The vigilante rises
Or rather the vigilante's victims rise. When the corrupt of Gotham City are tied to weather balloons and doomed to float in the air till they eventually fall back to Earth, Gordon and Bullock are put on the case. And while the city continues to change in the coming war, Oswald Cobblepot continues to work his way up the food chain.
Already? This series is going to be dealing with vigilante justice already? Um. Okay. It is a strange form of vigilante justice. The villain of this week is a vigilante dubbed, The Balloonman. From the synopsis, it should be pretty easy why he's given that name. What is interesting is how he's pretty much the big reference of this episode. By reference I mean he dresses up like two characters from superhero lore. One of them being the most obvious for Batman fans, a Prof. Pyg reference. The Balloonman's first appearance was as the insane pig masked villain, which was meant to throw fans off as to who he is. His second appearance however was a direct reference to The Shadow, aka one of the inspirations for Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the creators of Batman. This one signals that he is definitely a vigilante and may actually be fighting on the right side. This visual character development was both simple and was used to put references in a show that seems to be full of references from the first two episodes. It was definitely a more subtle reference rather than the in your face ones for the casual Batman fans.
But this episode also solidifies to Gordon that the police know what their priorities are: if bad things happen to scum, don't act; if bad things happen to police officers, unleash hell. That was a mentality that has been hinted at in the previous two episodes, but in here it is shown in full force. Gordon is starting to realize that if anything is going to get done at the speed it is suppose to, it means that a cop has to die. That is the sad truth. And while it may be the truth, we do get some more of that awesome Gordon and Bullock buddy scenes. We get some insight on how exactly Bullock goes about getting his information. Which mainly involves beating the crap out of guys and hitting on hookers. Which in Gotham, it does seem like the only effective way of doing things. However, it is starting to seem a little bit formulaic. Don't get me wrong, procedural cop dramas are always formulaic yet still compelling. But given that this show is trying to be an overarching narrative while being a procedural at the same time, it has to find a way to hide its procedural nature. Arrow, Sleepy Hollow, and Hannibal have mastered this, but this episode seems to be the first crack of that illusion of not being procedural. And it is a shame that it has to be when Gordon and Bullock are doing their thing. They really are great to watch, but looking back it almost seems predictable. They'll fight about philosophy, they'll do things one way, they'll get attacked, they'll find the one clue that matters. I hope that's not what happens.
But what seems to be hiding the cracks of being the procedural is the subplot that actually seems to have a continuous narrative in each episode. And that is the evolution of Robin Lord Taylor's Oswald Cobblepot. He is fast becoming the star of the show. I can almost imagine the only reason why some casual fans are still watching the show are because they're actually fascinated to see how this young man will become the Penguin. Taylor is definitely going to go down as the standout actor of this series once the season finale comes. Mostly because he is the only one who seems to be forwarding his own plot. The show is obviously trying to make the murder of the Waynes the overarching story arc of season one, but given how the only mention of the murder was a small bit involving Gordon and Selina Kyle, it seems the writers haven't quite mastered making it really matter. But that is mainly because Gordon and Bullock are locked into going through the procedural plot, while Cobblepot is free to do his plot without the restraint of the procedural. His actions in this episode actually puts him closer to power because he's working at the favored restaurant of Salvatore Maroni. Batman fans will know that Maroni is Gotham Kingpin Carmine Falcone's nemesis and only rival. Cobblepot makes it clear to Maroni that he is smart enough to know what is going on, and Maroni admires that. It'll be interesting how this all plays out.
And then of course we got two more subplots that are kind of interesting but seem out of place. The first one involving Renee Montoya and Cripus Allen of Major Crimes Unit. What makes their subplot interesting is that like Cobblepot, they are not restrained to the procedural nature of the show. But what they are restrained to is the disappearance of Cobblepot. And unfortunately, that is becoming predictable as well. Allen and Montoya will find clues that connects Gordon to Cobblepot disappearance which will then lead to Montoya trying to have a lesbian moment with Barbara Keane, Gordon's fiancé. While it is predictable, it can't be denied that the interaction between Montoya and Barbara is definitely interesting and well done. I just hope there is more to it than them being former lesbian lovers.
The final subplot of this episode is probably one that is not really needed. The Bruce and Alfred subplot. Unlike the other subplots, they don't seem to be involved with the main plot or the main narrative of the show. The story in Wayne Manor appears to be existing in this realm of. "he's going to be Batman." Which was not obvious in the pilot, and was more forward in the second. But this one seems to be really pushing it by showing Bruce's fascination with the Balloonman and pictures of his parents' murder. It suffers from a different kind of restraint. We've seen Bruce Wayne become Batman. So really, the plot of young boy Bruce Wayne does not seem to be compelling. But what I do commend is that Gordon does not give Bruce a pep talk in this episode. Smart move.
All in all, this is still an interesting and entertaining episode. But at the same time it seems to be very procedural. However it is definitely a lot better than what is going on in The Strain but seems to fail doing what Sleepy Hollow excels at. Embracing the craziness. And while this show seems to walk a thine line between gritty and comic booky, they have to decide which one should it fully embrace.
SCORE: 7.9/10 - Cobblepot's story is the reason to keep watching
STATUS: Continue to Watch - It has me hooked enough to see the next one
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