TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Gotham Season 04 Episode 03: They Who Hide Behind Masks

Hey everyone! Have to keep this review short, hope you don’t mind, especially since…this episode wasn’t that good. lol.

And I hate that because we just came off a great episode with Gordon and the Scarecrow, and this one had a LOT of potential. And yet…it didn’t end up in the place it needed to be. In fact, the episode had a lot of “Good idea, bad idea” going on (thanks to all Animaniacs fans who got that reference and the ones to come).

Good idea: Sending Gordon to find Falcone to get help to fight Penguin. Also good idea, finding out Falcone can’t help because he’s dying, stifling Gordon’s efforts. Bad idea: Meeting the daughter of Falcone and somehow have her not only seduce Gordon in less than an hour (of meeting him) and now openly flirt with him upon entering Gotham to “help” him. Really? And dear gosh, does she have to wear the most revealing clothes ever? I was rolling my eyes so hard at the bar and beach scenes as well as her entering the GCPD. As a character, she was ok. But seriously…another love interest for Gordon? REALLY?!?!! Speaking of which…

Good idea: Thawing out Riddler. Bad idea: having the person to thaw him out be an obsessive stalker that knew Nygma IN THE THIRD GRADE!!!! And then killing her off before the episode was done…well, ok, that idea wasn’t so bad. But seriously, why bring her in just to thaw him out, get betrayed, and die? Could they seriously not think of a better idea of how to get him out of the iceberg? Now, bounceback good idea, having Riddler actually be affected by his time in the ice, that’s a great plan, and I look forward to seeing how/if he recovers.

Finally, there was the Bruce/Selina/Barbara/Ra’s arc. That opening sequence was very confusing for Ra’s. Why be reborn…just to find an heir…and then die? Because that’s how that one guy phrased it. Also, if the knife was so important, how did Ra’s lose it?

Good idea: having Bruce start to use his “playboy billionaire brat” mask. Bad idea: having Selina seem like an incompetent thief because she failed to get it twice. Seriously, Barbara knows better than to doubt Selina’s skills. And this will not go well for either for him.

Good idea: Ra’s Al Ghul. Bad idea: Ra’s Al Ghul and Barbara Kean as a couple. Need I say more?

In the end, “They Who Hide Behind Masks” was a very abrupt ending to a good two episodes of momentum. Hopefully things pick up very soon.