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Glass Half Empty Gotham Season 01 Episode 09 "Harvey Dent" Review
There’s something about Gotham that makes a whole lot of sense in theory. The idea of watching a version of “Year One” focused exclusively on James Gordon (or, well, Year -7, give or take a few seasons if the network has anything to say about it) that really should work like gangbusters. But more and more Gotham seems like an origin story for everyone but Gordon. Which is actually fine. Fantastic, even, because despite a great performance by Ben McKenzie, James Gordon’s straight laced, good guy, boy scout routine is just far too one note to really milk much drama from the premise. So when an episode focuses exclusively on James Gordon, it really drags the show as a whole down.
There’s a case to be made that we need Gordon to really struggle
against the corruption, and nearly be broken by it, to see him become the kind
of cop that is willing to let Batman
do so much for the city. A large part of the reason these two iconic characters
start off in an uneasy alliance is because Gordon recognizes his limits within
the department. But “Harvey Dent” doesn’t showcase the corruption or Gordon’s
loss of faith because it’s too busy setting up the pieces for the midseason
finale. And that’s the real problem with this show—it’s always eying its next
big event. The first weeks of this month brought us a showdown between Gordon
and the mobsters that was brewing for weeks. With Falcone having emerged
triumphant, with Cobblepot as a double agent in Maroni’s organization, the show
could have let us get to know more about Gordon and even figured out a more
organic way to work with Bruce Wayne. Instead we got one character driven
episode (last week’s excellent “The Mask”) and now we’re ramping up with “Harvey
Dent”. The titular character here wants to bring in Gordon’s witness—or let the
mobsters know that’s the plan—and as Gordon has nowhere else to put the young
Selina Kyle he takes her to the Waynes’ own home. Alfred’s chagrin could barely
be contained, and I have to agree that this sounds patently ridiculous. I don’t
need absolute realism, Gotham, but
wouldn’t it make much more sense for Gordon to bring in Federal Marshals at
this point? Surely even Falcone doesn’t have the kind of pull to get to her in
another state.
But I digress, the real failings of this episode rest solely
on its most important character—Nicholas
D’Agosto’s Harvey Dent. In the comics, Dent has come to be known as a
vicious crusader of a DA who had an affinity for flipping coins. After having
half his face burned off (either by a hitman out to kill him or by his own
failed move against the mobsters, depending on which canon you adhere to) he
becomes even more obsessed with chance and holds a grudge against a number of
people for his accident. He eventually becomes a criminal who wants to punish
other criminals sometimes but other times is happy to punish the GCPD and
Batman in lieu of this. D’Agosto brings a certain smug overconfidence that is
right at home with the character, but the random burst of rage belie a
formenting personality disorder that I don’t think works too well. The idea
that his accident (and the death of his wife) cause the breakdown in his psyche
is more compelling than the suggestion here that he was always pretty messed
up.
A little quirk to a character’s origin isn’t that bad,
though. The real issue with Dent is how Gordon is basically willing to tapdance
for him, giving in to his demands when he knows the danger they pose to Selina
Kyle. Even if her name is brought up, how many people have seen Gordon talking
with her? I would love to give the show the benefit of the doubt, and say it’s
playing with Gordon’s loss of faith. But it’s clear we’re instead being tossed
just enough substance to nod our heads and accept the falling dominos so the
finale next week makes sense while also likely blowing minds.
The worst part, though, is that I could probably accept the setup
if the rest of the episode wasn’t so lackluster. Our villain of the week is a
bombmaker with issues fitting into society being forced by the gangs to do
something or other that all feels very much like an afterthought. Nothing
memorable happens with the case, and by the time we end on Barbara in bed with Renee
the episode has done nothing that feels crucial at all. It’s clear we were
killing time for the finale, so here’s hoping next week’s episode will actually
do something worth the wait.
Score: 5.0
Duck It:
Watch it Like a Fox:
- Gordon makes bad decision after bad decision for no reason.
- The case of the week was, in a word, weak.
- The best characters are sidelined (Harvey and Cobblepot. Who need a spinoff).
- Bruce and Selina having a war with foodstuffs was pretty adorable.
- At least with this score I can make a "50/50" joke.
