that with how bad this show is at dragging out a storyline, they would kill their season antagonist in the midseason finale. I was trying to be witty, but once again Gotham has outdone itself. Clearly, the show is not done with Theo Galavan/Dumas, but he’s at least dead or mostly dead for now.
I have to admit, I was almost out after that, but they reeled me in for the last two minutes, making me cheer like an actual child at the introduction of Mr. Freeze. So, well done, Gotham. I guess.
