Gotham has had many problems during its inaugural season , most of which revolve around its refusal to give character other than the Penguin anything resemble compelling storyline . “ The Blind Fortune Teller ” has a unparalleled solution to this — make all the storylines so dumb you ca n’t consider they ’re happen .
It ’s compelling like a railroad car wreck is compelling , and even as I wonder at how dread the instalment was , I literally had a grinning on my face as I sat and watched the insanity unfold . take this recap , and try your damnedest to remember this was , at some point , key out as a show tangentially about Batman .
As declare in last week ’s installment , Gordon and Leslie have come to the circus , where Gotham indulges in it ’s Tim Burton - iest present moment to day of the month with acrobats and buffoon and slimly sinister circus music pilfered from Danny Elfman ’s reject pile . Everything ’s going big until the acrobats and the buffoon get in a brutal fistfight .
Now , this is uncanny , but well within Gotham ’s normal tier of crazy … until you name these two genus Circus families , the Lloyds and the Graysons , have been feud since World War I over a stolen horse , a problem that has been exacerbated by Lila the Snake Charmer , who keeps fucking phallus of both families . I ’m serious . Please note that Gotham intend two families that have bitterly hated each other for other a century but have literally worked and move around together for an intact one C is a reasonable scenario , even for a Batman TV series .
Lila has of class been hit , which Gordon finds out when he have her snake loose and follows it to her body without any explanation whatsoever . “ Snakes have excellent common sense of aroma ” he at last says 15 minutes by and by to the chieftain failing to add “ even though they have no ability to comprehend specific items humans might want them to track , which is why they ’re not used for these variety of thing . ”
Now , the show gain an passing nominal exploit to pretend one of the buffoon or acrobats is the culprit , which is somewhat entirely undermine by last workweek ’s “ next installment on ” preview featured the goddamn Joker . You also plausibly do n’t need to be the World ’s Greatest Detective to deduce that the unreasoning fate teller might have something to do with the case as well , insure as the episode is titled after him . The BFT offers a cryptic content from the murder victim , Gordon dismisses it , Leslie makes him surveil it up , finds an ax with the mar of a diabolic cult on it , but pull in it ’s all a dumb artifice . Lila ’s son Jerome , a.k.a . Kid Joker did it , obviously , and the BFT tried to cover it up because he ’s secretly Jerome ’s father because , and Gotham ca n’t emphasize this enough , Lila fucked anybody .
The Thomas Kyd does a pretty hearty Joker stamp — kind of a mixture between Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger ’s versions — but was understandably hired because of his creepy , Joker - stark smile . I do n’t really give care about anything involve this whodunit , because there something much more important to discuss . Thanks to this episode , I can sum up everything wrong with Gotham in one single , mind - blowing fact :
In this instalment , Jim Gordon had a riddle to solve and he did n’t ask the Riddler for avail .
Do you infer how insane that is ? Because it ’s so fucked up I ’m still stagger by its amentia all these hours later . The hero was ease up a puzzle to solve , and instead of bring in the character whose intact creation revolve around puzzles , the physician / girl characters solves it randomly over dinner . The characters even call it a fucking “ riddle ” out loud , so it ’s not like the author had failed to greet what it is .
The fact that Gotham managed to overleap the most obvious tale connecter of all metre make me wonder what is pass off on the set of this show . I joke that Hollywood types sleep with cocain , but I ca n’t imagine the amount of blow necessary to include a conundrum but overleap the Riddler would still allow someone to type . Even if the show were being written by noncitizen with no concept of human authorship conventions , I experience like even they would make the riddle - Riddler affiliation and at least ask someone about it . The only affair I can think of is that showrunner Bruno Heller has scant - term memory upset like Guy Pearce in Memento , and he forgets everything he make love every two minutes or so . Even then , he should have tattoo the goddamn cast on his limb or something .
And please remember that while it failed to bring in the Riddler on what would clearly have been his most pertinent moment on the series , it has given him sizable screenland time to semi - stalk a female Centennial State - worker in a storyline that is head for the most trite transformation into a bad guy ever . I had thought that Gotham was simply give out to give its characters interesting and persona - relevant things to do , but no , patently it ’s been actively avoiding them .
