I was rubbing my hands together like a Gotham villain at the prospect of the show’s return. Not because I love it, mind you, but because the other shows I’m reviewing – Better Call Saul, 11.22.63, The People v. O.J. Simpson – are generally really good, and I need something to hate-watch. I’m a small, petty man. So you can imagine my disappointment when I watched “Mr. Freeze” and found that it was actually…pretty good? Don’t get me wrong, it had the usual Gotham pitfalls, but there’s a newfound sense of confidence to the show that makes it way more enjoyable.
That doesn’t mean it gets off to a good start. Beginnings are hard, but there are few things in the world I care less about than Butch’s new alliance with Tabitha Galavan. Their scene together was supposed to be dark and erotically charged, but it just came off as campy. I mean, this is a guy with a drillbit for a hand, who the writers saddled with the horribly generic name of “Butch.” (Drew Powell’s performance, however, remains solid.) I don’t care about a criminal alliance between two non-canonical villains, especially when you consider the fact that Tabitha is 1000% likely to betray Butch at some point. The capper to the scene – the pointless, stupid capper – is that Selina Kyle was spying on the whole thing. Why? I understand that the writers are stuck with her because, well she’s Catwoman, but the character needs serious triage. Send her off into the sunset, bring her back older and wiser in season four or five, that’s my suggestion. That way Gotham can keep an air of mystery around the character, and when she comes back, she can be played by a different actress – everybody wins!
Okay, before this turns into another bitch-fest about Camren Bicondova, let’s move on to the meat of “Mr. Freeze,” which, for the most part, did a decent job with the titular villain. Freeze, alias Victor Fries, is one of the more sympathetic villains in Batman’s rogues gallery, and Gotham stays true to that. He’s got a sick wife, Nora, who he wants to cure by freezing her, curing her disease, then unfreezing her. Only problem is, he hasn’t hit upon the right freezing formula, and everyone he uses it on ends up melting mid-thaw. Gotham actually shows this, in a rare case of the show using its penchant for violence in a smart way, and it’s a pretty icky effect. The body melts before Victor’s eyes, and the gory details are a nice way of grounding one of the more cartoonish villains that Batman has to face. When you get down to it, Mr. Freeze is just using the Cryolator from Fallout 4.
My only complaint so far about Freeze is that he’s played by Nathan Darrow, who might be the most generic-looking man on the planet. Gotham has done an admirable job in the past of switching characters’ races, and genders, and this could have been a great opportunity for the show. (Imagine a Mrs. Freeze.) Instead they went with Darrow, who does fine work on House of Cards as the fervently loyal Meechum, but fails to make much of an impression here. I’m forgetting what he looks like as I type this. It appears as though Gotham is going to miss the mark with its villains more often than not (look how badly they bungled the Joker and Catwoman).
But for all my bitching about Darrow, I have no complaints about B.D. Wong’s portrayal of Hugo Strange. Wong, best known for his work on Law and Order: SVU and Jurassic Park, inverts his natural charisma and warmth to imbue Strange with an icy detachment that nevertheless draws you in. It’s a tough balancing act, but it’s a smart casting choice, and it looks as though Wong will knock it out of the park.
Cory Michael Smith has matured nicely too. In the early days of Gotham Edward Nygma was one of its most annoying characters (edged out of first place by unstoppable juggernaut Selina Kyle), but since being allowed to embrace the darkness that eventually turns him into a full-fledged villain, Nygma is more confident and self-assured. Maybe it’s because I was so impressed by Smith’s fine work in Carol, but I’m feeling more charitable towards him.
“Mr. Freeze” was not without its problems – Captain Barnes and Harvey Dent’s sudden mistrust of Gordon chief among them – but all things considered it was a surprisingly solid episode. Consider me cautiously intrigued.
A Few Thoughts
- I don’t buy for a second that Lucius Fox eats burgers at diners. That guy absolutely orders duck l’orange from the Wayne Tower Executive Lunchroom
- This show has a pathological antipathy towards uniformed cops. Notice how Freeze’s victim – who he never felt or showed remorse for killing, even though he tried to avoid the situation – was only ever referred to as “the cop,” “a cop,” or “our colleague”
- Very sweet of Cobblepot to ask Nygma to visit his mother’s grave while he’s at Arkham. Robin Lord Taylor, too, has become better as the show has progressed
About Author
