Well seeing as how the suspect is now meat dust, a positive identification would be difficult.”
Harvey’s words to the press are fantastic for two reasons. One, it’s so much fun to see him ad-lib his way through the media scrum as he pretends to be a by-the-book captain; but also, they are also serve as prophetic commentary on the show itself. I’ve written at length how Gotham struggles with its own identity that wavers between self-serious and campy romp, and this stands out among the other superhero shows currently on television. Shows like Arrow and The Flash, for example, are as different in tone as two superhero shows can get, yet they both succeed because of intelligible characters and identifiable stakes that support the plot. That recipe allows the respective shows to explore deeper emotions, from Oliver’s role in creating a horrifying Slade and the ensuing fallout (both emotional and physical), to Barry dealing with his limitations and responsibility in battling another speedster.
Meaningful, realistic emotions are what keep superhero shows grounded; the more grounded the characters are, the more we care about them. Not because they are bad ass and have cool powers but because they are real people who are flawed, just like us. The cool powers and bad assery is merely icing on the cake, but that cake needs to be layered for the audience to invest emotionally in their endeavours despite how far out the situations might be. If the audience can’t connect to the characters and care about their plights, then they won’t tune in every week. Arrow and The Flash have managed to achieve this, but Gotham? Not so much, unfortunately.
There is a lack of emotional investment in Gotham’s characters, and when there are snippets for the audience to snack on those snippets vanish as quickly as they appear. It’s almost as if the show is based more around “moments” rather than crafted arcs, and “Wrath of the Villains: A Legion of Horribles” makes the case. A lot of things happen in this episode, but they add up to a lot of nothing by the end. We’ve seen this over the course of the season where characters and subplots are shoehorned into the main story that leaves you with saying “So What?” At least Miles Davis will be happy. Another show that gets it right and is arguably the best at it currently is Game of Thrones. I know what you’re thinking – it’s not a superhero show! The thing is, Game of Thrones actively executes carefully planned arcs with characters that are flawed and we care about them, while at the same time providing equally compelling action sequences.
What burns my bacon is that Gotham does have many interesting elements in the mix; Indian Hill, run by Strange who likely ordered the murder of the Waynes. Strange’s ability to revive the dead and, as in the case of Fish, retain their memories. Then there’s the larger picture of Strange’s employers, the Court of Owls which will presumably take us to the season finale and hopefully into season three. We’ve only looked at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Gordon’s moral ambiguity, his killing of Galavan and Penguin’s knowledge of it. Even Bruce’s hero worship of Gordon and Thomas Wayne are elements that could be developed further. All of the above are compelling ideas and themes, but Gotham glosses over them in favour of “moments”.
The “moments” are Fish Mooney’s reanimation and another break-in/escape plot. But crafting stories about Bruce being in danger doesn’t do it for me, as mentioned in an earlier review, so I won’t hammer the point home. But since we know Bruce will live and eventually become Batman, there are no real engaging stakes in the Bruce-is-in-danger storylines that fill many of the episodes’ subplots. That being said, there is a difference between suspense and surprise, as outlined by Alfred Hitchcock; but in this case it isn’t relevant as we are aware of the eventual outcome and thus there is no suspense for the audience. Developing Bruce’s psychological change as a result of his parents’ murders and training both physically and mentally would be more interesting and engaging, especially if we see obstacles, mistakes and revelations that come with that training.
What we have instead in “A Legion of Horribles” are recycled storylines we’ve seen twice before; Bruce is in danger and Gordon, Bullock, Alfred and Strike Force are out to save him, with Nygma and Fish as part of the action.
There are some good moments in the episode as well; Strange and Bruce in a cat-and-mouse game over tea as Bruce visits Arkham. They go through the dance, even though each knows about the other, but they keep up the pretence. We’ve seen this clever tête-à-tête in previous episodes and they have worked well. These moments as well as some of the more campy elements are what make Gotham fun to watch. Even Nygma gets in on the action when Strange takes him up on his offer of help; he is delightfully sinister in dealing with a captured Bruce and Lucius, “I think you’re not quite grasping the power dynamic here, turtleneck.” Even a fake Gordon has potential, but I fear it will be brushed aside within the finale as most ideas that have potential seem to get benched early. But Fish’s resurrection was anti-climactic and likely unnecessary, most likely engineered by network executives to exploit and capitalize on social media hysteria.
There’s no emotional impact to this, nor when Selina tries to talk down a raging Firefly, or, performance aside, when Nygma tries to get answers from Bruce. Not a lot has been done to make us care about these characters and their actions, and thus we get only “moments”. The audience is force-fed twists and turns but they aren’t relevant to the overall story events, and the faux-drama doesn’t create quality long-term storytelling. The season finale seems to come to a head with lots of explosive action, but the fear is that none of it will matter.
Tune in next time – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
