By MEGHAN O’CONNOR
Staff Writer
“Gotham” returned from its mid-season hiatus on Fox four weeks ago with all-new episodes. Already renewed for a second season, fans are excited to see the rest of this season and figure out where the writers are planning on going. With the first four episodes after the mid-season hiatus: “Rouges’ Gallery,” “What the Little Bird Told Him,” “Welcome Back, Jim Gordon,” and “The Fearsome Dr. Crane,” viewers got a lot of information and a glimpse of what to expect from the rest of this season.
The show takes place during an interesting time in the Batman universe. Jim Gordon, portrayed by Ben McKenzie, has just started working in the homicide department in Gotham City along with his partner, Harvey Bullock, played by Donal Logue.
At the same time, young Bruce Wayne’s parents have just been murdered, and Bruce has made it his mission to solve the case. As if that wasn’t enough action, different gangs are fighting to rule Gotham. Fish Mooney, Carmine Falcone, and Sal Maroni all want to be the top dog and will do anything to get into that position.
When the audience last left Jim Gordon, he was being removed from his detective work and moved to a position as a security guard at Arkham Asylum. The first return episode, “Rouges’ Gallery” picks up right where we left off. While it might not exactly be a glamorous job, it gives the viewers and Jim a chance to meet some new characters. The audience is introduced to Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who seems like she is going to be pretty important for multiple reasons, including being Jim Gordon’s new love interest. We also meet Jack Gruber, who by the end of the episode has become the new villain that the people of Gotham should fear.
In the second return episode, “What the Little Bird Told Him,” Jim has been reinstated as a detective in the Gotham Police Department and is working with his partner Harvey once again. Jim and Harvey do a great job balancing each other out and working together to solve the cases thrown in front of them. This doesn’t change when the newest villain, Jack Gruber, aka The Electrocutioner, starts to terrorize Gotham. Jim comes up with a unique way to catch Gruber.
While all of this is going on, the writers also continue to extend the gang plotline. When a character who is working for both Falcone and Maroni reveals this to Maroni unintentionally, it leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen to the character and what exactly Maroni is going to do about it. At the same time, Falcone turns the tables on Mooney once he learns that she has been deceiving him for the entire season so far.
What I loved about these first two return episodes was that things moved quicker than I was expecting them to. I was worried that the writers would keep Jim at Arkham Asylum too long and bring the plot to a screeching halt. There was just enough time at the asylum that the viewer got a glimpse of what it is like there. The second episode was a great reminder of why the normal, formulaic episodes of “Gotham” work so well.
However, there were also things that I was not happy about. Neither of the episodes showed us anything in regards to what Bruce Wayne has been up to, nor did they give us any explanation as to why he wasn’t around. One of the show’s main plot lines is Bruce trying to find out who killed his parents, and without that in the episodes, I found myself losing interest at points.
Another part of the episodes that I did not enjoy was the continuation of Barbara Kean’s plotline, or lack thereof. To be fair to the writers, they did try. They’re doing their best to keep her in the show, obviously because she will be important later on, but right now she’s not doing much at all.
In “What the Little Bird Told Him,” the audience sees her again on her obviously well-off parent’s doorstep, and she’s planning on staying with them for a while. At this moment, I don’t see why this is important and I found that it made the episode drag a little bit.
“Welcome Back, Jim Gordon” starts off with a new case for both Jim and Harvey, and Bruce Wayne being back. When it comes to the new case, Jim is put in a difficult situation. While trying to solve the case and putting things together, it looks as if one of the cops is in on the crime.
Harvey and Jim stumble upon a drug stash in a house that is run by some cops, getting more than they bargained for. When Jim reaches a standstill in the case, he calls upon Oswald Cobblepot. Cobblepot, who is working for Falcone, decides to do the favor for Jim and he does save the day. But in the end, the viewers see that it might not have been the best choice on Jim’s part.
This episode also brings back Bruce Wayne and we find out where he has been. Albert, Bruce’s butler, decided that Bruce needed to get away for a bit and they went on vacation. He’s back now, though, and looking for Selina Kyle, a witness to his parent’s murder who claims that she saw who did it.
However, their meeting doesn’t go quite as planned. When Bruce is finally able to catch up with Selina, she tells him that she has lied the whole time and does not, in fact, know who killed his parents. Whether or not this is true has not been confirmed.
In the most recent episode, “The Fearsome Dr. Crane,” the audience is introduced to another new villain. While this is interesting in its own right, what is more interesting is who his son is. Dr. Crane’s son, Jonathan Crane, will become The Scarecrow, who is one of the villains that Batman will later come up against.
While this is interesting, the episode is more about Dr. Crane himself, who is terrorizing Gotham and killing people with the things that they fear the most. Jim and Harvey fail to catch Dr. Crane, though it’s not without trying, leaving him in Gotham for another episode.
There was nothing I didn’t like about these two more recent return episodes. I thought they were both very strong and are doing an excellent job of moving the story along. I found myself engrossed while watching them, and even afterwards, when I moved on to different activities, I was still thinking about them and what could happen next. There’s a good chance that if the writers continue going in this direction, the rest of the season is going to be very strong.
Overall, I enjoy “Gotham” more than I had thought I would. While the episodes themselves certainly vary in how much I enjoy them, I find myself continuing to go back to “Gotham” every week.
I don’t know exactly where they’re going to go, simply because I don’t know much about the Batman universe. But, in a way, I think that makes the show more exciting for me. It’s going to be interesting to see where the writers take the show.