Trust Issues Gotham Season 01 Episode 08 "The Mask" Review
 |
| "That's definitely a Fox logo, Gordon. You can't fight them!" |
Confession: turns out its super hard to do NANOWRIMO
(National Novel Writing Month—Google is your friend) while simultaneously
writing ~5000 words in weekly superhero TV show reviews. Nonetheless, I will go
back and review that errant episode of Gotham,
and will get last week’s Arrow review
out before the end of the day. Today, though, let’s talk about “The Mask,” Gotham’s eighth outing, following
directly after a decent end to the first arc. So without further ado, the
review:
Trust is an interesting concept. Putting one’s faith in
another being, especially another being which has the capacity to lie, seems
ludicrous on its face. And yet, sincerity leads to cooperation and genuine
appreciation for another person. So long as you don’t break someone’s trust,
chances are you will get along swimmingly and have a great relationship. But
when you do happen to lie or betray
someone, it can be an uphill battle to bring a relationship back to a normal
standing. Tonight’s episode of Gotham
explores the lost trust between Gordon and the precinct in general, but Harvey
Bullock and Sarah Essen specifically, and cements the series as a worthwhile
watch.
We open the episode on what looks like a fight club for rich
white guys, with two dudes fighting in an empty office building, and one of
them ends up getting a little cut up by a paper shear made into a makeshift
sword. Edward Nygma thankfully doesn’t pile on the riddles when he finds a
finger in the deceased man’s mouth after his body turns up in a dump.
Gordon has a chat with Coleman’s (the victim’s) mother,
which turns up little. But after chatting with an informant, Harvey and Bullock
find out Coleman had a business card in his pocket for Sionis Industries. The
two head over to talk with Richard Sionis (Todd
Stashwick), whose penchant for masks should be familiar to comic fans. The
real lead, however, comes from a bathroom break. Gordon investigates and finds
a guy with a bloody nose, and another with a bleeding hand who tries to take
Gordon down and escape. Bullock’s “heroism” prevents this, naturally, and after
an interrogation they realize Sionis hires employees for his financial firm based
on who wins in old school arena matches. It’s as stupid a plot as you would
imagine, and yet, that’s where Gotham
seems to be finding its magic: embracing the campier elements of the comics.
It only gets campier from there, as Gordon heads to the
abandoned building Nygma managed to clue them in to. He’s promptly knocked out
by Sionis, only to reawaken in the midst of the fight club, now more of a
“Murder and you’re hired” club, though. Instead of the victor being the person
who bests the other applicants, he will be determined by the one who finishes
off Gordon. Pretty lax motivation for taking down a cop…. But then Sionis adds
a million dollar signing bonus. Gordon’s “Oh crap,” just about sums it up. Back
at the precinct, Gordon’s absence has Bullock worried enough to rally the
entire squadroom to action. After taking down the three would-be entry level
employees, Sionis himself steps into the ring with a samurai sword and demonic
mask. Gordon takes him down by stealing his sword. For a brief moment, he
appears to want to let out his rage and disillusionment into Sionis. But this
is Jim Gordon. He does things by the book. Essen and a gaggle of cops come in
to back him up as he arrests Sionis. The denouement has Bullock and Gordon come
together to renew their uneasy partnership. Gordon is still not going to turn
away from what he feels his duty is: protecting Gotham and bringing down the
scumbags who are making the task difficult for him, and Bullock is still more
or less out for himself. But now he’s willing to back Gordon when it counts.
