“Gotham’s” titular city continued its descent into madness with “Look Into My Eyes” and “New Day Rising.”
The big news in these episodes is the introduction of Benedict Samuel (“The Walking Dead”) as classic Batman rogue Jervis Tetch, a.k.a. the Mad Hatter, a powerful hypnotist who we first see dazzling the crowd at Barbara and Tabitha’s club. Tetch turns out to be as casual a murderer as most of the show’s villains, but there’s a very ethereal, quiet, regal creepiness to the character’s look and Samuel’s performance that I’m really digging. He’s come to Gotham to find his sister Alice (Naian González Norvind, “Blue Bloods”) and hires Gordon (who pours something brown into the tea Tetch brings him, we get it, he’s on a drunken downward spiral!), spinning a story that his beloved sibling was snatched from him by Hugo Strange. But there’s of course more to it than that as Alice has a power of her own – her blood basically brings out peoples’ dark sides, often turning them rabid and violent (and sidebar – did this remind anyone else of stupid Maya from season two of “Heroes?”) – that the Hatter wants to exploit.
Gordon realizes too late that Tetch’s intentions are nefarious, but still captures Alice so he can collect the bounty on her as an Indian Hill escapee. That doesn’t stop Tetch, who gets his hands on her by employing/hypnotizing the “Terrible Tweeds,” luchadores that are nods to vintage Batman foes Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Relatedly, I loved the comic book touch of Tetch using a warehouse full of amusement park equipment for his hideout and dressing Alice up in her namesake’s classic blue dress before extracting a bunch of blood from her. I could, however, have lived without the show injecting an element of incest into this storyline. Anyway, Gordon and Bullock’s rescue effort falls short as Alice accidentally plummets to her death (the visual of her speared on a pike in the “Alice in Wonderland” outfit is hauntingly great, though) and the Mad Hatter escapes into the night.
But Gordon can at least claim one victory over the Mad Hatter. Near the end of “Look Into My Eyes,” Tetch hypnotizes Gordon into committing suicide and he’s only saved by the intervention of Alice. But he realizes early on in “New Day Rising” that the suggestion is still in his subconscious and it’s only a matter of time before he succumbs to it. Alice explains that Tetch tapped into some inherent trauma of his and that’s why it hasn’t worn off. And we know that trauma just gave Gordon a fresh kick to the ribs as Leslie has returned to Gotham with her new fiancé. I thought it was a little too easy how he finally shook off Tetch’s influence, but it does lead to him and Leslie making a kind of peace (though Gordon, of course, doesn’t apologize for his part in what happened between them).
Speaking of Leslie, I’m curious about this set-up with her doctor fiancé Mario (James Carpinello, “The Mob Doctor”) being the son of Carmine Falcone. Given Falcone’s past associations with Gordon, I can’t help wondering if this turn of events was arranged somehow. I am glad we’ll presumably be seeing more of Carmine as I’ve always liked John Doman in the role. Also, I was amused by Mario not admitting who he was to Gordon while treating him in the emergency room until he was mid-stitch in his wound.
Moving over to Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred spend these episodes dealing with Bruce’s doppelganger, who calls himself “514A.” While Alfred wants to turn “it” over to someone like Lucius Fox, Bruce is more sympathetic (and frankly less freaked out about coming face-to-face with his face than you’d expect) and decides that “Five” should stay with them. They quickly realize that “Five” is more than just a Bruce lookalike as he displays impressive fighting skills and an immunity to pain. His body is also covered in a series of weird scars.
But they lose control of the situation following a visit from Selina. After overhearing Bruce and Selina’s latest “breakup” (Selina came to him for help/sympathy re: Ivy, but Bruce – busy with his double – has to blow her off), “Five” cuts his hair and changes up his voice enough that he’s able to convince Selina that he’s Bruce. I do like that Selina eventually figures out for herself that she’s been duped, but she still ends up being smooched by “Five.” A teen love triangle with a boy and his lookalike? Oh, TV. Anyway, more great work from David Mazouz in this storyline, particularly a very teenager-y moment at the end of "New Day Rising" where Bruce wonders aloud whether “Five” was lying when he boasted about the kiss.
This ends for now – in an example of the start-stop storytelling we’ve been seeing a lot of this season – with “Five” announcing that he plans to leave Gotham, but instead, he gets abducted by the Court of Owls. I will say that I’m really liking Leslie Hendrix (who I didn’t recognize at first from her recurring role as medical examiner Elizabeth Rodgers on “Law & Order”) as the court’s representative.
What I’m liking a lot less is the mayoral election storyline with the Penguin. It’s boring and tiresome, given we saw this same thing with Galavan last season, not to mention “Batman Returns.” So far, it mostly seems like the MacGuffin to get Edward Nygma out of Arkham as Oswald bullies/blackmails the new director into releasing him. There’s also some tension between Nygma and Butch over who is Penguin’s right-hand man that may bear story fruit in the future.
I do have to eat some crow about Barbara, though. While the scenes of Gordon barging into Barbara’s club to rudely pump her for information are getting repetitive, I’ve been amused by the fun and flair Erin Richards brings to these interactions. Also, there’s a great moment in “Look Into Your Eyes” where Tetch plays a hypnotic love game with Barbara and ends up with a glass shard to his throat. “She’s a bit sensitive to rejection,” Tabitha hilariously understates as she leads Barbara off-stage.
Finally, there’s the cliffhanger with Captain Barnes at the end of “New Day Rising.” Earlier, I thought the show was hinting at something with Barnes’ health. But instead, we see a drop of Alice’s toxic blood land right in his eye, clearly infecting him. I assume this is the beginning of Barnes going under the bus/Gordon being brought back into the GCPD fold. Hopefully, it’ll at least be something Michael Chiklis can sink his teeth into.
So those are my thoughts on “Look Into My Eyes” and “New Day Rising.” Share your take on the latest episodes of “Gotham” in the comments section.
