It’s the return of Bruce and Alfred this week in ‘Welcome Back, Jim Gordon’ an episode that seeks to bring about a change in power in ‘Gotham’.
Another heavily serialised episode of the freshman show which picks up very quickly after the events of previous episode ‘What the Little Bird Told Him’ (check out our thoughts on that episode here) with Fish Mooney being held captive by Don Falcone and Penguin riding high on his most recent successes.
Happiest of the bunch his Jim Gordon who has made a triumphant return to the GCPD after helping capture Jack Buchinsky.
The most recent episodes of ‘Gotham’ have stuck to the interwoven stories revolving around Fish, Falcone and Maroni and the consequences of their fight for power of the city. That still exists here but it’s shifting towards the fall of Fish for it’s next arc whilst Bruce and Alfred return to the periphery of the story.
Returning from Switzerland Bruce is instantly eager to get back in with Selina, his motivation in this episode is purely to get a message to her but when the two meet it’s hardly a follow-up to the kiss which ended their last scene together.
There’s no smooth road for Bruce and Selina as a pairing and as fun as it was to see them together in ‘Harvey Dent’ almost enjoying the company of the other it was never to last and we’re already seeing them come undone.
David Mazouz has some big shoes to fill following Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, Christian Bale and unforgettably the voice of Kevin Conroy. Yes okay we left out Adam West but nobody can follow him. Oh yes we forgot Clooney too… the less said the better. His approach to the character is not one of all out anger or that of an emotionally stunted teen. He sits somewhere between the two and at times it can be a little confusing but for a fourteen year-old appearing against some much bigger names he’s carving a niche for himself in the world of ‘Gotham’.
There’s a big story this week involving the character of Arnold Flass, played by Dash Mihok, who fans might remember as having appeared in ‘Batman Begins’ and in many of the comics stories over the years. He had a larger role in the ‘Batman: Year One’ comic series in which his feelings for Gordon are made abundantly clear soon after his arrival in Gotham. This episode doesn’t quite go to those lengths but it’s clear that Gordon and Flass are not going to be the best of friends any time soon.
‘Gotham’ has touched upon corruption within the GCPD force before but it’s starting to come in to focus more as the season is progressing. We already know the mayor is in the pocket of the mob and much of the city is also under control but we’re beginning to learn just how deeply these problems go.
There’s key moments for Nygma, Ivy and other supporting characters just to remind us that they’re still out there in the wider ‘Gotham’ world.
The writers are clearly beginning to mix things up for poor Fish, she spends much of the episode held captive but her most interesting scene comes right at the end of episode where a kiss shared with another major character though not unpredictable still serves its purpose in softening her character a little. Are the writers really going to make us feel sorry for such a character? I think they are and I think its going to work.
This episode does a have a little more of the case-of-the-week feel despite the fact it’s still involved with the overarching story so for those late to the part this could be your entry way to the ‘Gotham’ mythos.
4 stars
