In some ways, “This Ball of Mud and Meanness” was the best episode of Gotham since “Red Hood.” In others ways, it indulged in the show’s worst tendencies, which served to undermine any meaningful steps forward. This review is going to be peppered throughout with backhanded compliments and faint praise, but I want to be clear: there was a lot about this episode that I liked. There was even one scene that I loved. Then there were other parts of the episode that were, well, pretty standard fare for Gotham.
So what works so well about “This Ball of Mud and Meanness”? Simple: Bruce Wayne. It’s no secret that David Mazouz has been this show’s secret weapon for, well, the entirety of its run, and the smartest move that Gotham has made in ages has been to put Mazouz front and center for almost an entire episode. Bruce and Alfred are on the hunt for Matches Malone, killer of the Waynes, and along the way there are some good scenes, some lame ones, and one excellent one. Let’s break them down!
The Lame: Alfred’s confrontation with Cupcake. It’s always cool to see Alfred fight, and the brawl was well-done by director John Nehring, a veteran of Arrow, but too much of this was reliant upon what I call “Gotham plotting.” This is where it makes perfect sense that a bunch of ridiculously-costumed criminals would hold a fighting ring in broad daylight under an overpass. And “Cupcake” is the kind of name that’s only funny to a hack, meaning we are a few episodes out from meeting a biker named Tiny who loves kittens.
The Good: Bruce’s detour into the Celestial Garden, where he meets with Jeri, played by a game Lori Petty – Tank Girl herself! Petty gives a shot of life to what otherwise would be unbearably campy, as the Celestial Garden is an underground punk club with a clientele of strictly criminals (it’s here that the mohawks, face masks, and garish attire inch Gotham closer into Joel Schumacher territory). Petty and Mazouz play well off of each other, and Jeri ends the scene by having a newfound respect for Bruce, which leads us to our next scene.
The Excellent: Bruce’s confrontation of Matches Malone (Michael Bowen, well cast). This doesn’t get off to a great start, I’ll be honest, with Matches immediately going into detail about the number of people he’s killed, and his prices (“a sliding scale”) for men, women, and children. But once Bruce tells Matches who he is, the scene changes, and it attains genuine psychological levels. It’s rare for any part of Gotham to be called “thoughtful,” but this is a scene that offers genuine insight into not just Matches or Bruce, but Gotham itself. In the end Bruce doesn’t kill Matches, because as he says in his ending voiceover, “You can’t get revenge against evil.”
Elsewhere – in the scenes involving anyone but Bruce – Gotham was its usual unpredictable self. Lee obtains Kristen Kringle’s paychecks, because the HR department at the GCPD will give you anyone’s paychecks if you just ask nicely. She decides that Kristen is missing, so Jim is on the case (this episode doesn’t have a lot for him to do). Ed takes this to mean that Jim is on to him, and Ed’s paranoia immediately escalates. It’s supposed to be creepy but it’s instead kind of funny, as misinterpreting everything Jim does or says as a trap is a very sitcom-y reaction. By the end of the episode he’s drawing green question marks on Jim’s picture, so watch out Jim, you’re about to be the victim some very easily-solved crimes. I’ve said this before: once riddle-themed crime becomes a problem that cops have to worry about, every cop in the precinct is going to suspect Ed, THE GUY WHO TELLS RIDDLES ALL THE TIME.
Oh, and Penguin gets let out of Arkham as part of some grand experiment by Hugo Strange. I’m less interested in this – who decided that the Penguin and the Riddler should be this show’s Big Bads – but Robin Lord Taylor has gotten less annoying, and it involves more BD Wong, so I guess we’ll just see how it progresses.
“This Ball of Mud and Meanness” was maddening in the way that only Gotham can be. Parts of it were genuinely great, and gave glimpses of what this show could have been. Other parts – well, bright blue mohawks don’t like.
A Few Thoughts
- I think this show hates mental patients as much as it hates cops. “WHAT FLAVOR IS IT???”
- Bullock, to Alfred: “For a butler, you sure do get beat up a lot.” Bullock/Alfred scenes are always gold.
- Sometimes Gotham is just moving down a crime show checklist. We’ve now had a sex club, a supermarket for criminals, and a fighting ring.
- Gotham‘s view of crime, as espoused by Penguin: “I was so mean to people.”
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