Written by Seth Boston
Directed by Louis Shaw Milito
Jerome: "What do you say, Bruce, wanna have some fun before the main event?"
And the main event itself was something that felt extremely Tim Burton. Granted this isn't a new feeling as Gotham does like to stir up feelings from that particular director's movies and yet again, it worked a treat too.
Having Jerome go after Bruce was set up in the previous episode due to his interaction with Leslie (who then grudgingly told Gordon what he was up to) and this episode delivered on that with Bruce managing to convince Jerome to give him a public death. I liked that Jerome was savvy enough to realise Bruce was buying himself more time, even if he couldn't resist putting on a bigger show though.
The scenes with Jerome and Bruce at the most chaotic circus Gotham has had worked extremely well. It was fantastic to see Jerome in his killer element but the main meat of the episode came when Bruce was able to escape being blasted by a cannon and a battle between the future Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime took place in a hall of mirrors.
In this moment alone, Bruce was able to vent his rage at Jerome but at the same time, he made the conscious choice not to kill him. Ultimately, Jerome made it out of this episode alive, even though he lost his face again (yuck!), which means we'll undoubtedly see him again next season. More to the point those steps Bruce keeps taking towards his destiny are still gripping to watch.
When Jerome wasn't sending the city into chaos with his Maniax Mark 2 gang, Oswald's days were truly numbered as Edward, Barbara, Tabitha and Butch all took it in turns to outsmart him, humiliate him and in Nygma's case, even kill him. Do I think Oswald is definitely dead? Of course not, but Edward certainly gave it a good try though.
While Oswald's actions are what brought his fate upon him, I still cannot help feel bad for him. Edward would've killed Isabella eventually and deep down, I do think he knows that. I'm not disappointed that he didn't reciprocate Oswald's affections though and while I liked the darker side we saw to him this week, Nygma would be better cutting his losses as Barbara, Tabitha and Butch no longer have any use for him.
Keeping with the villainous stuff, this episode also brought back the Court of Owls with head lady Katherine going on about her mission to Bruce's clone. The episode also revealed that Gordon's uncle Frank (played by Dexter's James Remar) is also a member and now it looks like Jim himself is about to get roped in with this lot whether he likes it or not.
- That glass Owl that Bruce and Selina stole was smashed to bits by Jerome. I don't see the Court of Owls being pleased with that one.
- Nygma was literally wearing a green suit in this episode. We got a better shot of it in the trailer for the next episode.
- No Selina, Ivy or Lucius in this episode.
- The show will be back from April 24th (after 24: Legacy finishes up) for it's remaining eight episodes.
The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies served as a strong winter finale for the show. The Bruce and Jerome scenes were the clear highlight along with Oswald's downfall and setting up both the Riddler and more stuff with the Court of Owls should provide enough material for the remainder of this season.
Rating: 8 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment