While Gordon and Bullock chase down a group of bank robbers, Alfred welcomes an old friend into Wayne Manor.

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EYE FOR AN EYE

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

Why Fish, why!? There are very few things that can make me feel uncomfortable while watching a TV show, but someone scooping out their eyeball with a spoon is one of them. Squishing said eyeball under your own foot is just the icing on the cake. It was an incredible gambit from Fish, and I’m not entirely certain that it made a whole lot of sense in regards to her situation. The doctor wanted to remove her “valuable” eyes so she destroyed one of them. Wouldn’t that mean she would be in bigger danger of being killed off now that she was worthless to them? We finally found out who was behind the “body-part farm” here, and it turns out that it’s the Dollmaker. This is a nice little twist that brings us back around to the beginning of the series, and hopefully they’re setting the Dollmaker up as a formidable opponent for more than one of our characters.

I enjoyed Gordon and Bullock’s hunt for the Red Hood gang this week. It was pretty fun and led to some genuinely funny moments. Watching as each new Red Hood befell a terrible fate was entertaining, as was the antics of each of the members of the gang. The robbery scenes were all a little stereotypical, but watching as Gotham’s citizens began to appreciate the gang brought it up a couple levels. I’m not sure exactly why two homicide detectives were investigating a robbery in the first place, but Gordon and Bullock were good to watch as always. This wasn’t their most standout episode together, but their dynamic has really grown.

My favorite portion of the episode belonged to Alfred. His old war buddy, Reggie Payne, showed up at Wayne Manor. Reggie was down on his luck after spending years on the streets, so Alfred didn’t hesitate when inviting him in for the night. Now if you’re as suspicious of everyone as I am, you’ll have likely had alarm bells ringing as soon as that door opened. I thought Reggie was bad news from the very start, and I figured it might end with a fight between two old friends. What I didn’t put together was Reggie had been sent by the Wayne Board of Directors, and that he would straight up stab Alfred right in the chest. I fully expected Bruce’s announcement last week to stir up a real hornet’s nest, but I didn’t think we’d see serious repercussions yet. This forward momentum is a real positive for Gotham, and I’m hoping this story will escalate even further quite soon. Alfred will survive of course, Gordon will be on the case and Reggie might be sticking around, so this could all turn out really well from a narrative standpoint.

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After stealing the show for the first half of the season, Penguin has been saddled with some poor storylines for weeks now. This episode showed us that he is completely incapable of performing the simplest of tasks, such as procuring more alcohol for the club. In fact, Butch came across as a far more effective criminal here, and that’s not good for Penguin at all. I’m not quite sure what the deal is with Butch. I thought that he would now be some sort of brainwashed drone, but he just seems like a man who has accepted his fate and is getting on with his life. One character who could do with getting on with their life is Barbara. She now spends her day hanging around with children, getting as drunk as possible. I did think that Selena was unnecessarily harsh on Barbara here, but I’m still not interested in this storyline in the slightest.

THE BREAKDOWN

This was a rather fun episode of Gotham that introduced the Red Hood. The story of the Red Hood looks like it could continue in Gotham’s world, but for now I’m happy with this standalone, mad-cap episode. While Fish and Penguin’s stories still have troubles, and Barbara remains completely uninteresting, the Bruce and Alfred material is reaching a high point. I expected one or two members of the Wayne Board to be involved in the conspiracy, but it looks like over half of them are involved in the same nefarious scheme. Alfred getting stabbed was a surprising moment, and I’m hoping it acts as the catalyst for a strong run-in to the season finale.

What did you think about the “Reggie twist”? Did you figure out that he was sent by the Wayne board, or did you just know that something was off about him? Tweet me your answers @OldSnake24 or let me know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow us @YouNerded.

78/100 – Good

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