“Things are going to be unsettled here.”
Galavan’s master plan involving the Order of Dumas comes to a head in the mid-season finale, and it’s clear (if it wasn’t in earlier posts) that these eleven episodes are vastly improved over season one, even if some haven’t been as strong. The showrunners have brought together all the key characters from seasons one and two and placed them on either side of the line in the sand, which allows us to begin to finally glimpse the grander scale of Gotham’s world as has been anticipated.
But, and that’s a big but, the episode has its uneven moments.
Gordon, after taking more than a few lumps from Galavan and his two bent cops, wakes in Nygma’s apartment along with Penguin, but he ever questions why Nygma would be associating with a known criminal. Gordon knows why he himself would cross paths with Penguin, especially now he is a fugitive from the GCPD. Barnes knows Gordon is innocent, but he’s a by the book cop and must follow the rules, something Gordon used to be but we have seen his conscience challenged over the course of this season as he made less honourable decisions, however justified they are.
As far as Gordon knows Nygma is a law-abiding, if odd, guy who works in the lab at GCPD, so to not question it aloud was unrealistic. To top it off, Penguin casually dismisses the situation with a shrug and a “long story – he’s a friend” quip. Perhaps Gordon doesn’t care as he is compelled to take down Galavan and will do whatever it takes to achieve that, even if it means teaming up with Penguin. Makes sense, since he can’t go to GCPD for help and he can’t do it alone. Penguin also wants Galavan and he likely wouldn’t let Gordon go it alone to miss out on revenge. So Gordon has bigger fish to fry, but he could have said something to both in the vein of “We will talk about this later.” It’s a small gesture that shows he isn’t clueless, but the line doesn’t mess with the story progression or the pace.
Alfred escapes from Tabitha and tries to jack a car, only to be tasered by the GCPD and arrested. It’s a shame Alfred is reduced to comic relief here as we have seen snippets of badass combat skills in previous episodes and he does show them again in the big battle later on, but this scene really feels contrived in that it was a way to get Alfred to GCPD so Barnes can find him when Fox reports Bruce and Alfred missing. Thus, Fox, Harvey, Barnes and Alfred are now together, ready to look for Bruce. But they need Gordon; problem is they don’t know where he is. Cue a chuckle and a riddle from Nygma, who leads them to his apartment.
Things have fallen into place a little too easily and convenient for our heroes, but they arrive after Lee, who reaches Gordon first to plead with him to leave Gotham and reveals she is pregnant. The two are ready to set sail when the boys arrive and tell Gordon Galavan has Bruce; now he can’t leave, but promises to catch up with Lee when it’s over. She drives off, not looking too convinced.
Cue big shoot out, dropping bodies and Gordon arresting Galavan, who laughs it off, knowing he will get out. Gordon then has to decide whether it’s better to kill Galavan right then and there to save Gotham. Barnes arrives to take the decision out of his hands, then Penguin puts it right back in them as he KOs Barnes and the two take Galavan to the very same docks Gordon faked Penguin’s death in the pilot. There’s no faking this time, however, as Penguin beats Galavan with a bat before Gordon shoots him in the head.
The question becomes then – is Gordon the rise of the villain in question? Does he become the criminal mastermind of the city? It’s unlikely the showrunners, despite having a generous amount of room to work with, are going to break canon. DC simply wouldn’t allow it. Sure, they can have their characters hover in the shadows and return to the light, but they will not become the darkness itself. We have seen Gordon struggle with his own darkness over the course of the series, and it’s a safe bet he will continue to struggle. One thing for sure is he won’t slip into the madness that a sociopath like Jerome would be proud of. Gordon’s decisions have been to defend Gotham against truly evil individuals and while that may not be palatable for some folk, desperate times call for desperate measures. Gordon will also have to live with this decision, and it will be interesting to see how this will affect him moving forward.
Bruce making peace with his impending death seems too stoic, but he believes he will see his parents again which makes this easier to bear. Silver attempts to sweet talk again, but he sees through it and doesn’t take the bait. While he has grown in his use of guile, Bruce hasn’t lost his compassion, which he uses here when he tells Silver in front of Galavan he loves her, to help put her back in his good books.
As we hit halftime in “Rise of the Villains”, it is an appropriate moment to take stock of what has happened so far. Nygma and Penguin are manifesting into the iconic Batman adversaries we know and love, while Selina and Harvey Dent are still in limbo between good and evil; this was necessary as Galavan was the main focus thus far. While Galavan bordered on the melodramatic, his plan had potential to weave in and out of an entire season in a Keyser Soze-like manner, yet ended up being thwarted almost too easily. It may not be completely over for Galavan, as his body ends up at Indian Hills; an experiment or two could bring him back to cause more trouble, and the tease of both Hugo Strange and Mr. Freeze gives us something to look forward to in the season’s second half, where “realistic” villains might go by the wayside.
Tune in next time – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
