“How come no one ever hides something in a place that I’d actually like to search, like a brewery or a strip joint?”
Harvey is bang on about his existential crisis and I totally agree with him, though both the house he and Gordon search and the aforementioned gentleman’s club are about as dark as a CSI episode, and the moral of the story kids is you may not like what you find when the lights go on. In the case of our dynamic duo, they find a second crystal owl that projects a map of Gotham when light passes through it and Barnes back in full force, though dressed in some Steampunk-inspired leather outfit with an axe for a hand. Turns out he’s working for Kathryn and the Court, or so she thinks. Ah, the best laid plans….turns out Barnes is more loyal to his twisted sense of justice than Kathryn or the Court and he promptly relieves her of carrying the burden of her head on her shoulders. With a blade so swift and sharp, all that was missing was a cry of “there can be only one!” followed by a brief flash of lightning, and if we were lucky enough, a Sean Connery cameo.
Turns out we aren’t so lucky, and neither is Kathryn or the Court – or is it? Let us now reflect on our Greek mythology and recall the Hydra, who sprouted two heads for every one lopped off. The Court isn’t dead, considering we knew Kathryn wasn’t even the leader. What we had in All Will Be Judged was a lot of people being rather judgmental to each other, and thematically it worked for most of the episode, even if some storylines should have been given priority over others.
First and foremost, only Harvey’s sarcasm elevated what is for the most part a long, drawn out storyline with Gordon, Kathryn, and Barnes. Gordon discovers a Court hideout; he and Harvey find a hidden room in the building and find a crystal owl only to be thwarted by Barnes, who destroys the crystal. Harvey later deadpans, “due to circumstances beyond our control, the owl went boom.” Barnes abducts Gordon and takes him to an abandoned courtroom where he is reprimanded by Kathryn and judged by Barnes. Some clever thinking buys Gordon time while Harvey and the GCPD show up only for Barnes to escape.
Shouldn’t be too difficult, right? “There’s a nut job running around in a leather suit with an axe for an arm,” says Harvey, but the nut job in question proves to be rather elusive; almost too elusive for a large, angry nut job in a leather suit with an axe for a hand. That’s some pretty impressive stealth skills, people. Somewhere, in the jungles of South America that make Cambodia look like Kansas, the Predator is jealous. A few more chases, fights, and escapes heaped on a story that could have been told in fewer beats and still accomplished the goals of bringing Alfred’s Court story into line with Gordon’s, though we have Harvey’s wonderful quips, and we get to see Alfred torture Kathryn for info on Bruce. However, Barnes’ assault on the precinct interrupts that moment, and her beheading effectively cuts off the interrogation for good (see what I did there?).
As for Alfred, it only took a few episodes and a thump to the head to realize Clone Bruce had been living in stately Wayne Manor rather than real Bruce, whom he had raised practically from birth. In a way this makes sense, as Bruce has always been a bit weird and Alfred more than a bit stubborn; in addition, Clone Bruce had the turtleneck thing down pat, almost as if he’s watch Bullitt a few times.
Selina’s entrance and her fight with Clone Bruce reveal the truth; after all, she was determined to kill him, as we saw at the end of last week’s episode. While Alfred has usually treated Selina like something he is compelled to scrape off his shoe, their conversation about saving Bruce was entertaining. Selina defended Bruce to Clone Bruce last week, but she feigns indifference to Alfred, presumably a teen thing to do. In a nice moment, Alfred calls her on it, not only reminding her Bruce would do pretty much anything to help her, but he also compares Selina to her deadbeat mother, which was worse than any slap Alfred could have laid on her (and we have seen said slap in Season Two). I figure Selina would have assisted in searching for Bruce, but such things aren’t going to be handed to us on a plate easily. Not only will Alfred’s barb inspire her to action, it will serve as a reminder on behavioural course correction when needed in the future as she becomes Catwoman.
Speaking of Catwoman, where is the payoff with every alley cat in Gotham surrounding Selina after her fall from the window last week? These setups without apparent payoffs are what burns my bacon; elements can be set up for a payoff down the road, but we likely aren’t going to see a teenaged Selina become Catwoman, so why show us in the first place? The producers have always teased us with Selina and cat references, but here’s the thing: we know she will be Catwoman, so it isn’t really necessary, much like the Bruce in danger storylines we endured and to a lesser extent, the Gordon in danger.
Meanwhile, Bruce hangs out with the Shaman, whose plans are to destroy Gotham in order to rebuild it, etc., etc. Turns out Shaman is the leader of the Court, which gives Bruce a better understanding of his role with the Court and his anger over the death of the Waynes. What Bruce doesn’t realize is placing the metaphorical string of pearls in the metaphorical vault not only purges him of his rage, but makes him susceptible to Shaman’s control. Either at the season finale or early in Season Four Bruce will snap out of it and use his rage to fuel him best to become Batman.
The best storyline of the night, not surprisingly, belongs to Penguin and Riddler. Truthfully, I could have watched these two for the entire show. After last week’s cliffhanger, which saw our dastardly duo meet face to face following Riddler’s attempted murder of Penguin, we were treated to tense but delightful interactions between our favourite villains arguing who was the most wronged party. They put their pettiness aside and agree to work together to escape the clutches of the Court, who have them locked in large birdcages, both a nod to the Owl motif and a throwback to the 1960s TV series when large birdcages were aplenty.
Teaming up has never been more fun to watch, as both men negotiate terms for an uneasy alliance which may not make sense on any other TV show but does here with these two characters. And while they claim to hate each other, in truth they really delight in each others’ company and busted out of the Court’s clutches worthy of Sly and Arnold in Escape Plan. In fact, the entire episode could have been centered on Riddler and Penguin’s détente and escape and there wouldn’t have been any lapse of pace or logic. As I’ve always said, Gotham works best when it allows it villains to flourish and take center stage, and Cory Michael Smith and Robin Lord Taylor play off each other so well it’s frustrating the show isn’t called Penguin and Riddler: The New Odd Couple.
Lastly, we have Lee inject herself with the virus, now convinced she was at fault for Mario’s death and not Gordon, and this after the Mad Hatter told her so. Since when does she listen to and believe a madman? She married Mario, Mario was infected with the virus, Mario was going to kill her, and Gordon killed Mario because of said attempted murder. Gordon didn’t unleash the virus; Jervis Tetch did, so she should really get over it. To quote the wise philosopher, 16 time champion Ric Flair: “You might not like it, learn to love it. WOOOOO!”
So Lee decides or allows Tetch to convince her it’s her fault and she should be punished, so she injects the virus into her arm. Considering Lee spent a lot of time recently blaming Gordon and Harvey for not protecting the city, this is a totally out of character action for her to take. What does it really accomplish, except fulfill Tetch’s mission to unleash the virus on the city. The problem here is Lee has never been presented as a character that put her own feelings before the safety of the good citizens of Gotham; this felt like a contrived move for a character that the show really didn’t know what to do with from the start.
More Harvey this week helped me with my fix, and a very entertaining storyline for Penguin and Riddler that could have filled several episodes if they knew what was good for them. Both saved this week’s episode, as well as another successful Ric Flair reference – WOOOOO!
Tune in next time – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
