Gotham "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" (REVIEW)

written by Omar Castillon (@omar_castillon)

Imagine you are unconscious and tied up to a chair without even knowing where you are. A blindfold comes off of your eyes and then you see the streets from a multiple story building. Some mysterious man puts a noose around your neck and then pushes you off the edge hanging you for the world to see. These were the first few moments of the latest episode of Gotham. Dark, disturbing and to the point, this episode doesn’t pull any punches.

Studying fear...

This time Bullock takes a bit more center stage because of a woman he finds attractive. Like anything from the film noir genre, it starts with a dame. Before we get into that though, Gordon has some explaining to do with Bruce Wayne. After Selina tells Gordon that she lied to Bruce about his parents, Gordon had to clear the air with Bruce since it does seem sudden that this sort of thing could happen to the key witness. Once Gordon goes to Wayne Manor, he is then told by Bruce in an almost emotionless manner to stop trying to investigate his parents’ death. Instead Bruce would be in charge of finding out who really killed them. Gordon of course is distraught but soon moves on to the murder that happened with the guy who was hanged off of a roof top. 

Gotta love the serious moments

Before we get into that storyline, let’s dive into the nail-biting sequence that Cobblepot goes through with Maroni. If you remember the previous episode, Cobblepot now has Fish Mooney’s club and Fish was last seen with Bullock at the docks ready to “go away.” It turns out that Fish is off to some mysterious place (basically they don’t say where she is going) and calls Maroni before sailing off to sea telling him that Cobblepot has been working with Falcone the entire time he was with Maroni. Maroni takes in to consideration and he and Cobblepot go on a little road trip to a cabin in the woods. The entire time I’m thinking that this is all just a bad idea and that Cobblepot is going into a trap. The dynamic the two characters have during this episode is amazing since they are just playing mind games with one another. Cobblepot already knows that Maroni wants to kill him and Maroni knows that Cobblepot has been lying to his face about his interactions with Falcone. There is a scene where they play a literal game that has the audience on the edge of their seat because of how tense the “truths” are between the two criminals. It has both humor and tension that makes it seem almost timeless for the episode. I won’t say what all happens to both of the characters but just know that it’s best to not mess with someone who has been in the mafia business for a long time.

More direct foreshadowing... the future Scarecrow in a young Jonathan Crane

Back to the Bullock storyline, he ends up going on a thin lead with little clues that lead to the therapy group that the guy who was hanged was a part of. A woman from that group visits Bullock at the station since she was the guy’s sponsor. There is a hint of humanity with Bullock (or horniness maybe) to try and help the woman find the person behind the murder. By that time Gordon approaches Bullock on what to do next for the case and Bullock pulls a Gordon (if that’s not confusing enough) and go on a thin lead. Once they arrive they hear yelling and a creepy guy wearing a pig mask ready to torture an old man. If this isn’t nightmare fuel enough, there is still more to come. Nigma has his time to shine in this episode helping with the investigation. He also has a psycho moment where he puts severed limbs into the resident medical examiner’s locker. Yeah, Nigma is already turning into the future Batman villain we all know. Bullock joins the phobia group that connects with the last two incidents. In that very moment, he connects two and two together when a mysterious older man storms out thinking he has a disease that will affect his son and his lady friend following him out. Bullock suspects something and chases down the mysterious old man. It turns out that this old man is looking for adrenal glands and forces the people in that group to face their phobias in extreme manners. He is none other than Jonathan Crane’s father Gerald Crane. This does make for a crazy sequence of events that will more than likely lead to the next episode of Gotham dealing with Gerald Crane. 

Gotta love that smile... Moreno Baccarin guest stars

Another thing to note is that Fish will be in some sort of crazy action scene in the next episode since there was an attack on the ship she is sailing in. Who knows what these pirates or other known terrorists want with the ship, but that’s all part of the mystery. One other thing to note is the ongoing relationship Gordon has with Dr. Leslie. She does help out in the investigation as well but also has a soft spot for Detective Gordon. It’s kind of cutesy in a twisted Gotham way. As for whether you need to check out this episode or not, I say 100% yes. I’m sure there are other clues scattered around the episode that I may have missed, but I’m sure you can find the clues yourselves. Trust me, this was an awesome addition to the episode list.

Fear and loathing in Gotham City