Friday, October 06, 2017

My Review of Gotham's 4x03: "They Who Hide Behind Masks"


Written by Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt
Directed by Mark Tonderai

Sofia (to Gordon): "You came looking for a gangster. That's exactly what you found."

Ah yes, our second new regular finally made her debut this week. With Carmine Falcone apparently on the way out (he's dying of an unspecified disease), Gordon's attempts of getting a gangster to sort out the Penguin's reign in Gotham now rests in the hands of the previously unmentioned Sofia Falcone, played by Teen Wolf's Crystal Reed.

Anyone who has read a certain comic would know that Sofia is something of a psychopath and in spite of her attempts of buttering Jim up during his visit in Miami, I'm hoping that the show plays on this aspect of her character because I really don't want her just wheeled out as another love interest for Jimbo while being easily outsmarted by Oswald as well. I think the character should be able to do a little better on both fronts, right?

Of course while Jim was sunning himself in Miami for most of this episode, Bruce himself was trying to get a hold of an item that Oswald planned to auction off. His first two attempts while playing proto-Batman and undercover working class boy didn't pan out but playing the role of billionaire brat certainly did.

I have to admit it was funny seeing Bruce act like an obnoxious overspending brat who got on Barbara's nerves during the auction of a rather nifty looking knife and even funnier that Oswald seemed to take pleasure in getting one up on Babs too while he was at it. I really loved the little passive aggressive scenes between Babs and Oswald prior to the auction in this episode.

As for Barbara, well the episode saw her putting Selina through her paces, challenging both Oswald and Bruce and we got the reveal of Ras using his Lazarus Pit to bring her back to life, which didn't shock me. Their team up was long spoiled but them actually hooking up though at the end was a little unexpected though. I'm not sure how I feel about that one yet to be honest.

Meanwhile and somewhat a little unexpected but Edward got thawed out earlier than I thought he would. Not by an important character but a rather annoying sycophant fangirl named Myrtle who tried to jog Eddie's memories only to get whacked by her crush and then shot by Zsasz. Having Nygma back but without his riddles is a good move that should make for a few interesting episodes until he gets his mojo back.

- I'm trying to think if this is the first time since Fish's island adventures have we really properly left the city.
- We got introduced to a new female detective at the end of the episode. I really hope the show utilises the character and don't hastily kill her off.
- Absent this week: Ivy, Butch, Tabitha, Lucius and Leslie.
- Chronology: Five months since the events of Heavydirtysoul and we had a Ras origin flashback to 125 AD Saudi Arabia at the start of the episode.

A strong enough episode. They Who Hide Behind Masks gave us a nice taster of mini-Batman and mini-Catwoman getting caught in each other's cross hairs, provided a decent information dump on Barbara and Ras while nicely introducing Sofia and thawing out Nygma. There's not really much I can fault with the episode as a whole.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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