I barely even feel like reviewing Gotham right now. “The Anvil and the Hammer” tread a lot of the same ground as last week’s “Under the Knife,” and when it didn’t it was actually retroactively canceling somewhat interesting plotlines introduced in the previous episode. And “Hammer”‘s big ominous ending was a repeat of something Gotham has already done.
Remember last week when I said that Barbara’s association with the Don Juan Killer could actually make her interesting? Well, turns out I was wrong. Gotham turns on a dime and decides that what it really wants is for Barbara to be the DJK’s captive, because God forbid she have any agency. What, then, was up with that little smile she gave DJK last week when she saw his room full of killing impedimenta? That was the glimmer of hope, and “Hammer” stifles it. She’s subjected to DJK’s creepy brand of love until, at knifepoint, she is forced to giving him the name of someone to murder. (What a charmed life she must lead, to not be able to immediately name someone she’d like to see dead.)
Bullock and Gordon track the pair to Barbara’s parents’ house, where DJK is brandishing a gun at them, before he remembers what kind of weapon he uses and switches to a knife. He kills them both, and while not graphic, and certainly not necessary (we have zero background on Barbara’s relationship with her parents, so their deaths mean nothing), at the very least I applaud Gotham for the level of violence it’s willing to show. Look, I spent an hour watching this, I have to find something I liked about it. Gordon kills DJK – and this plotline, thankfully – but Barbara’s throat gets cut in the process. It looks like she’s going to live, but I wouldn’t put it past Gotham to kill her off like that.
Hmm, what else is going on…oh! Nygma brings the late Officer Dougherty’s body TO THE PRECINCT for some reason, in SUPER CONSPICUOUS TITANIC STYLE FOOTLOCKERS. Dougherty is chopped up, and Nygma’s plan is to dissolve the body in the examination room, because apparently the GCPD didn’t splurge on cameras in the exam room, and no crimes are ever committed in Gotham, so it’s unlikely that another dead body will be coming in. This is, as you can, fucking stupid.
Cobblepot is trying to start a mob war…again. Jesus, Gotham, give it a rest. He sabotages a hit on Don Maroni, but not before Maroni thinks that Falcone is trying to kill him. I found myself thinking, imagine if David Zayas and John Doman went to war with each other on a better show. Then I got sad, because I’d watch the hell out of that, but instead I’m watching Gotham.
A Few Thoughts
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Remember when Fish Mooney was on this show?
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Big plus about “The Anvil and the Hammer”: no Selina Kyle
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Bruce meets Lucius Fox, who thankfully is not wearing a bow tie. I don’t give a shit if it’s canonical, bow ties are for assholes, and if you think otherwise, well, you’re an asshole too
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The whole “Patrick Bateman of Gotham” could conceivably had worked, if only Milo Ventimiglia had brought more personality to his performance
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Speaking of performances, why was Barbara acting all brainwashed and catatonic when Gordon and Bullock showed up? She was all over the place
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