Penguin, meanwhile, intimidates a woman into giving him her
broach, which he uses to get back in Fish Mooney’s good graces. She’s not
buying it, and stabs him with his own gift. And licks the blood. I presume they
don’t know about AIDS or Ebola yet…. After their altercation, Penguin, trying
to figure out how to fix the bad blood between him and Mooney, asks the most
reasonable person he knows for advice: his mother. It’s no wonder he ends up
kidnapping Mooney’s new errand boy and squeezing him for information before
unceremoniously offing him. On the flip side, Mooney continues her plans
against Falcone. She uses her new secret weapon, Liza, to grab some info from
Falcone. I had my doubts about this storyline, but it’s shaping up nicely. Liza
is struggling to justify her actions because Mooney is already rich and
respected; why does she feel the need to try and replace Falcone? Mooney takes
her aside and shares a few details of her past—she was allegedly abused as a
young girl, and has sworn to never be subservient to any man. How much of this
is true remains to be seen, as Mooney chats with the mysterious old woman who
sings at her club and is now confirmed as her mother. We know there’s a nugget
of truth there, which is all Liza needs (along with a kiss on the cheek from
Fish in full “den mother” mode) to get back in the game. The best part of this
plot is that Mooney gets to prove she’s got the skills to hang with Falcone and
Maroni as far as being a manipulative gangster. After all, what better way to
do this than to have her honeypot Falcone? That’s certainly a strategy Batman
never tried.
Speaking of Batman, when we join Bruce Wayne this week, he’s
finally ready to return to school. Well, Alfred is ready to have him return to
school. Bruce finds all the children… childish. Of course, Thomas Elliott
(comic readers should recognize him as a youthful Hush) seems to be out to
prove him wrong by asking for all the details on his parents’ deaths and then
confronting him in the hallway for a good ol’ fashioned brawl. He comes home
with a bruised face, leading Alfred to teaching him a cool trick with a watch
around the knuckles. It’s a great turn around when Bruce rolls by Elliot’s
house and lays him out, telling Alfred it would be an incredible shame if he doesn’t punch Elliot into next week for
insulting his family. I have to agree. Of course, this leads to the final
scene, where Bruce feels empowered after taking down Elliott, and asks Alfred
to teach him how to fight. A decision he will no doubt regret. I kid, I kid!
But seriously, Alfred got this whole “fighting evil” thing started, so he
really only has himself to blame when Bruce decides to become Batman.
From the beginning, this episode seems to want to confront
the idea of Gotham finally turning around, thanks in no small part to Gordon
standing up to Zsasz and, later, the mayor and Falcone. Sarah Essen is ashamed
to have run out on Gordon. It’s true, she has a family. But she’s also
contributing to the system that will make life incredibly difficult for that
family as long as they live in Gotham. Bullock says he didn’t mean her when he
mentioned the precinct’s cowardice. But of course he did. Even he wasn’t willing to back Gordon until
the very end. It’s a tough issue to tackle, especially because Gordon is so
traumatized. Even when he tells Barbara what she wants to hear—“there are no
monsters”-- in the end, he could only struggle futilely against the mire of
Gotham’s degeneracy. The dream of a better Gotham—a decent city where he could
live, love and even prosper—died with the Waynes.
Of course, the other theory floated in this episode is that
Gordon is just itching for a fight. Naturally this has less credence given the
mythos behind the character, but it’s an intriguing theory devised by Harvey
Bullock. The likelier case is that Bullock is using this as an excuse to
disengage from Gordon completely. Why bother helping the guy if he’s going to
go for losing battles? While he ultimately decides to stick it out, his
sentiment is perhaps shared by an equally disillusioned Barbara Gordon.
And let’s take a minute to talk about Barbara Gordon. A lot
of people seem to dislike her, and I have to admit I was a bit aggravated when she didn’t leave town as Gordon requested.
But Erin Richards did some fantastic stuff in last night’s episode. The trauma
of being kidnapped by Zsasz and held hostage has her drowning herself in booze
and pulling a gun on Gordon when he enters the apartment. Her character’s
evolution seems to have been fast tracked by last week’s episodes, but it’s
great that she’s no longer just the spoiled fiancé with a drug problem. When
she runs off in the episodes final act, it’s from a more mature position. I
can’t tell you how grateful I am that Gotham
didn’t make this about an affair (though I’m sure that will be coming if we’re
following the comics). Rather Barbara really can’t take the stresses of
Gordon’s job, and some part of her also likely feels he will be better at his
job if she’s not around to get kidnapped.
The show also served up a great deal of character
development to Gordon’s other (comic book) love interest, Sarah Essen. Zabryna
Guevara sells the torment Essen feels for abandoning Gordon well, and when
Essen ultimately steps up for Gordon—signing on to look for him before others
in the precinct and then actually finding and helping him bring Sionis in—it’s
a pivotal moment in their relationship. Even if they don’t explore a romance
between the characters, a friendship that will almost certainly endure has been
forged.
