Ok, I’ll admit, I didn’t expect this from “Nothing’s Shocking”, where we got not one but two (and technically a half) new villains from classic Batman lore. And it was actually kind of surprising that they did them both at once.
It was clear from the beginning that this was meant to be a cooldown episode after all the drama from “Ace Chemicals”, but for what it was worth, it allowed for some fun character stories. The one involving Bullock and his partner (that we met in Season 1!) was a very nice touch. Though I don’t buy that a man in a wheelchair could survive in this version of Gotham, but oh well.
Still, the arrival of Jane Doe was very unexpected, especially since she got powers in this version (in the comics she did a similar act but was more about impersonation skills than transformation abilities), and didn’t have the “muscle face” that the comic version did. Still, it was a nice twist that once again pulled from Gotham’s past, this time with Indian Hill. Seeing Harvey grieve for what he had done, and admit to Jim that he was the one who turned him onto the right path was very nice.
Meanwhile, Bruce and Alfred went to go help some citizens, and met…Proto-Killer Croc? Kind of? This one was a little on the nose, but the point was to show Alfred trying to make up for Jeremiah’s attack on the manor and “letting Bruce down”. Which I respect, but I feel it could’ve been handled a little better.
The arrival of the Ventriloquist was hilarious from start to finish. From the arrival of Arnold…I mean…Arthur, and the reveal of Mr. Scarface, to Riddler and Penguin laughing at the hilarity of everything…until it got deadly serious. This could’ve been another throwaway story, but it pointed out how Penguin always ends up alone because of how he treats people, including Arthur, which got him killed, twice technically.
However, it wasn’t really clear how Arthur survived the gunshot wound from a few episodes ago. He was shot in the chest…and yet just “woke up” at the morgue…I’m not buying it.
The only other downpoint was the Barbara storyline. While I liked that there was more conversation between her and Jim, it felt like they were going to have one more scene in the episode, but it didn’t happen, I’m really not sure where they’re going to go with this.
In the end, “Nothing’s Shocking” turned from a cooldown episode into a rather enjoyable one, and it had some pretty deep stories if you were willing to let them unfold. Four episodes left…
4.5 out of 5 nerds
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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