After a solid return, Gotham Season 2 kept the pace going with “A Dead Man Feels No Cold”. Which is showing that Season 02 will continue on with the quick pacing of certain stories, and knowing when to build on others.
Let’s get the quick story out of the way. Penguin is indeed being tortured in Arkham, and he’s beginning to crack. Him losing it after Jim dismissed him was very telling. And Huge Strange overhearing the confession will no doubt lead to interesting things down the line. How though is still undetermined.
Then, there was the return of Bruce Wayne (insert comic joke here), who had apparently been taken to Switzerland by Alfred after the Galavan kidnapping. What this return truly showed was the transformation Bruce has gone through. No longer is he the truly innocent boy who’s confused about what is going on. He’s a kid on a mission, and that mission is to kill Matches Malone.
What I really liked about this storyline was the numerous avenues it took to show Bruce’s growing darkness. From his candid and revealing chat with Leslie (which I truly hope will continue given their friendship in the comics). To his chat with Alfred, which took a turn in Alfred being willing to kill Matches. And of course Selina, who was actually concerned for Bruce’s soul in regards to what killing does to a person. All of which just proved that Bruce is in pre-Batman mode. He’s not fully there yet, as Batman doesn’t kill or need a gun. BUT, it could lead to that mindset. To be fear, yet fair, and to let justice take its course.
But, the true fun was with Victor Fries, who truly earned his Mr. Freeze moniker by literally icing Ace Chemicals to get more liquid hydrogen, then making a daring attempt on Arkham after Barnes and Gordon put Nora Fries there in an attempt to catch him and limit casualties. I’ve heard some people talk about how bad the plan was. And yeah, it was a bad plan. But as both Barnes and Gordon noted, they didn’t have many options. They had to keep Nora alive, it was their duty. But they also needed to get Freeze. So what was the “best of the bad options”? Put her in Arkham.
I will note that this plan did lead to great conversations between Gordon and Leslie, as their relationship might be heading towards very rocky roads. She knows that Galavan didn’t die like Gordon said, which angers her. Which leads to her not trust him, which angers Gordon. This is why they’re a great TV couple, because it feels real, and the baby coming only adds to this drama in the best way possible.
Speaking of couples, I truly applaud the work done to both Victor and Nora. Victor admitting to Jim that he didn’t want to hurt anyone else, only save his wife was great. As was Nora owning up for his and her sins by switching the formula so that she would die rather than live without him, or him being in prison because of her. Then, for Victor to turn his formula on himself in order to die and be with Nora was very Shakespearean…but…
Yeah, you knew that wasn’t going to last!
Huge Strange brought his psychotic side to the forefront after being introduced in last weeks episode. From his “sessions” with Penguin, to his delight in both stopping the GCPD and making numerous deals with Victor, something was going to happen. And sure enough, Hugo was able to revive Victor…into his true Mr. Freeze form! Yeah, he’s cold blooded now. Complete with white skin, and hair! Oh, and his suit has been modified…
Aside from the Penguin storyline, which I’m still not sure about right now. The only real detractor from this episode was the scene where Freeze literally froze the Gotham river…and no one said anything about it afterward. Is it still frozen? Did it dethaw already? That was a big scene, I’m kind of mad it got glossed over after it happened.
“A Dead Man Feels No Cold” kept the return of Gotham in great territory. It spaced out the character stories, and wasn’t afraid to end one to begin another. Next week teases a big scene in Batman history. Can’t wait to see how it plays out.
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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