By now, you’ve hopefully read my advance previews of “Mr. Freeze” and “A Dead Man Feels No Cold” and probably have seen the episodes for yourself. But I have some more scattered thoughts I wanted to share about the start of “Gotham’s” spring season.
Starting first with Gordon and his Galavan secret. Personally, I wish we were seeing what Gordon did to Galavan taking more of a toll on him. I feel like he took it harder when he shot that mobster in the season premiere, and that was an accident while his life was being threatened. Here, he only seems concerned with getting away with it – lying to Harvey Dent and Captain Barnes during his deposition, getting panicked when the Penguin is arrested, and then coolly dismissing Oswald’s claims that he’s being tortured when they run into each other at Arkham Asylum because it’s more convenient for him. Gordon’s supposed to be our moral compass, the shining light of change and reform at the GCPD, but that role seems to be falling more and more to Barnes, or even Bullock! Clearly, this is going to blow up in his face at some point. I think the writers have left themselves an out as far as criminal prosecution (more on that later), but I’m pretty sure this secret is gonna cost Gordon Leslie, given she confronts him about lying at the end of “A Dead Man Feels No Cold” and he still doesn’t confide in her.
One person who could potentially be a problem for Gordon is Edward Nygma. His experiences in the first half of the season have definitely strengthened Ed, which we see when he aggressively – to Bullock’s shock – bites back at his demeaning banter. And when Gordon tries to question him about his connection to Penguin, Nygma snidely if subtly lets him know that he has no power over him. I’m curious to see where the show takes the character next; he’s been entertaining in this post-Ms. Kringle era.
So who’s been running the Gotham criminal underworld in the Penguin’s absence? That would be Butch, who we hilariously first see using a drill bit in his stump to assert his authority. But being the boss isn’t an easy fit for someone like Butch, who’s historically been a follower as opposed to a leader. Which is why it’s lucky for him that Tabitha Galavan comes along. She proposes a partnership, an idea to which he first objects, fairly recalling how she tortured him. But after some sparks – both figurative and literal – fly, the deal is struck and sealed with a smooch. I’ve always found Tabitha’s affection for Butch to be an amusing yet interesting note to play and I feel the same way about this alliance. Also of interest is that we see Selina spying on their meeting. Wonder what she’s going to do with this information.
On to another of “Gotham’s” female characters. I mentioned this in my advance preview, but “A Dead Man Feels No Cold” was a very good showcase for Leslie Thompkins, and Morena Baccarin. I mean, how awesome was her “You’ve got to be kidding me!” reaction when Ms. Peabody led her and Nora into the medical wing and she spotted Barbara Kean, who’s still chilling in a coma (and sidebar – I’m actually surprised Barbara’s not downstairs with the Indian Hill gang). She also amusingly agrees that Bruce is “certainly unusual” during a shrink-y conversation Alfred asked her to have with him (and second sidebar – I wish we had seen Alfred ask her to do this on-screen. His crush on her is the best).
Someone who deserves a turn in the spotlight is Bullock. There were some fun bits of him in “Mr. Freeze” (his triumph when Nora confirms his pronunciation of her last name is so great), but in the second one, all he does is repeat Gordon’s orders. Donal Logue is not getting nearly enough to do and I hope that changes soon.
Another thing I really liked about these episodes was the costuming and makeup work they did with Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze. The steampunk look he starts out with is (heh) pretty cool and I actually wish we had seen more of it. But the more spacesuit-esque outfit he wars second was a nice nod to his analog in the 1960s “Batman” TV show (in other shout-out news, at one point, Gordon and Bullock track Fries to Ace Chemicals, which made me think of Jack Nicholson taking an acid bath in Tim Burton’s first “Batman” movie). And the final transformation into the Freeze we’re most familiar with also clicked for me, especially the ice blue contacts.
Finally, we have to talk about the latest Indian Hill end scene, in which we see Galavan and three other bodies (one of which I think is supposed to be Jerome) prepped to be revived via Fries’ cryogenic formula. Like I mentioned up top, I think this will be the loophole that keeps Gordon out of prison – you can’t lock up a man for murder if the victim’s no longer dead. I also couldn’t help noting that the idea of using cryo technology to build an army of undead villains is very reminiscent of the Court of Owls, a recent addition to Batman’s comic book rogues gallery.
So that’s all I have to say about “Mr. Freeze” and “A Dead Man Feels No Cold.” What did you think about “Gotham’s” spring start? And where do you want to see the “Wrath of the Villains” go next? Share your thoughts and speculations in the comments section.
