Gotham "Rogues' Gallery" Mid-season Premier (REVIEW)
written by Omar Castillon (@omar_castillon)
After the insane fall finale back in December, we were left with Gordon in the world of Arkham Asylum. As the head of security, Gordon has to deal with legitimate crazies that were all influenced by the mayor and the Falcone family’s territory fights with Maroni’s crime family. I called it from the moment that the crime family wars began that this would influence the outcome of everything leading up to Arkham Asylum’s reopening. It was a twist in the fall finale when Gordon was placed on guard duty for the Asylum since he wanted to shake things up with the mayor and the whole corruption deal. Instead as a test to Gordon, he had two options, leave or move to Arkham. After Barbara left him for Montoya it was more of an influence to go on and transfer to Arkham. The big question is, does Gordon still have a shot to fight the good fight?
We begin with a play that is orchestrated by the nurses and the patients where in an almost cliché manner a storm sets the mood for a wild night in Arkham. Nice little bits of awkward singing and choreography make for the eerie atmosphere that Gordon is in charge of. Once one of the inmates begins to sing (quite nicely) one of the inmates gets up and starts beating the singer mercilessly until he is finally broken up by Gordon and the orderlies. From then onward it is a mystery as to who in the asylum is causing deadly electroshock therapy sessions. Bullock comes in to the investigation as Gordon’s back up and it’s a great highlight in the episode since they seem to be like old buddies teaming up again. Gordon still does have his good graces and even has a good interaction with his former captain. A new character comes into the equation in the form of one of the doctors in the Asylum. Dr. Leslie Thompkins played by Morena Baccarin (cue the Firefly theme song!) is the latest helper in Gordon’s investigation of the Arkham electroshock mystery.
On the b-side storyline, there is the eventual bullying of Cobblepot raising taxes in one of Maroni’s territories. This territory is the docks for which it seems horrible to do since as Maroni puts it later in the episode, “They risk their lives out there.” It’s not like he’s wrong, but it was pretty pathetic seeing Cobblepot sink down to depressing levels of power. Sure he has Maroni forgive him but Cobblepot is ironically enough walking on thin ice trying to keep his cover as an informant of Falcone’s.
For once there is no appearance of Bruce or Alfred. Instead we get Cat and Ivy residing in Gordon’s apartment. This seems to bode quite poorly for Gordon since he is still under Barbara’s thumb and wants her back. Ivy does have a somewhat unsettling interaction with Barbara over the phone to which Barbara thinks twice about even getting back together with Gordon. Personally, I just want Barbara and Gordon to stay as separated as possible since she is seriously the Lori (The Walking Dead) of this series.
There is one final detail that involves one of Fish Mooney’s henchmen wanting to move up in the criminal world. You’ll have to watch the episode to find out who and why they decided to turn on one of his allies. Overall it was a pretty solid episode to come back after such a long wait from the holidays. In terms of how the show is being promoted and how unique it is compared to other DC shows, Gotham does look like it can survive more than just one season. It’s great since Birds of Prey back in the 90s (or 2000s) didn’t really last that long and its pretty fun coming back to a weekly Batman universe show. I 100% guarantee this episode will keep you tuned in for next week’s episode.
