Strong Points:
Development of 'Joker' and 'The Riddler'
Action
Unpredictable
Didn't put characters in for the sake of it
Quality acting
Weak Points:
Some scenes with Bruce and Alfred were a bit childish
Odd pacing
Some characters I would have loved to see developed are no longer with us
English slang was cringeworthy
Spoilers ahead:
In-depth Review:
This week's episode of Gotham was like the persona of Joker, one time cold and calculating, another time gleeful and violent. From a duologue between Bruce and Alfred in a train station where Alfred finally agrees to help Bruce, to a bus on fire and full of cheerleaders, this episode went to the extremes and back and succeeded, mostly.
The episode started full on, with bodies thrown from rooftops so as to spell out the word Maniax. Maniax is the name given to the group of asylum residents from last episode and the episode mostly centres on them. While the team technically is composed of five members, only three make it out alive at the end of the episode and only two seem really worth mentioning: Barbara and Jerome, otherwise known as the Joker (maybe). The others include a schizophrenic, a cannibal and a really strong man. The schizophrenic dies quite early on in the episode from one of the people who hired him (he was about to give away secret information so what can you do?) and the cannibal gets killed, rather abruptly, by Jerome for spoiling his joke. Though, not before they could have a great conversation where they tried to say that their crimes were the best (you only killed one of your parents!?) then play a twisted version of Russian roulette.
Cameron Monaghan (who plays Jerome) seemed to develop his acting throughout the episode, from the role giving him character to him giving the role character and really developing his own style of the Joker (if that's what he even is). This is shown by the psychotic lines that he shouts to the camera, for example, 'what makes comedy? Timing'. This on its own is quite normal, however, he does this while shooting himself with a blank. Yeah.
On the other end of the city, Bruce is having father figure problems again, with Alfred destroying the computer holding Bruce's father's work so as to protect him, Alfred then gets fired (with a good argument between the two), Alfred leaves, Bruce feels guilty and asks him to come back but only if he helps him. Alfred agrees and goes to Lucius Fox (remember him?) to get him to help fix the computer. What follows is probably the most awkward exchange ever, with some very bad English slang. *Shudder*. Bruce seems to be there just to be there at the moment, which is a shame but until he becomes Batman, he can't really do to much. Nygma, on the other hand, was great to see again this episode with his slow decent into madness showing the best acting and design in the episode. Being able to change a person's character by literally taking off his glasses just shows the detail going into these shows.
The episode finishes with a massacre at the GCPD. I've got to say I didn't expect this to happen this episode but it definitely sped up the pace a bit. No-one seemed safe, with the Commissioner dying, the cannibal dying, Gotham's hope dying and Gordon... getting beaten up. How Maniax got into a building literally made up of security guards is beyond me, however.
Conclusion: overall, this episode was fun and creepy at the same time which is what Batman's all about right?
Rating: 78%
Thanks for reading, Satamer.
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