Written by Benjamin McKenzie
Directed by Erin Richards
Gordon (re himself): "The issue here is not how many people have died because of Jim Gordon but how many more must die in order to satisfy his need to be a hero."
Last week's "extra" episode gave us a brief medley of Ventriloquist/Scarface, Jane Doe and the closest we'll get to a Killer Croc on this show while this week's episode sees a rather delightful team up of Poison Ivy and Victor Zsasz, both of whom (mostly Ivy) want to kill James Gordon and turn the city into a botanical paradise.
Yeah, it's not a shocker that Ivy is leading the machinations here with Zsasz carrying out a hit on Gordon, just when the latter was making an unsuccessful appeal to all the gangs to back down so the city would get it's reunification. Of course being shot didn't help matters as Jim hovered between life and death and mused over a lot of his failings, mostly recent ones.
His guilt over the Haven incident, the way his need to be a hero has cost people along with his own reluctance towards fatherhood were the beats played out her as Lee worked to bring him back to the land of the living. Of course while most of these issues were explored rather predictably in Jim's subconscious, the reality of waking up did prompt him into making one big decision by the end of this episode.
I'm not shocked that Jim and Lee got married but I did think it would've been something that might have been saved for the series finale, which we're not far off from now. Still though, it's a beautiful moment (if somewhat rushed) and let's be honest, Bullock should be allowed to officiate every wedding that the city will have from now on.
Of course, Jim and Lee weren't the only couple this week. Who would've thought of Ivy and Zsasz being an "item". Of course it was mostly down to Zsasz being Ivy's right hand man but their one scene together was pretty fun as she tried to finish off the job with Gordon. Still though, much as I enjoyed the character's return, even for Ivy she seemed unnecessarily spiteful towards both Selina and Leslie, with the latter even getting to shoot her. On the other hand, if this is her last appearance on the show, it might not be her best one but at least it's something to the end.
As for Bruce and Selina - this episode felt like a right Bat/Cat fest. We had their date with canned foods interrupted by Ivy before a fight scene was the very thing needed to snap Bruce out of Ivy's spell before they shared a kiss at the wedding. Anyone who is a fan of this particular pairing certainly got enough to go on this week.
- Congrats to Benjamin McKenzie for writing this episode and for Erin Richards for directing it. Both did a fantastic job here.
- Penguin needled Barbara about her feelings towards Gordon while at the same time, she gave him an underlying reminder that her vendetta with him isn't done with yet.
- We got some clear body doubles of Scarecrow, Pyg and Kathryn from Court of Owls. Nygma was also kept to a brief cameo this week as well.
- Not long from where Nothing's Shocking left off, until the last two scenes brought things forward by a month.
The Trial Of Jim Gordon reminded me a little of a certain Batman: The Animated Series episode and while I definitely wouldn't have minded a few more cameos (even as body doubles), this was a perfectly strong episode that while not hugely plotting advancing, didn't feel like a waste of time either. That said, it's time to wrap this No Man's Land plot up and introduce Bane already.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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