Welcome back to other week of Gotham, Season 4!  Last week’s focus was on The Scarecrow emerging, and embracing his new identity.  This week Gordan looks to the aid of an old enemy, Falcone, in order to take down the Penguin and his ploy of licensing criminals.  Also, who is Bab’s new business partner?  Read on to find out!

 

(Photo Courtesy of Fox.)

Bruce In The Field — As Bruce is surveying the streets at night, he runs into Selina who is trying to steal from Penguin.  By some miracle he defeats the Penguin’s men who have assault rifles… This still bothers me.  Yes, he has a bullet proof costume, but his hand-to-hand combat skills wouldn’t be nearly experienced enough to take down a group of men with guns.  He did pick up an injury though…a deep scratch on the hand… Aside from this, I did like how Alfred gave him the idea to play the “wealthy brat” role, which could eventually lead to the  billionaire playboy facade Bruce is known for in the comics.  I also have to admit, the auctioning scene was somewhat funny.

 

The Riddler Returns — I wasn’t expecting his return so soon, but an old school friend of Nygma’s snuck into The Iceberg Lounge in order free him.  The old Nygma eventually returns as he gains his strength back and takes out Myrtle with her book of riddles.  It seemed odd to have her break Riddler from the ice only to have her killed off so quickly by Zsasz.  Another odd, forced move.  You would think there could have been a better way to break him out.  Why not use Ivy since she seems to be over working for Penguin and is still shunned by Tabitha and Selina.

 

(Photo Courtesy of Fox.)

Falcone Decides To Help, But Not Carmine — As Gordan seeks out Falcone’s help, he meets Sofia, Carmine’ only daughter.  Falcone cannot go back to Gotham because he is slowly dying.  Sofia offers, but her father declines on her behalf.  Sofia looks quite a bit different than the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s version, but is still a great addition.  All of the Falcone family are extremely interesting with none of them being truly trustworthy.  Sofia seeks out Gordan anyways.  She goes on to condone his actions for killing her brother, Mario.  Should he trust her? I was really hoping Carmine would return to Gotham.  I think the freaks vs. mob idea is something that could bring consistently interesting stories to the show.  Both sides fighting for control while the city crumbles beneath them would be interesting and all the more reason for Gotham to need a savior, yet it does not look to be going in that direction.  It seems as if Gordan will probably date another woman who will try to kill him.  If she is anything like Loeb’s version then she may be looking to take her father’s former place of power in the city.

 

(Photo Courtesy of Fox.)

The Return of Ra’s al Ghul — We knew he would return, but we didn’t know when.  This episode gives viewers a bit more history concerning Ra’s’ beginning of immortality.  Not only do viewers see his origin, but we also learn that he is Barbara’s benefactor.  One reason is to obtain an ancient knife connected to his origin, but why else is he behind this new business? He did in fact use a Lazarus Pit for Barbara and has seemingly trained her as well.  A lot of people getting the five month training plan on shows like this.  Zero experience to combat ready in five months.  Not bad…

No Scarecrow — Here we go again.  It looks like Gotham will be keeping some areas consistent: briefly using characters.  The Scarecrow was my favorite part of the new season, but he had an even shorter stint than Tetch last season.  The writers build up characters (The Court of Owls last season) then they give them such short story arcs that is seems like a waste (Yes, The Court was in the entire season, but went missing for large chunks of time).  They use such key characters as a one-and-done, which is unfortunate.  Characters such as Scarecrow, Tetch, Fries, etc. could be used in much better ways.

Zasaz — I still really like Zsasz on the show.  His odd wit and creepy, monotone voice merges well with his demented mannerisms.  He may have a small role, but it is always interesting to watch.

This week’s episode was…meh.  I didn’t find much in it.  I enjoyed the past two weeks with The Scarecrow much more.  I really hope they don’t do with Ra’s’ story as they did with The Court of Owls last season.  What did you think of this week’s episode?  Are you beginning to enjoy Gotham again, or would you put it in the same category as last season?  Leave your comments in the usual spot, and thanks for reading!

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