“The Mask” plays with a lot of plot threads, and ended up
paying off most of them within the episode proper. Though some seams—like Fish
Mooney’s and Oswald Cobblepot’s—are not yet fully woven into the fabric of this
new arc, the majority of the episode appropriately deals with the fallout from
Gordon’s rebellion. Glad the series didn’t simply slip back into things with a
lame case of the week. Instead, we had a decent, if not wholly original case of
the week. Though Selina Kyle was very
jarringly forced into the episode to set up a cliffhanger. When it focused on
rebuilding the trust between Gordon and the precinct, the episode was firing on
all cylinders: progress was made without sacrificing characterization. As
mentioned above, Gordon and Bullock are still the same characters, with the one
difference being they realize they can coexist now. Even in Gotham. And when it
counts, they can trust each other with the important things—like their lives.
For a city like Gotham, that’s worth more than the whole of Sionis industries.
Score: 8.0
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- The precinct finally has a great, resonant storyline.
- Alfred is teaching Bruce how to fight! There's really no way that's at all responsible guardianship, but who needs a responsible guardian when you could be inspired to superherodom?!
- Liza and Fish are developing quite the distrubing dynamic.
- “I’d give you a ‘good cop’ routine, but it’s not in my toolkit.” Have we established that Bullock has the best lines?
- Terrible, terrible use of Selina Kyle.
- Seems like MCU should be around somewhere...
- Honestly, I'm split on Sionis, but I think he's ultimately a detriment to the episode as it never really explored his mania sufficiently. Hopefully Todd Stashwick will return in later episodes, though.
Not so Magical Arrow Season 03 Episode 05 "The Magician" Review
“The Magician” is an interesting episode of television. Arrow very often tries to elevate material that could be considered “campy” or “comic booky,” and it usually does so by grounding the motivations and methods of various characters. But this has never really worked for characters like Malcolm Merlyn. Even Slade had a very human character arc wherein he was driven mad by the pain of loss and rage against his situation (which turned into rage against Oliver). But Malcolm Merlyn, while ostensibly human enough to care for his child(ren), had such grand ambitions that he literally wanted to remake Starling city. And devote years to building a device which would cause an earthquake to destroy the “unworthy” Glades. There’s little that can be done to make that sound even slightly plausible, but by dropping John Barrowman into the role, the series has managed to get away with a lot. And in truth, even “The Magician” doesn’t push us over the edge of suspended disbelief, it just drives us right up to it with a few moments.
Picking up directly after the cliffhanger, Oliver has to
tell Nyssa that Sara is dead, and the pain on Katrina Law’s face is palpable,
as is every other scene involving Nyssa tonight. There’s something to be said
about how powerful an actress Law is for making us so heavily invested in Sara
and Nyssa’s relationship after only seeing three or four episodes worth of it.
Nyssa progresses through the five stages quite admirably, as she lashes out at
Laurel for daring to wear the jacket she gave Sara, pleads with Oliver to kill
Merlyn and finally seems to come full circle on her opinion of Laurel taking up
Sara’s mantle as the Black Canary. I know Nyssa is unlikely to get much more
screen time, so it was out of necessity that she seems to have so quickly
accepted Sara’s demise, but it’s a little weird when juxtaposed against the
rest of team Arrow who are all still clearly struggling. I don’t even know if
Oliver’s smiling muscles work anymore.
If there was a fatal flaw in this episode, it would almost
certainly be Oliver’s pledge not to kill coming back to bite everyone in the
arse. Okay, let me preface this by saying I completely understand the decision
to keep Oliver on the path of no killing from a creator’s standpoint. Having
him willy-nilly violate an oath basically made on Tommy’s name would be
tasteless. Yet, there’s not really any explanation for why Oliver doesn’t call
Merlyn’s bluff on his island prison. Or take out his knees with a couple of well-placed
arrows. Or let the League of Assassins take him as per Nyssa’s request.
Promising to protect Merlyn from the wrath of the League is just the opposite
of what he should be doing, and makes a somewhat believable character feel too
over the top. It is nice to see Barrowman chew the scenery while telling Oliver
how damning either option—freeing or killing him—would be.
