“By Fire” had to happen. I don’t mean it’s essential television, or even something you needed to watch live (with the exception of the pilot, I’ve watched every episode of Gotham on Hulu). I mean it was literally necessary because this is a TV show and by their very nature, TV shows produce episodes. Someone told showrunner Bruno Heller that an episode needed to air on Monday, October 26, 2015, he said, “Huh, I guess you’re right,” and thus was born “By Fire,” an episode almost completely devoid of any narrative impact. While not as laughably inane as last week’s “Scarification,” “By Fire” still sent the message loud and clear that Gotham is treading water, and is closer to drowning than swimming.
There’s just so much going on here for no earthly reason. For instance, what purpose does Barbara serve on this show? Her calling out Butch for holding her captive last season showed some nice internal memory on the show’s part, but otherwise she’s just sexy window dressing. I guess the Maniax are a thing of the past too. Also, why does Theo have to threaten a Congressman with death in order to secure an endorsement? Isn’t Theo a beloved public figure who is also running unopposed? Or did Gotham just think it would be cool to have a man trying not to hang himself in the background of a scene, thereby turning Theo into an over the top caricature of a villain in the same vein as Jason Patric in The Losers, who killed his assistant for being too slow with an umbrella, thereby sacrificing any semblance of believability or importance.
Also, poor Butch. Drew Powell’s performance is one of Gotham‘s few bright spots*, and here he’s reduced to having a mallet grafted onto the stump where his hand used to be. The show cares so little about itself that we don’t even see Butch’s escape, which is kind of important. But Tabitha Galavan is so careless that she’ll show up to dinner with Bruce and Silver St. Cloud (Jesus, that name) with blood on her face.
Okay, let’s talk about the bulk of “By Fire,” which centered around Bridgit Pike, aka Firefly. She needs to skip town, but can’t cause she has no money. Selina has a suggestion, and Bridgit’s reaction might be one of Gotham‘s all-time worst lines (that would be a fun, and exhausting, article to write): “You mean, like, crime?” Yes, Bridgit, “like, crime.” She has zero compunctions about burning people alive – which she does a lot this episode – but draws the line at “like, crime,” evidently. To be fair, this kind of cognitive dissonance is one of the few things about Michelle Ventimilia’s performance that makes me believe Bridgit is a teenager. If it surprised you to hear Gordon say she’s a minor, well, you’re not alone. No offense to Ventimilia, but as gorgeous as she is, she looks nothing like a teenager (her age isn’t listed on IMDb, which is some bullshit gender politics that isn’t appropriate to go into here). Maybe it’s because she shares almost all her scenes with Camren Bicondova, who is apparently 16 and not 11, like I thought originally.
But age notwithstanding, I don’t buy Bridgit and Selina’s relationship for a second, especially because when they’re at Selina’s flophouse Bridgit asks things like “Why are you helping me?” which should be immediately obvious if they have the long history that Gotham is insisting they do. (Gotham is also insistent that everyone calls Selina “Cat,” which, no they don’t.)
The one triumph of “By Fire” is that it finally found a way to make Ed Nygma interesting. His transformation into the Riddler might be the slowest burn I’ve ever seen on TV (28 episodes and counting!), which really says a lot about how optimistic Gotham is about its survival. Anyway, he stupidly confesses to killing Officer Dougherty (Kristen Kringle, reading Dougherty’s badge: “T. Dougherty.” Thanks, Gotham!), and when Kristen tries to escape he accidentally kills her too. Cory Michael Smith’s performance has been…hmm, how do I put this delicately…annoying as shit up until now, but when given a chance to play it straight – no quirks, no riddles, no chuckles – he does a damn good job. There’s a good actor buried under shitty writing, and it took this long to come out.
*The bright spots of this show: Butch, Bruce, Alfred, retro aesthetic, Bullock (most of the time)
A Few Thoughts
- Gotham‘s hardline stance on sexual slavery: “All y’all suck.” Ooh, hot take, this show doesn’t care who it offends!
- Saying “asshat” over and over just draws attention to the fact that no one can say “asshole,” and makes the show about as gritty as a high school play
- Things I liked: Alfred punching Bruce in the face; the Firefly costume; Bullock’s haircut; Bullock’s surprised reaction, which is to kick something over and over
- The Strike Force are a bunch of goody-two-shoes buzzkills. Two episodes after their inception and they’ve worn out their welcome
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