Gotham episodes 19-20 review - Beasts of Prey/Under the Knife

As Gotham paves it's way to its finale, let's take a look at how the first 2 of its final 4 episodes begin to put the pieces in place

Beasts of Prey

If there was a theme to this episode it’s “ending in disaster” fortunately the episode is actually pretty decent and a good opening to what seems to be a 2-parter

But seriously, these sub-plots are getting annoying now, wrap them up or bring them in to the fold, it feels like it’s just jumping between sub-plots that are completely unrelated, again.

So what have we got this time? So Jim Gordon is investigating a murder case given to him by an “admirer” turns out it’s the work of a serial killer called the Ogre, and the loved ones of any detective who’s investigated the case end up dead. All a set up by Commissioner Loeb to… to… what the hell does Loeb get out of this. The serial killer targets women! It’s not like Gordon’s gonna end up dead, you’re just gonna p*ss him off. So, Harvey comes along for the ride, Edward is useful, Leslie… not so much.

Then we have subplot #1 (of 3) Bruce Wayne goes out into the city to find the guy who stabbed Alfred, she and Cat continue the search, finding him at a shelter and threatening him to reveal who hire him (you get it? Bruce is gonna be Batman someday. Jeez, stop hammering this sh*t in, I get it) anyway, when he threatens to tell his boss that they know too much, Bruce tries to kill him, but can’t bring himself to do it, so Cat does it instead. Guess we’re waiting for next week to see the consequences of that.

In subplot #2 we have Fish Mooney, who by this point is removed from the action; my tape measure won’t measure that far. She uses her ways to plan an escape; she walks out the front door and takes a helicopter. I’m not even joking. Fortunately our brain-cells can rest by the fact that she was shot by a sniper bullet, and will likely die before she becomes any more annoying.

Oh, and in subplot #3 we have the Penguin wanting a bar where he can kill Don Maroni.  That’s nice…

We have a major problem right now, we’re in the final 4 episodes! I don’t even feel like we’re building up to anything, and things really should be starting by now. But… I’ll give it next week to see if this it redeems, I’m currently not convinced I’m coming back for in its second season.

Rating 7.5/10

Under the Knife

OK, am I wrong to want the Ogre to kill Barbara?

OK, it really isn’t this episode that made that opinion but god it doesn’t help to rectify it. In the opening Barbara was supposed to be a strong woman who would help out on cases without the shackles of being an actual police officer in the second most corrupt city on the Planet (Blüdhaven is worse)

Having her be bisexual: good choice. Having Renee Montoya constantly trying to convince her that Jim isn’t a good person? It seemed petty, but the fact that Barbara stood by him said a fair amount for their relationship. But then PTSD came in and her character went to pot.

And no I’m not saying that PTSD is not a serious problem. I’m saying that when you get yourself captured by coming back to Gotham despite initially agreeing to leave, then decide to leave your husband because you can’t take the PTSD of being captured, then fall back into the arms of a former partner, and… Start talking about how you can use your looks as a weapon and you can see why she’s grown to be one of the most hated characters on the series.

Of course today, she’s the victim of the Ogre, because he thinks that she’s still Gordon’s love interest (something that has gone completely to pot since her departure) and he wants to drive Gordon away from the case. As a case it’s interesting but… For one, Gordon’s relationship with Leslie is hardly public knowledge, while his relationship with Barbara was, why did he not even consider her as a possibility till the end of the episode? It’s also overshadowed by subplots that… Well let’s take a closer look at them.

First we have the Penguin. His mother comes to visit him in the nightclub when Sal Maroni pays a visit. He reveals that Penguin had been responsible for the deaths of several of his men, which clearly upset her (I still really don’t understand her character) the Penguin in return begins his ploy to kill Maroni.

Bruce Wayne wants to find out more about the man who hired the guy that stabbed Alfred. They know that whoever it is would keep their plans in their safe so he and Selina come up with a plan to steal the keys to the safes at a Wayne Charity Ball. He also decides that killing is bad and wrong (because it couldn’t just be that he didn’t want any family, including the families of criminals to suffer the same loss as he did, that would be way too contrived)

Next we have the subplot around Nygma and Miss Kringle (the more times I say the name, the more stupid it sounds) so apparently she’s found a new boyfriend, and apparently she sucks at finding new boyfriends because this one beats her, or at least did into Nygma stuck a knife in him. His reaction is weird to say the least.

But all 3 of the subplots are more interesting than the main one, and the biggest issue. They never intertwine. Sure one of the subplots gets an episode focused on it, but that’s not the same thing. Every episode feels disjointed in that capacity, and right now it really needs to start coming to a head.

Rating 7/10

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