Duck Fox

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.