While nothing could compare to that abject unsuccessful person of storytelling , second place has to go to the oddment , in which John Grayson and Mary Lloyd give thanks Gordon for solving the execution , which has somehow solved the century - prospicient feud and will earmark the two to get hook up with . Please remark that the hereafter ’ Robin ’s parents were just in the episode , had possibly one scene where they fence with each other , and now not only are we imagine to wish about their reconciliation , but also that Gordon is directly creditworthy for John Grayson impregnating his wife and thus creating Robin . Grayson even says if they have a male child they ’ll name him Gordon , just so the wife can say “ enh , we ’ll see ” so everyone is abundantly well-defined that future Batman part Robin is swimming in this man ’s nutsack at that very moment .
It is one of the shittiest , most poorly written moment of TV I have watched in late retentivity , and yet I admit I was grin like the Joker the entire time because it was so entertainingly nasty . You know , if Gotham was on the QT a secret plan by the Joker to discredit Batman and his friend before murdering all its watcher , it would explain a heap . I guess if Smilex gas start emitting from our televisions in the time of year close we ’ll roll in the hay for sure .
Assorted musing :
• I did n’t even get into Fish Mooney ’s sizable arc in this sequence , which is its own brand of insane . Turns out these pirates are kidnap people on the ocean to illegally glean their organs — which , indisputable — and Pisces organizes the prisoner with a full - on Braveheart spoken language , as if Fish Mooney was not a completely ridiculous case . But Fish has n’t convinced her fresh volume of truehearted follower to fly the coop , because that would make sense . No , she ’s convince them to basically consent to being beaten to death if Fish does n’t get piss , food , blankets and magazines for the other survivor . Not only is this plan dumb , it ’s such a off-the-wall , complicated non - solution — it ’s like the Gotham writers are sitting around cerebration , “ What would a sane human being do in this billet ? Okay , let ’s verify they do nothing resembling that . ”
• It front like Fish Mooney comes back to Gotham next episode . I ’m going to go out on a limb here and guess her metre on the boat has utterly no ramification for her character whatsoever . Any takers ?
• Bruce Wayne shoulder the stallion of Gotham ’s overarching patch this week by face the board member of Wayne Enterprises and enquire them about tie to the mafia , the Arkham Din Land project , and some sort of chemic arm stuff . He acquire no solvent . The end . ( It should go without order that Alfred think Bruce ’s plan is dumb , tells him so repeatedly , and offers him no support emotionally . )
• When take on with the Wayne Enterprises plank and accusing them of degeneracy , he brings his notepad that he ’s doodled in . Really , Gotham ? Literally no one on staff had the guts to say “ Maybe this a little too un - Batman - y , even for a 10 - yr - old Bruce Wayne ” out aloud ?
• Is Barbara Kean the saddest character on television ? I ’m genuinely asking . Because after being turn down by two lover , redevelop a drug addiction , allow for her apartment and town for at least a month , presumably give up her job , moving back in with her parent who clearly loathe her and not having anyone , including her police police detective ex-wife , trouble to check up on her at any point despite disappearing for 30 - plus days with no watchword whatsoever — she come back home and is so wretched she tries to make supporter with the two homeless girl she finds squatting in her flat . She asks them what to wear to confront Jim again , for god ’s sake . It ’s lunacy .
• Also , Barbara do to walk in the exact elbow room in the GCPD at the accurate right moment to catch Gordon full on snogging Leslie , despite all that bullshit last week about not kissing at the office . Again , the writer ca n’t even be bothered to find semi - interesting room for her life story to continue to fall apart .
• More random weirdness : Leslie gets genuinely angry when Gordon dismisses the BFT ’s psychic message from the murder dupe ; Gordon expend the intact episode annoyed because the execution investigation is preventing him from experience sex with Leslie . in the end after Robin ’s parents leave , Bullock specifically points out Gordon got put down . Why ? Why , Gotham , why ?
• Also , the show seems to really , truly think that Butch ’s return in the order is shocking enough to warrant a break to a commercial message . Gotham , you overestimate yourself in so , so many style .
• So either Jerome is the Joker or he ’s not . So he ’s either got a pretty shitty root in that an old dude knocked up his momma and he work at a genus Circus for a while , or he ’s not the Joker but a kid who acts exactly like the Joker will act in 15 or so years . I do not believe there ’s a winning answer here .
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