The episode is essentially a cat and mouse game between Merlyn,
no doubt the titular magician, and team Arrow + Nyssa. But the tension of the
hour is flaccid because we know Oliver isn’t going to kill Merlyn from the
start. It only gets worse when Nyssa kidnaps Thea to get to Merlyn, and not
just because Roy attempts to dazzle her with parkour only to receive a knockout
dart. Thea isn’t going to be in any real danger even if she hadn’t received
Merlyn’s training. Nonetheless, the show plays up the kidnapping subplot for
the rest of the hour, and though we get a few nice action sequences, I couldn’t
help but feel like there was too little substance.
While not a truly bad episode, Arrow only manages to do Nyssa justice in the first lackluster
episode of the season. Here’s hoping the introduction of Ra’s Al-Ghul can wipe
this episode from our collective memories.
Score: 7.0
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- You were craving closure on the Sara/Nyssa arc.
- You enjoy Roy's useless parkour.
- You've been waiting to see an extended, unique super speed setpiece.
- *15
- You don't just let Malcolm Merlyn go free with no consequences to him.
- You want more Nyssa time. You can only speed up grieving so much.
- Really guys? Still not telling Detective Lance?
Back On Track The Flash Season 01 Episode 05 "Going Rogue" Review
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| CW |
The Flash is
proving to be quite the dizzying series. Last week I complained about the lack
of real progress in the main character arcs as well as a lack of interesting,
complex and challenging villains. This week, I can scarcely believe I’m
watching the same show as the week before. And it’s primarily thanks to the
ever amazing Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett
Rickards from… Oh come on, you know) as Barry’s temporary sidechick and Wentworth Miller as the cool badass
Captain Cold, who actually pushes Barry to do some really cool things by being
truly heinous: killing someone while he and Barry do battle.
The episode starts as idyllic as usual, with Barry playing a
trio of games against his labmates in STAR Labs. Then they hear a robbery is
ongoing, and Barry races off to find an armored truck being attacked. He
manages to stop the robbery, but not before a guard gets shot. He gets the
guard to the hospital and has a chat with Joe about the robber. After a fast
flip through of a suspect book, Barry singles out Leonard Snart. Funny name,
but not so funny guy—he’s a notoriously skilled thief who meticulously plans
out his “jobs” so he can get away clean. And his latest job involves using a stolen
“cryogun” to rob a museum full of diamonds.
From here, episode becomes a fast paced, high stakes thrill
ride full of the superhero action I had been waiting for. Make no mistake, this
isn’t to the detriment of the characters. How could it be when Felicity shows
up? Felicity, Eddie, Barry and Iris have a particularly amusing and
illuminating scene at a local restaurant when Felicity and Barry somehow get
invited on what’s really a date for Eddie and Iris. The flirtations between
Barry and Felicity start with their killing it at game night and getting each
other’s nerdy jokes, and end with Barry planting one on her!
The Flash Streak has a much worse date night. He runs
out to stop the museum heist, only to face the wrath of Captain Cold. And in a
pivotal scene, he fails to prevent the death of an innocent bystander during
the battle. I admit, actually having Barry fail is perhaps the most engrossing
thing about this hour. And to add insult to injury, turns out the cryogun was
developed by Cisco. The same goofball that’s such a huge fan of Barry was trying
to figure out a way to kill him, should it ever come to it, before they met. It’s
all very Batman. And yes, I did just compare Cisco to Batman. Weird… Point is,
Barry is double demoralized by the fact that his own friend came up with the
device that ended someone’s life.
He gets his mojo back, though, by having a nice chat with
Felicity as she’s leaving via train. Train that is promptly attacked by Captain
Cold. In the climax, the show really shines by having Barry rescue every single
passenger on the train in a stunning sequence. The way the red blur traverses
the tumbling, shifting mass of train cars as they crumple towards a stop after
the crash is truly some of the best work the show has done. It’s the equivalent
of Arrow’s best hand to hand combat
scenes, and I am really thrilled this series has the budget to do stuff like
this. After rescuing everyone, Barry faces down Cold directly and it’s not
looking good until Cisco arrives to save the day! Once again, I’m impressed
with the depth that has been added to Cisco’s character over the past few
weeks. He’s really become interesting in his own right. He bluffs Captain Cold
into backing down, leaving the inevitable return on the table. The episode ends
with reconciliations all around, and Captain Cold encountering old buddy Dominic
Purcell Heat Wave. Now this looks
like it’ll be good!
