“Bad guys in this town are changing”
An interesting line, for it has to meanings. The first is that criminals aren’t playing by the “old rules”, as Gordon muses to Galavan, which drips in irony. The second is that the criminals themselves are changing, a transformation if you will. Since this season is called Rise of the Villains, it’s only natural that we see people change from on the fringe citizen to nefarious super-villain.
Some of these changes are red herrings, such as Jerome’s “is he the Joker?” tease, which became better when it was revealed he inspires many of Gotham’s degenerate lowlifes to become much more sinister. Others crawl along at the pace of a snail on Valium, such as Nygma’s inner struggle with Riddler and Selina’s not ready for prime time player as Catwoman story. And some race along like a squirrel on Red Bull, as in the case of Bridget Pike/Firefly.
The Firefly origin story seemed very rushed form the start. We first see Bridget as more or less a slave of the Pike arson clan; she’s a cowering, crying girl who shudders at the though of committing a crime. There is so much cowering and crying from Bridget that Selina tries to bust her out and “be free”. Within ten minutes of screen time we see her on her first arson mission with her half-brothers, and she becomes the girl who loves crime and wants more so she makes a special suit to help her. A rather serious 180 degree turn in a short amount of time may not give the character justice. Hopefully Michelle Veintimilla can do more interesting things with Bridget in future episodes.
Nygma gets a short scene, a fondue diner party double date with Gordon, Lee and Kringle. Clearly the writers are slow playing this transformation, but it seems Nygma has been short-changed this season, considering he was getting really interesting in Season One.
The main beef of this week’s story comes from the main beef between Galavan and Penguin, and an ancient beef between the Galavans and the Waynes. In the present, Galavan has Penguin orchestrating city-wide arson to hit many of the Wayne family’s assets, in particular a knife that reveals the source of Theo’s need for justice. It seems the Waynes and the Galavans (nee Dumas) were two of the five families that ruled Gotham’s high society, in what appears to be an aristocratic nod to the Godfather.
What’s interesting is how the Gotham writers play fast and loose with DC canon and invent their own Dark Knight backstory. While there have been dark moments in Wayne history, I doubt anyone has chopped off a love rival’s hand, banished them from town, and stripped them of their assets.
Having Bruce inherit a family legacy that is bloody and vengeful adds another layer of depth and complexity to his future decision as Gotham’s guardian. A stoic secret mission utilizing highly-tuned detective skills echoes his father, while using gruesome tactics and presenting a façade as an arrogant billionaire socialite that harks back to the historic Waynes. This grounded and rooted origin for Batman is an interesting spin on the story that helps the series moving forward, especially now that Bruce is Galavan’s target in his family’s historical revenge quest against the Wayne family.
As for Penguin, he has squirmed and fretted about mom long enough and here he solves the mystery around Galavan. Now all he has to do is exploit Galavan’s weakness. In a moment that is a throwback to The Godfather but takes it to eleven, he sends Butch to infiltrate Galavan’s trust as Penguin’s “disgruntled” employee. But unlike Luca Brasi, whose visit to the Tattaglias ultimately led to his sleeping with the fishes, Butch has proof of his boss’ displeasure and a hard sell that Galavan can relate to, he’s minus a hand.
The highlight of the episode is when Barnes, Gordon and the Strike Force raid The Merc, a weapons distributor meets Home Depot for villains that carries all of your criminal needs, complete with Muzak, monotone P.A. ads featuring discounts and two for one sales, and calls for clean ups in the aisles. The juxtaposition of arms dealer and daily DYI shopping is surreal and at the same time humorous, for why wouldn’t a villain ho-hum their way thorough shopping like regular folk? Brilliant.
James Frain’s poker-faced performance as Galavan is fantastic, interacting effectively with almost every major character without revealing anything to most of them. Galavan is sinister and eerie without being overtly villainous; however, the downside is he’s managed to gain Gotham’s and Gordon’s trust a little too easily.
