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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Gotham Season 02 Episode 18: Pinewood

April 19th, 2016 by Todd Black Comments

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While the answers may not have been all the way shocking, “Pinewood” did help put the pieces in place for a potential explosive finale for Gotham’s epic season 2. And once again, they didn’t waste time in getting those answers. From almost minute one, we got answers about Barbara, Jim, and what Bruce would find on his fathers computer. The latter of which came in a simple way that tied back to the beginning of the season.

The whole story of Pinewood was about Bruce and Jim working separate paths to find out who hired Matches Malone to kill the Waynes, and it was well done both ways. Jim’s path of going beyond the law to find The Lady and find out who hired Malone was good. As was Bruce’s path to find out what Pinewood was, and why Thomas Wayne met with one Karen Jennings a week before his death.

On the Bruce side of things, it was interesting to see his passion and drive strive forth once again. His attitude towards the mission, and to Alfred, was very Batman-ish. And yet, we also got to see the kind side of Bruce that Batman at times doesn’t have, or isn’t shown to have. He talks with Karen were very touching, and even his promise of keeping her safe was doomed from the start, it was something he would do.

Then there’s Gordon, who again was willing to go beyond the law to get answers. Add that to the Barbara conundrum, and he has a full plate. I was happy to see his “I don’t care” attitude when it came to her. If he believed her, or forgave her, just because she “appeared” sane, it would’ve been stupid. But he was having none of it, even when she helped figure out the name of the person who hired Matches. I’m not sure what role Barbara will play in the final episodes, but her being with Tigress right now will lead to some very exciting possibilities.

The return of Mr. Freeze was nice, as was his new disposition, and ice suit that was very much like his comic version. While I fault both Gordon and Alfred for not aiming for his head (which wasn’t covered) it was obvious he wasn’t going to die here. Karen’s sacrifice was felt, and Bruce’s reaction was very pure. As was Alfred’s explanation of how it wasn’t his fault.

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Which of course leads us to the truths about Pinewood. It was the precursor to Indian Hill, and was founded by Thomas Wayne…but…was taken over and abused by The Philosopher…aka Hugo Strange. Who was performing experiments on people, such as Karen. Thomas Wayne saved who he could, but would be betrayed by Strange again when he tried to stop Indian Hill from being born. Again, not a shocker, but, when we see him and Thomas were friends before, it does add weight.

I was fully expecting another episode to go before they found out about Strange, but thankfully I was wrong. But now they have another problem entirely…as an “angel” has just woken up.

“Pinewood” dealt deep into the mystery of the Wayne murder and showed our characters in unfamiliar territory. Season 02 is winding down, but things keep picking up. Let the fun continue.

4 out of 5 nerds

4 out of 5 nerds

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!