Gotham "The Blind Fortune Teller" (REVIEW)
written by Omar Castillon (@omar_castillon)
There was no time wasted revealing the presence of a familiar rouges gallery villain in the Batman universe. Still just a young teenager, Jerome is the person of interest in this episode. Before we get to that plot point though, let’s back track to the very beginning where a circus comes to town. There is a side of some Fish Mooney but it was not the best thing in this episode. There is a little bit of an explanation as to why Fish Mooney is in that strange underground place (organ harvesting) but it’s not really clear who exactly is behind the mess. For your sake, I basically summed up her actions in the episode; pointless, useless, moving on.
running "Oswald's" in pure mobster fashion
What does seem to be an entertaining set piece is Cobblepot having his mother performing in his new club. Since it is public, there is a small audience aside from his usual cronies. One dissatisfied customer heckled Cobblepot’s mother on stage as she sang quite horribly (looks around to see if Cobblepot is in the room) and all Cobblepot did was simply bash the guy’s face in with a bottle. The scene is pretty brutal but still pales in comparison to anything Danny DeVito did in Batman Returns with the whole nose biting and whatnot.
Gotham isn't a city for flows
The real reason we as the audience tuned in though comes in the form of a hinted circus from the previous episode come true! It is the Graysons and another fraction of clowns amusing Gordon and Leslie (or Leigh?). Unfortunately, both families have a blood feud that has lasted for several decades. Picture a dysfunctional Romeo and Juliet scenario (which is a minor story detail that alludes to possibly Dick Grayson’s parents). After the whole fiasco that was the Graysons and the crazy clowns, Gordon discovers a different crime scene all together involving a different circus performer that tames snakes. She is the reason we get a glimpse of our main suspect Jerome. He looks innocent at first but his boyish charm and slightly demented nature
living up to my legacy
creeps out little by little during the episode. Sure he almost gets away with it, but after Gordon and Leslie go on a strange date after a lead from a blind man interests Leslie, they discover the object used in the murder and Jerome possibly being involved. Long story short, Jerome is a demented human being. As in that kid was messed up to begin with since his mother was a whore (basically) and he would loath her ways. The kid is definitely going to be some sort of villain in the future. Obviously The Joker, but they never really mention it or reference The Joker as much (obviously because he isn’t The Joker yet) so he could just be some messed up kid for all we know despite what the promos on TV say for the episode.
Bruce on the other hand had a much smaller role in this episode since he finally confronts the Wayne Enterprises board. Basically he points the finger at all of the members telling them that the whole corruption and whatnot is unacceptable in his eyes. He was like a mini boss.
yeah... okay...
Overall, the whole Joker “origins” sell point was average at best. Cameron Monaghan who portrays Jerome in the episode does channel bits of the three famous Jokers (Mark Hamill, Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger). As for the little bits with Fish, yeah, still don’t care. The next episode does have a lot more promise though since The Red Hood comes out of the woodworks. For those that don’t know who The Red Hood is, just watch Batman: Under The Red Hood and have a freaking blast with that original DC animation film.
