“You see an abyss and you run toward it.”
It seems everyone is running towards their own personal abyss in Gotham.
A bored Barbara becomes Bat-crazy Babs when Galavan blasts her bindings so she can bump off Gordon. This level of crazy might have been bubbling beneath the surface her entire life, but Babs really turned it up to eleven when he donned a bridal gown and tried to marry Gordon, perhaps even kill him at the same time. It’s the most we’ve seen from Babs in a few eps and she makes use of every second of screen time given to her.
Gordon brings his research that Galavan was behind all of Gotham’s recent madness to Barnes, who says it’s a nice theory but without any rock hard evidence it’s all rather limp. Only when there is ironclad proof can the police can act against the Mayor. Barbara crashes the party and strolls right into GCPD headquarters because, when one is the most wanted woman in the city, that’s what one does.
Gordon plays along with Barbara’s craziness to get her to confess everything about Galavan so he can then arrest him. Barbara agrees to talk after she shows him a “surprise.” Two weeks in a row and we have an “it’s a trap” moment worth of Adrimal Ackbar. Gordon knows this, he’s a clever cat, and persuades Barnes the information Barbara can provide is worth the risk. Lee is not impressed, especially after Gordon kisses Babs and feigns affection for her to gain her trust. It’s Lee who utters the aforementioned abyss phrase, and she’s right. But not just about Gordon, who has a soft spot for Barbara, it’s everyone in Gotham who runs toward their abyss.
Right on cue, the ambush occurs in mid-transit. Babs and Tabitha knock out and take Gordon to the church where they were supposed to be married. In her wedding dress, Babs reveals she will marry then kill Gordon, and has a priest and witnesses kidnapped to move the service along properly. She even managed to have Lee captured and brought to the “church on time,” to quote Bowie, and witness it all. Babs wanted to show Lee who Gordon really was, but the tables were turned when Lee revealed she knew Gordon killed a man for Penguin, thus spoiling her moment. In a throwaway line, Babs reveals the location of the missing mayor James, thinking it won’t matter. More on that later.
Cue Gordon escaping his bonds, Harvey, Barnes and Strike Force arriving, a chase to the top of the church, and Gordon holding Babs high above the ground. Babs lets go and plunges to the ground, but not before bushes breaking her fall and surviving with a lot of injuries. Even though she took lumps worthy of Wile E. Coyote, Barbara lives for another day, and it will be interesting what she unleashes once she recovers.
Barbara’s abyss is Gordon, the relationship and marriage that never came to be and her desire to see it through to the end. While it would have been easy to portray Babs’ craziness in a bombastic and theatrical manner, it’s her restrained madness that is more chilling; she nails the crazy eye that gives many a man the frights. It will be interesting to see how Barbara develops as the season and series continues; to have her continually pine for Gordon will certainly diminish a good character who has the potential to become one of Gotham’s super villains, whether she turns out to be Harley Quinn or not (likely not).
Galavan, meanwhile, managed to think of a way to get Bruce to sign over Wayne Enterprises by exposing the company’s illegal dealings and that a boy can’t possibly have a chance at cleaning up a multi-billion dollar corporation with a board willing to kill to protect its secrets. But Galavan can do it, and as a “signing bonus” offers to give Bruce the name of the man who killed his parents and why. For young Master Bruce, alarm bells should be ringing; if Galavan is truly altruistic, then why not hand over the information if he really wants to clean up Gotham?
Alfred says pretty much the same thing, but uses the word ‘extortion’. Bruce isn’t listening, he wants his parents’ murders avenged as soon as possible, and this is his abyss. We know this drives him to later become Batman, but it would be too easy for Bruce to gain the information rather than solve it himself, which looks likely to happen. Perhaps not this season, but as the series progresses Bruce will solve this case, with or without help. He is about to sign the papers and changes his mind, as Gordon and Strike Force storm the manor and arrest Galavan for James’ kidnapping and torture, but not before Theo tosses the Wayne murder file in the fire, much to Bruce’s anger.
It’s interesting to note Bruce wasn’t as googly-eyed over Silver as he was in previous episodes. Has the charm worn off, or has Bruce focused on the fate of Wayne Enterprises? We’ve seen Bruce flip-flop from dedicated and focused on training to lovesick puppy over Silver’s femme fatale charms and back again. Is that part of being a teen? Sure, but one would think Bruce’s training might involve intellectual as well as physical challenges. Yes, Alfred said there is no timeline for this kind of thing, but a refocused Bruce is more entertaining to watch.
Nygma, now made “whole” with Riddler, drives out to the middles of the woods to have a picnic with Kringle’s body, speaking to her as if she’s still alive, and then bury her in the ground, because that’s what maddened, nefarious, soon to be super villains do. Riddler is Nygma’s abyss, and he’s finished running toward it; he’s dives in head first and embraces the horror, to paraphrase Colonel Kurtz.
Nygma is interrupted by a wayward hunter, whom he kills with a shovel to the head, then realizes his picnic was eaten and he follows the footprints to the food thief – the wounded Penguin, who begs for help. Hopefully this Penguin/Riddler dynamic will push the story ahead and pick up the pace.
Part of the problem with serialized TV shows is the pacing; Gotham isn’t slow, but isn’t moving along on a good clip, either. Alas, there are twenty-two network episodes to consider, whereas premium cable and stream-based content are in the ten to thirteen episode range which can provide quality story and push things along without dragging. A solid, top-shelf example of this is Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix.
Bat-crazy Babs certainly saved this episode from lagging. Hopefully the writers will shift into a higher gear and story can cruise along.
Tune in next week – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
