Listen. Listen. I realize that as a gay woman, this makes no sense but I literally love Cameron Monaghan with my entire heart. With that said, I was a little disappointed that he didn’t make MORE of an appearance this week, but from the look of the newest trailer, we should be seeing more of him sooner rather than later. Regardless of my affections for what may be the craziest person in this show, let’s dive into what was…actually a roller coaster of an episode. It opens up with an alarm going off – apparently they don’t like it when our favorite rhyme-master Jervis Tetch gets out of bed. Naturally, his words seem to hypnotize the people around him, so the visiting guard wears headphones to block out his ranting. Much to no-one’s surprise, he managed to get his sultry, sinful words into the ear of a young guard, and with her help, manages to escape his cell. He has her murder everyone along the way, but who needs the little details am I right?
Photo taken by Charlie Glear TGON – Gotham – Fox
They make a quick pit-stop at Scarecrow’s cell, where he seems to have concocted something fierce and dangerous in the toilet…and as for you children out there, look. Listen. There’s no way for me to word that that doesn’t make it sound like he didn’t have a seriously foul bowel movement, so fight me. He uses his…weird…tar-like toilet juice to destroy a locking mechanism, and when the doors burst open, out pops our beloved Jerome Valeska. Once they’ve tied up the loose ends, they release nearly 90 of the worst inmates Arkham has, and thus we see the first attempt at the Gotham Sirens. (You know it’s true, don’t @ me.) The trio go off to do their own thing, which leads to Jim and Bullock getting some major bonding time.
Photo taken by Charlie Glear TGON – Gotham – Fox
The first in our triple play of Arkham Crazy is Tetch, who manages to capture both Gordon and Bullock. They watch as he rants and raves about having lost Alice to Jim, and are forced to stand by as he literally smushes two people under a wrecking ball. He Miley Cyrus’d that couple in the most literal sense, and it was as gruesome as it was awesome. (I’m a morbid person, don’t judge.) After he escapes, his goons start clucking like chickens, leaving a bit of a comedic moment to relieve viewers from that crazy death scene. Jim and Harvey quickly learn that Tetch is broadcasting through the radios, which allows him to control multiple people at once – he has thousands of innocent Gothamites standing on the edges of buildings, waiting for midnight to come so they can “attempt to fly.”
Unfortunately, there’s only one way to find out which station it is – by tuning in. Naturally, Bullock thinks himself expendable and locks into a vehicle. He finds the station, but in doing so, submits himself to a potential forced suicide. Gordon goes to the studio to stop Tetch, but is distraught to find that if he tells the people to save themselves, they’ll each plummet to their deaths…so instead he asks that they save each other, which, to my surprise, manages to work. And for once Jim and Harvey save the day with good ol’ fashioned happy vibes, and I get to use this moment to come up with my own rhyme. “Tetch has been bested, as he sits arrested, but take these words and mark ’em, ’cause not all is as it seems when Jervis heads to Arkham.” I should give up my dreams of becoming a writer and instead pursue the noble art of rapping. I’m great at this.
Photo taken by Charlie Glear TGON – Gotham – Fox
In any case, back to the show. While Tetch keeps the GCPD occupied, Jerome pays a visit to his uncle, who owns a diner within the city. He’s searching for something, though no one knows what. But family doesn’t mean much to the Valeska clan, as Jerome’s uncle decides instead to get revenge for his deceased sister. He and his gigantic goon (Why does everyone in this city have a minion?) hold Jerome down and force literal boiling hot soup down his throat, which ultimately burn his skin. But it’s not like anyone would be able to tell, so it’s fine.
What they don’t know is that up to this point, Bruce and Selina have been on this weird “Let’s pretend we’re not totally attracted to each other” adventure – see, Young Master Wayne believes he’s responsible for the things Jerome does, since he didn’t go all homicidal on him at the carnival last year. Naturally, Selina is like “My Dude you have an ego the size of Jupiter, but you’re cute so whatevs.” They hunted down information on Jerome by breaking into Jim’s office. In the GCPD. Which is illegal. But Bruce makes up for his illegal act by fake crying in the funniest way possible, so I’m fine with it. All of this leads to Bruce attempting to save Jerome, which instead turns to him being nearly killed by the goon. Jerome takes the time to get his answers, before killing his uncle and laughing as Bruce nearly dies. Selina comes to his rescue, but when she actually tries to kill Jerome, Bruce stops her and our friendly neighborhood maniac escapes. We get an “ooh-la-la” moment between Selina and Bruce, which of course we’ll all eat up because we all love Batman and Catwoman.
Photo taken by Charlie Glear – TGON – Gotham – Fox
If you’re a fan of Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane, well…I’m sorry. You got the short end of the stick in this episode. We didn’t get to see much, other than his daring escape from the asylum and his team up with Jerome to rescue our poor, defenseless Tetch from the back of a truck. Honestly, it’s not surprising. There aren’t many fans of Scarecrow out there, despite his intriguing character. What IS interesting however, is the story we did get to see. Barbara Kean has been, as you’ll all remember (She sure doesn’t, haha why am I like this) experiencing some insane headaches, as well as a strange glow from her hand. Goaded into reliving the memories just after her revival, she learns that Raj Al Ghul had left her in charge of the League Of Shadows, and when they all arrive, she proves to them that she’s the Demon’s Head. One man tries to take her on, and she quickly disposes of him. The rest get into fighting stance, and when she steps toward them, they flinch. Babs goes on a rant about how they’re all weak, and suddenly…boom. They’re all dead. A new, smaller group show up and pledge themselves to Barbara, naming themselves as the “Sisters Of The League.” Naturally, Babs takes this power and absolutely freakin’ RUNS with it.
Photo Taken by Charlie Glear TGON – Gotham – Fox
I’m excited to see what they do with her story line, because she’s always been a personal favorite of mine. I’m also crazy intrigued with where they’re taking this Jerome story…if you haven’t been paying attention to the media, supposedly this person he’s looking for is his twin brother, rumored to be named Jeremiah Valeska. What does this mean for his character? I have a lot of questions, but the only way we’ll get them answered is by tuning into Fox every Thursday for the latest episode of Gotham! Thanks for reading!
