Everyone wants a piece of James Gordon in Gotham City. He’s the hot commodity to have in their possession, especially since Penguin put the hit out on him. With a city overrun with petty criminals and supervillains, avoiding conflict is next to impossible. This reality came to fruition this week on Gotham during “Trespassers.” Evil consistently sought out Gordon to the point that too much was going on in the hour to follow the plot, in addition to all the subplots happening, too.
James Gordon is a natural-born hero, that much is obvious. His decision to risk it all to save the children from the Soothsayers fell into step with his character development that he built over these last four seasons. Gordon would never ignore the urge of helping a victim in need. The same goes for Harvey Bullock. He complains a lot, but he reluctantly joins in and saves the day, too. These moments happen for the bigger plots, like fighting against season-long Big Bads, or the filler plots, like this week’s standoff against the Soothsayers.
The steampunk crew and their gas-loving leader, Sykes, paled in comparison to past Gotham baddies and gangs that roamed the city. Everything about the gang screamed “insignificant” and “filler.” Once they were introduced and revealed their big plot (they wanted to build a tunnel underground to the mainland to sell their gas), their threat level immediately diminished. How could they not realize a hole created by children under a river would flood? It’s simple logic. Sykes and his group amounted to a one-episode annoyance than truly raises the stakes.
It’s a shame that Mother and Orphan weren’t built out as the main villains from “Trespassers.” The creepy and psychotic pair, while only having about 5-10 minutes onscreen, had the enigmatic presence that would’ve provided the intriguing plot. Instead, they were served up as a cameo-type appearance that distracted us from the main story. These Batman villains didn’t need to be shoehorned into the main story. A path was available for how to incorporate them into a more natural progression. Hopefully, they’re brought back to right the wrong of their use.
The one benefit from the main story was the burgeoning connection between James Gordon and Barbara Kean. Did you feel the sparks? The pair was positively electric. Their argument at the Sirens Club exuded raw emotion and passion. The scene captured much of the same tone from Gotham’s second season. And kudos to whoever incorporated the moving spotlights within the club during their discussion. The shifting lights added plenty of tension in between their dialogue to set the mood: neither was unfazed to talk about their life and death situation in Gotham City. We could be seeing the early hints of their romance re-emerging.
Speaking of romances, Bruce risking his life to save Selina wasn’t surprising in the least. He would do anything to protect her and bring her back to full strength. Plus, being threatened by Poison Ivy doesn’t exactly top his list of times he nearly died. It’s become a habit for the boy billionaire.
Ivy, on the other hand, helping Selina offered a great (maybe?) send-off for the character. Her progression into becoming the adult super villain started right from Gotham’s series premiere. Even as a mutated adult, she will always be Selina’s childhood friend, similar to Firefly. Ivy giving Bruce the healing seed, as well as Selina reminiscing about Ivy, brought the story of their friendship full circle. If Poison Ivy doesn’t return, this moment will be a good ending for her: she paid back her best friend for helping her all those years and turned her into the future Catwoman.
The Riddler’s story is pretty choppy and inconsistent at the moment. His plot is coming together in pieces, but it’s definitely building toward something. Let’s cross our fingers that the payoff at the end is worth all the buildup. These blackouts have to mean something nefarious and impactful is going on.
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“Trespassers” isn’t Gotham’s strongest episode, but it made important moves to push the plot forward. A few pieces were set up that will no doubt impact the future, like the safe zone in Gotham City, James and Barbara’s deal, and Selina receiving feline powers. The scenes involving Poison Ivy in the park and the Sirens Club were absolutely beautiful. Though, a few changes to the plot structure would’ve done wonders to fix the glaring missteps.
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