TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Gotham Season 04 Episode 15: The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause

Fulfilling on the promise made last week, “Sinking Ship, Grand Applause” brought just about every major Gotham player together to take on Sophia Falcone and take her down once and for all. And it led to an interesting chase as you didn’t know who was going to get the final shot (both figuratively and literally), and who could be trusted and who couldn’t.

I was honestly surprised by how well things converged. You had Gordon, Bullock, Penguin, Riddler, Leslie, Zsasz (and his returning friend), Butch, Barbara and Tabitha all tied together in this plot, and it really did work. Just when you thought someone had an upperhand, a twist happened and changed everything. It was really good.

The ending scene (in that very creepy “therapy center”) was great stuff. As Gordon and Bullock had to protect the account of Penguin (who was also working for both members of the Falcone family) in order to take Sophia down, who promptly followed them with Zsasz in order to kill them all. Having Gordon take multiple hits and nearly die was great. Yes, it didn’t kill him, we knew it wouldn’t, but you had to wonder what he would say in the face of death. Thankfully, he stuck to his character.

But truthfully, the real fun was seeing Leslie go full tilt. She’s always walked the line between peace and violence. She was always willing to talk her way out of situations, but because of what Sophia did, and the violence Samson (who took over the Narrows on Sophia’s order) was doing to the people who trusted her, she decided not to care anymore. I loved how she “killed’ Sophia, and in very brutal fashion. Yet, she also saved Jim, which shows she still has a heart. But…then she also destroyed Samson’s hand…quite violently, so…is she becoming a more violent person? We’ll find out.

Another surprise was the fun and touching reunion of Bruce and Selina. Yes, they met again two episodes ago, but that was before Bruce truly became himself again. The flirting that these two did was very Batman and Catwoman, and it was great to see them team up to take down a fence. I also appreciated that Selina wanted to give back the jewels she stole from the family that had their husband/father killed by Ivy. Catwoman has always been one to walk a line as well, and it’s clear she’s still learning where her heart is in some matters. I was happy to see Bruce console her, which hopefully will lead to even more scenes with them.

Finally, Barbara is apparently having something happen to her that relates to Ra’s. I knew that this would come up, but I’m not sure where this will lead, I am intrigued though.

Now, there were a few oddities in the episode. Zsasz’s buddy returning was interesting, but what was the point? Also, for them being “master marksmen” they missed a LOT of targets, including killing Leslie and Penguin when they were FEET AWAY. Also, at the end, Bullock noted that Sophia is STILL ALIVE! How is that possible? Even for Gotham! She was shot in the head by Leslie! Square on! SHE. SHOULD. BE. DEAD!

Aside from that though, this was a very fun episode, and with the promise of Jerome’s plan coming to fruition next week, it looks like the fun will continue.