Written by Charlie Huston
Directed by Benjamin McKenzie
Jerome (to Jervis/Scarecrow): "That's the spirit boys, think big and kinky."
A selection of soups or a selection of baddies. With the former, you're guaranteed at least one enjoyable offering while with the latter, you're possibly guaranteed maybe death. Since we last saw him, Jerome clearly had another ace in the hole as he threw his twisted smile in with both Jonathan Crane and Jervis Tetch in order to break nearly everyone and themselves out of Arkham within the first five minutes of the episode.
Out of the three, it was the Scarecrow who had the least amount to do, considering that he was largely off screen until the end but he did manage to get his fear gas and both Jervis and Jerome provided their own distractions so that Gordon, the GCPD and Bruce/Selina wouldn't get in his way and they were rather great distractions too I might add.
While last season I thought Tetch started off initially well before becoming something of an annoyance, this episode he was a bit of both. His obsession with blaming Jim for his sister's death has been played out and I really found myself bored with Tetch going on about it yet again. On the other hand, he did provide a rather strong dilemma for James when the fate of several innocent citizens and Bullock were firmly in his hands. Needless to say Jim managed to rescue them at the last minute but this did serve as a reminder that Jervis can be a credible threat in spite of his irritating wordplay at times.
With Tetch causing the biggest distraction for Gordon, it was fun to see both Bruce and Selina band together in order to take out Jerome. The latter decided to take a trip down memory lane and terrorise his uncle Zack for information, only for the latter to burn him with some soup before Bruce inadvertently came to Jerome's rescue. While Bruce was reluctant to actually kill Jerome, Selina seemed a little too quick to try and do it instead. For Batcat fans, this episode certainly delivered with the teaming up moments between Bruce and Selina, even if they didn't stop Jerome at all.
Outside of the chaos that the new Trinity were causing, Barbara also had her own mission as Tabitha managed to get her to remember her first encounter with Ras Al Ghul. Having Barbara as the leader of a new, less sexist League of Shadows is an interesting move for the show. I'm guessing though when this current plot with Arkham's mostly deadly dies down a bit is when the League and Ras might re-emerge.
- This is the second episode to be directed by Benjamin McKenzie. I'm guessing if we get a fifth season, he'll be writing another episode too.
- I'm glad that Bullock gave Gordon a hard time over the Sofia/Professor Pyg situation but was also willing to help Jim when he needed to as well.
- No Oswald, Edward, Leslie, Sofia, Butch, Lucius or Alfred this week but at least Harper got more lines. I did like her scenes with Bruce this week.
- Chronology: Not long from where The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause left off.
One Of My Three Soups might have had a few noticeable absences following the events of the previous episode, but the start of this latest Jerome arc that this time might actually put the Joker thing to bed once and for all is certainly brilliant. Great direction from McKenzie, witty one liners and brilliant character moments, this is a cracker of an episode.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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