Guys, it looks like Gotham is finally coming into its own. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some dents that need to be hammered out – see what I did there? – but showrunner Bruno Heller, after wisely giving writing duties to other people, is starting to correct the course on what was shaping up to be one of the fall’s most problematic new series. “Harvey Dent” was probably the strongest episode of Gotham to date.
Let’s talk about the title character, played here by Nicholas D’Agosto of Heroes and Masters of Sex. He’s got some big, Aaron Eckhart-sized shoes to step into, and at first he seems to be giving a pretty lukewarm impression of Eckhart’s charming big-city lawyer, talking about making bets and constantly flipping a double-headed coin (or double-faced, if you want to eschew subtlety in the same way Gotham does). D’Agosto shows more signs of life, and better range, in his second scene, when he’s putting the screws to industrialist Dick Lovecraft (whose name makes for the second H.P. Lovecraft reference in the Batman universe, the first being Arkham; sorry, I can’t help pointing this shit out). We get to see some of the barely-concealed rage that will make Dent into such a formidable villain in his incarnation as Two-Face. If ther’s one major complaint about D’Agosto’s performance, it’s that we don’t see it for long stretches at a time; Harvey Dent pretty much disappears for the middle third of an episode named after him.
Honestly, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode, seeing as how the B-plot centered heavily around Selina Kyle, who, if you’re playing along at home, sucks. (To wit: she’s pointedly shown drinking milk, and once again calls herself “Cat,” because WE FUCKING GET IT, GOTHAM. The people who don’t know that Selina Kyle is Catwoman are not the kind of people watching this show.) Selina goes to stay at Wayne Manor for her safety, and I was locked and loaded with eyerolls, but Camren Bicondova fares far better opposite Bruce than she does Gordon. They tentatively begin the flirtatious relationship that will be such a big part of their masked alter egos, and there is one paricularly delightful scene where they get into a food fight (the prize: a kiss from Selina) and you get to see that these two damanged, haunted people are actually just kids. It might be the first time all season we’ve seen Bruce smile (David Mazouz’s performance remains a standout).
Bullock and Gordon are on the trail of an escaped bomb-maker named Ian Hargrove, and they find him almost immediately, but this whole plot does result in two significant advances: 1, the Mayor transfers all of Gotham’s criminally insane to the newly-renovated Arkham, bringing the Gotham of the show that much closer to the one we’re familiar with; and 2, this city has the dumbest mobsters on the fucking planet, which I know isn’t much of a plot point, but it’s still true. Did the Russians think there was any chance that Fish wouldn’t double-cross them? “Well, she’s betrayed every person she’s ever worked with, and I’m helping her betray someone right now, but I’m sure I’ll be safe!” Honestly, if you’re that stupid, you deserve to get blown up by a cell phone playing “The Final Countdown.”
A Few Thoughts
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Cobblepot pays a visit to Liza. Not sure where he’s headed with this, but Robin Lord Taylor is becoming sufficiently creepy, even if half of his lines are just nervous tittering
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Barbara is back with Montoya. Are we supposed to like Montoya? This is a woman who continued to tell Barbara that she loved her, even though she knew Barbara was dating Gordon, and then as soon as Barbara left Jim, Montoya got her in to bed. That’s pretty sleazy by anyone’s standards, but I guess it’s progressive of Gotham to not assume that only men can be total dirtbags
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That prison break scene was pretty great. It looks like this show might be taking some cues from Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, if only because “Harvey Dent” killed cops with the same enthusiasm that The Dark Knight did
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