Gordon and Bullock continue their hunt for the deranged Doctor Crane.

FEARLESS

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

“The Scarecrow” followed on straight from where we left off last week, with the deranged Doctor Crane still intent on finishing his experiment. I found Crane to be a lot more interesting this week, and it was also pretty cool to see the beginning of his son Jonathan’s journey to becoming the Scarecrow. While we’ll likely have to wait years if we’re to see Scarecrow in action, the tragic family history and scarecrow hallucinations made for a fitting origin story.

The cliffhanger ending from last week wasn’t completely explained yet. Fish finds herself locked up in some hellhole with a couple dozen other random people. It appears to be some makeshift prison, with the inmates acting as guinea pigs. I suspect that this will eventually tie into our overarching plot, but for now this story feels very much cut adrift. I still enjoyed seeing Fish take charge of her situation. She remained cool in the face of potential rape and murder, and by the end of the episode she had taken control of her band of fellow prisoners. I could completely get behind Fish using these people as her new army. Fish strolling back into Gotham and declaring war on Falcone and Penguin could be a lot of fun.

Speaking of Penguin, he’s finds himself in the clear with Maroni, all thanks to some bargaining from Falcone. Maroni reminded Penguin that Falcone wouldn’t be around forever though, and I wonder if that could possibly be the catalyst for Penguin rising further up the food chain in the future. The events of the last few episodes seem to have hardened Falcone. He’s focused again, and he coldly negotiates with extreme efficiency. This side of the story also featured a quite bizarre scene between Penguin and Nygma. I actually rather enjoyed seeing the two future super villains sizing each other up. It was quirky as hell and didn’t add anything to the ongoing plot, but it was so weird that it worked.

Elsewhere, Gordon’s romance with Leslie continued moving forward at a good pace. Leslie has now taken the vacant role of medical examiner for the GCPD, and that immediately sets Gordon off on an anti-PDA campaign. I really didn’t think that Gordon would have any problem with public displays of affection after last week’s big kiss, but there’s probably a lot more to it than that. With things accelerating quickly with Leslie and her now being a permanent part of his work life, Gordon’s feet might be feeling a little cold. Things do appear to be going well for the couple, which is making me wonder just how soon that Barbara-sized spanner will be thrown into the works.

Lastly, Bruce and Alfred had a small story this week, as Bruce attempted to keep up a tradition he shared with his father. There wasn’t too much to this story, but it did further solidify the bond between Alfred and his ward, along with showing us just how stubborn they both can be. There wasn’t too much to this story at all, but it was as short as it was sweet.

THE BREAKDOWN

“The Scarecrow” was a good episode of Gotham. The story of the future Scarecrow and his crazy father was interesting, and all of the side stuff moved things along quite well. I’m a little disappointed that the tension has been taken out of Penguin’s predicament for the time being, but I’m also excited to see what he’ll get up to next. Most intriguing for me at the moment is Fish, and we’ll hopefully get to find out a lot more about her captors next week.

Who do you think Fish’s captors are, and what could their overall goals be? Let me know your thoughts on this and the episode as a whole on Twitter @OldSnake24 or in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow us @YouNerded.

76/100 – Good

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