TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Gotham Season 02 Fall Finale: Worse Than A Crime

Easily the best part of the episode was when Superman took off Batman’s mask and showed that…oh…wait…that was the Batman V Superman teaser. My bad! Still…IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Back to Gotham, as in the TV series, “More Than A Crime” did a good job of not only tying up the first half of the season, but also teasing what might come next. Which to be honest, is not only surprising, but refreshing. You see, when a show goes 20+ episodes, it often drags, or has filler episodes. That’s why many love the Netflix series, cause they’re shorter, and thus have to focus the story. Dragging the story was a big downfall of Gotham Season 01, but with Season 02? It’s clear they know when to stop a story, and start a new one.

To be fair, this was not the best episode of the season, I would even say it wasn’t as good as last weeks (which I gave a 4.5), that said, it was still good. From Gordon’s trip to the dark side, to Bruce’s ability to read people now starting to kick in, and much, MUCH, more. It was solid.

Let’s get the weak stuff out of the way, ok? Though good in some ways, The Order of St. Dumas really fizzled out at the end. Honestly, it was the setup that doomed them, as men with knives (no matter how skilled) has no chance against men with guns. Especially when those men are cops and gangsters. Which is sad, because comic fans will note how good the Order actually is. Oh well.

The buildup to the end though was very well done. From Bruce being told how he would be sacrificed, to the alone moments with Silver, to Gordon and his allies slowly building and readying their strike, it was great. That shot with Gordon, Bullock, Selina, Penguin, and crew walking together? That was beautiful! I want that framed!

And though predictable (and previewed) the reasoning for the teamup was valid. First, it was just Gordon wanting to stop Galavan once and for all. Then it became about saving Bruce. All the while, having Barnes want to take Galavan in “by the book”, and wanting nothing more than to do that in order to clear Jim’s name. His chat with Leslie about his whereabouts was very pointed, but again, believable.

And how about that Leslie? She’s pregnant! How ironic! And…how interesting, as obviously in the comics they were never (like, ever) a couple, so this breaks new ground potentially. So…boy (James Gordon Jr., look him up!!!)…or girl (Barbara?!?!?)? Oh, and will she say yes to his proposal? Hmm…

Then of course there was Bruce, who had some very good moments that could’ve easily had gone bad. While the logic behind Galavan wanting Silver to “make Bruce love her again” was weird, if not idiotic, the results were very cool. As Bruce KNEW that Silver was conning him, and then still tried to save her life after she finally leveled with him! This not only showed what kind of guy Bruce is, but shows that he didn’t forget the lessons he learned last episode. He’s evolving ladies and gentlemen!

Which of course…leads us to Gordon. I knew that his battle with the darkness would be the story of this season, and oh was I right. From his teaming up with Penguin, to his almost shooting of Galavan in front of Barnes, to hearing Penguin convince him to kill him for “the greater good”…and then him shooting him in cold blood! Wow!!!

Now, what does this all mean? It’s hard to say, if Barnes doesn’t figure out what really happened (they left that really open to interpretation) then they’ve made a misstep, because it should be obvious! Then again, if you can’t prove it, what will you do? I could easily see the back half be about Gordon being under IA scrutiny because of these events. Only time will tell…3 months time sadly…

Ok, and now for the teasers!!!! Aside from the “baby Gordon”, there were THREE big teases for what’s to come. First off, Mr. Freeze!!! How about that entrance huh? I literally couldn’t stop myself from saying, “Hey everyone…chill.” So cool..er…cold. Heh. Second! We went back to Indian Hill! And who was name dropped there? Dr. Strange of course!…no, not THAT Dr. Strange! HUGO Strange. Who apparently is the man in charge of all the experiments going on. Of what fun.

And in what was meant to be a “throwaway” but has big implications…Fox has fixed the harddrive to the Wayne computer! SO…we can now know what Thomas Wayne was looking into!

“Worse Than A Crime” had some weird moments, you have to say it, but, it did a great job wrapping up what was easily one of the best 10-episode runs in comic book show history in my opinion. Rise of the Villains has lowered the curtain on Part 1. In February? Part 2.