“I’m going to have to give you a badge or something one of these days.”
Harvey has yet another surrogate partner in Alfred this week, though I still miss the Dynamic Duo of Harvey and Foxy. But it is both exciting and fun to ride the roller coaster that is Gotham, and while I have been critical of the show on an occasion or two, perhaps have found a fault here or there, it cannot be said the show does not take chances. Not Milli Vanilli-style lip synching chances, mind you, but chances nonetheless. The result has often been entertaining and compelling viewing, and for the most part Pretty Hate Machine hits the mark. This week sees Gotham’s most moral characters turn to the dark side, the villains chew scenery as only they can, and oh yeah, the Tetch virus was unleashed.
Gotham’s most moral characters have flirted with varying degrees of evil. Bruce has been brainwashed by Shaman under the guise of purging his rage to become what Gotham needs him to be. Lee has taken the Tetch virus, which is still out of character, only to become a sultry vixen with her hair worn long and straight. The heavy mascara finishes the vixen look, but the virus grants her superhuman strength, as evidenced when Lee gives Gordon a choke slam worthy of The Undertaker. That’s the one thing you can count on in Gotham; everyone gets knocked out at one time or another, and repeatedly.
Lee’s plan is to give Gordon the virus so he can reveal his true self to the world, and buries him alive to provide some inspiration – either he takes the virus or dies from lack of oxygen. In addition to GCPD working in panic mode to find Bruce Wayne and stop the Tetch bomb, Harvey must look for Gordon, whom he communicates with by walkie talkie because Lee set it up that way. Gordon would rather die than take the virus, but when he pieces together the where and when of the bomb, he takes the virus and punches his way out of the coffin, a la The Bride in Kill Bill: Volume 2. But how does the virus affect Gordon? Before Lee interrupted him, it looked like he was in the middle of stopping the virus bomb. Perhaps Gordon’s extreme righteousness has given him some resistance to the virus. Unlikely, but I wouldn’t put anything past the show.
Bruce doesn’t seem to be fully under Shaman’s control; he hesitates at the top of the episode when Shaman tells him to order the deaths of the Court’s ruling council. Bruce then hesitates at the end when Shaman orders him to set off the virus bomb as Alfred finds them at Wayne Enterprises. But Shaman detonates the bomb anyway. I’m still undecided about the brainwashed Bruce storyline; perhaps Alfred will deprogram him in next week’s episode. What has been great to watch is an increasingly panicked Alfred willing to do anything it takes to get Bruce back safe, whether it’s torturing Kathryn or Hugo Strange for information or killing Shaman. Sean Pertwee has some room to stretch his muscles and the payoff this season is less fumbling Alfred and more Earth One Alfred.
This will, however, cause a rift between Bruce and Alfred, even more so when we know R’as al Ghul will show up presumably in the finale to begin to train Bruce. Hopefully that training will be more exciting than Shaman’s. While it seems Bruce’s brainwashing was clearly due to his “purging” of his rage and the metaphorical necklace in the vault scene, we must remember that Bruce can always be counted on to be on the side of good. Granted, it wasn’t his fault he was kidnapped or brainwashed and he actually didn’t detonate the virus bomb, but it has been somewhat a bit of a chore to watch his training and dip his toe in the Something, Something, Something Dark Side pool, even if briefly. I can get past the Bruce/Alfred rift, which eventually be patched up, if R’as al Ghul’s training is more interesting that what we saw with Shaman.
The villains get to chew some scenery, but there seemed to be a lack of urgency in the search for Penguin. Sure, Riddler gets the jump on him and Penguin escapes, but it feels the villains took a back seat to the good guys enjoying themselves being bad for once. Riddler convinces Babs, Tabs and Butch that since they all conspired to kill Penguin, they can expect their names on the revenge hit list. This week’s action seemed more hide and go seek rather than a cat-and-mouse game worthy of Predator, The Most Dangerous Game, or even Hard Target. Riddler finds Penguin, Penguin and Ivy escape, and Riddler bribes Selena to give them up one the condition Ivy goes free. Cue the confrontation at Ivy’s, and Penguin is saved from death by the arrival of Fish Mooney, who conveniently needs Penguin in what can only be explained as the most obvious deus ex machine ever witnessed. We haven’t seen Fish since Penguin let her escape way back at the beginning of the season, and her appearance is rather jarring – it’s hard to remember how she relates to everyone, especially with all the drama between the characters going on.
But, and that is a big but worthy or Sir Mix-a-lot, I never get bored watching these over-the-top villains attempt to out-villain each other. I’ve always maintained Gotham works best as a show when the villains are over the top, and the casting couldn’t have been more perfect for our rogue’s gallery of dastardly evil-doers. The line between love and hate is a fine one indeed, and despite the threats of killing each other, Riddler and Penguin are and will be the most important people to one another. Watching Babs and Tabs bicker about betrayal is also entertaining, and El Predicto says this is the relationship bound to break down. Hell hath no fury like two women scorned and angry with each other.
Despite the supposed hatred and revenge mongering, the humor between our villains is perfection attained; watching Babs, Tabs, and Butch roll their eyes at Ed’s insistence that Penguin call him Riddler was drier than Hawkeye’s martini on M*A*S*H, as was Penguin’s insistence that the name is stupid.
How the villains will be affected by the virus or its release will be interesting – will they work together as Gotham descends into a madness-fuelled chaos? Will the virus rip apart alliances barely holding on by a thread? What does Fish have in mind, and how is Penguin involved?
Serious Harvey made me subconsciously draw sad face emojis on every surface, and I would have liked to have seen Riddler and Penguin take center stage again; we would not have lost any meaning or information if the virus plot were relegated to B story. Good to see Lee embracing some villainy, even if her behaviour was out of character and blamed on the virus.
Tune in next time – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