Score: 8.0
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- Yeah, Captain Cold!
- You're all over the Barry/Felicity.
- You've been waiting to see an extended, unique super speed setpiece.
- *15
- Iris and Eddie are driving you crazy.
- You want Felicity on this show all the time.
Who Do You Believe? Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 02 Episode 06 "A Fractured House" Review
 |
| ABC |
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
has gone from being one of those shows I felt obligated to watch, because it
had such a strong cast and took place in the Marvel universe, to a show that I
genuinely look forward to week after week. Looking at this episode, it’s little
wonder why. The reason S.H.I.E.L.D.
has managed to become compelling is it is willing to actually build up and
explore storylines this year rather than kick the can further down the road. We’ve
already gotten a large amount of payoff on Skye’s and Coulson’s character arcs,
with Skye finding out who her father is and Coulson embracing the crazy and
writing out the alien map. But tonight it’s all about Ward. Ward is a
polarizing figure in the show’s mythos. From the beginning, many a joke was
made about how generic and bland Brett Dalton was, but then toward the end of
the first season, it was revealed that Ward was HYDRA and working with the
traitorous Garrett. After capturing him in the finale and locking him away, he’s
done little but wallow in self pity. Or plot his next evil, depending on who
you ask. Dalton’s certainly putting a lot more into the role this year, and I’m
genuinely unsure of whether Ward is heading toward redemption or damnation.
Considering they planned an episode around more thoroughly
explaining his motivations, and have clearly set up Ward’s brother, Senator
Christian Ward (White Collar’s Tim Dekay) as even more coldhearted and
evil, I’m leaning redemption. But it’s exhilarating because I could genuinely
see a great twist coming from these assumptions.
But before we discuss the duplicitous brothers, why not get
into the main arc of the episode? Namely, HYDRA attempting to smear S.H.I.E.L.D.’s
name by attacking a UN dignitary who supports them. Christian Ward is very
hands on with his anti-shield propaganda, and it’s becoming a real problem for
the group. Not as much of a problem as HYDRA themselves, though—when Coulson
sends a team of agents to talk with the Belgian UN man about working together, the
agents are dispatched by HYDRA. Coulson, not knowing what has happened, tasks
Bobbi, Lance and Melinda with investigating the incident. A couple of epic
fight scenes later and the group is all safe, with Bobbi and Lance even hinting
at rekindling their romance a little.
Speaking of rekindling relationships, now that Gemma is
back, she takes some time to go and see Fitz. Fitz is unhappy with her for
obvious reasons (he feels she abandoned him) and is far less moody around Mack,
which frustrates Gemma in turn. A tense scene between Mack and Simmons plays
out, with Mack saying he doesn’t know the guy Simmons left behind, but he does
know the guy that’s currently there, and he’s pretty cool. Simmons says she
didn’t leave him behind for her, but for Fitz himself. It’s quite a complex
issue: Simmons genuinely believes by getting out of the way she could maybe help
Fitz become who he was…. But should that be a priority when the current Fitz is
still quite the cool guy, regardless of a few mental ticks?
For all the good things this episode did, however, S.H.I.E.L.D., is still at its best when
it is actively working on the main arc of the series. Though Ward taking out
the guys transporting him to his brother and escaping will definitely tie back
into this arc, the show definitely lost a little momentum. That said, things
are certain to pick back up next week when we finally get some answers on
Coulson’s wall writing!
Score: 8.0/10
Watch It Like a Fox- You enjoy morally ambiguous characters like Ward. Or his big brother.- You’ve waited for Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter to start finding the magic again. It’s only been two episodes, but it’s necessary without Hawkguy around.- The Age of Ultron trailer. Seriously, how cool was that? And Cap totally almost picked up Thor’s hammer!Duck It:- Not quite filler, but definitely less plot motivated than earlier episodes.
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