Gotham S02E17 Review: Game of Thrones, Gotham Edition

Gotham, Season 2, Episode 17: Into the Woods

The episode basically follows Gordon around as he tries to find out who framed him, and it's wrapped up a bit too quickly in this episode... but on the other hand, having it drawn out over like half the season wouldn't work really well either, so yay. The confrontation when Gordon sought out Nygma's help in clearing out the tape... before figuring out that it's Nygma who did the deed, is pretty tense. And the little shoot-out between the two is well done, as is Gordon getting Selina to help out in leading Nygma straight to where he buried Kristen Kringle's body, before causing him to gloat and reveal his plans while Barnes and Bullock are hidden nearby with a small army. It's great stuff. 

Meanwhile, the whole journey is peppered with hilarious moments. Selina half-eating a cookie and looking at everybody going 'what?' when they suggested someone who would sell Gordon out. Bullock going all 'the people of Gotham can eat my socks!' and giving Barnes a figurative middle finger. Nygma's little breakdown as he confronts Gordon about insanity and how if he kills people it's okay, but it's not okay for others. Nygma gets arrested for it, but I do hope it struck a chord deep within Gordon. Yes, the comparison between killing Gallavan to stop him from terrorizing everyone as opposed to Nygma murdering Kringle in a fit of anger is hardly valid, but Nygma noting how Jim Gordon paints every murderer as crazy is a nice moment of observation.

I thought they went with it too quickly considering how pivotal Edward Nygma has been in the show, and how he's been built up into the Riddler for so long, but it's safe to say that we won't see the last of Riddler. It's a shame we won't see him being this crazy double-agent-working-for-himself thing within the GCPD, but he's still glorious nonetheless. Plus, considering how quickly it took for the Nygma and Gordon-in-jail business to get sorted out, we are shown the sobering realization that Gordon lost so much all because Nygma thought Gordon was investigating Kringle's murder. That's harsh, really.

The Bruce/Selina bit living in the streets ended up not really amounting to anything, with their big moment here only to help Gordon out from the streets, while Alfred convinces Bruce to stay in the Wayne Manor so as not to endanger Selina with their quest into the not-Batcomputer with Lucius Fox... and Selina gets pissed off at this perceived dismissal. It's a bit annoying since Bruce and Selina discovering the underbelly of Gotham is far more interesting than the silly not-Batcomputer plot, but since the show really seems to want to go all in with the Wayne plot, I suppose it's time.

Oh, and the Oswald subplot goes to a whole new level of Game of Thrones family feud insanity. To be fair, his stepfamily deserve to die for, y'know, not getting rid of that one glass bottle with like a quarter of the poisoned wine still inside. No, they put it in a cupboard! That's dumb, but at least this bizarre subplot is done and over with. Oswald apparently killed and cooked his step-siblings off-screen, and fed them to his stepmother before killing her. It's an utterly insane manner that... okay, cannibalism? That's just way out there. It's a lot of great hammy acting from Oswald, though!

Oh, and Barbara Kean shows up at Gordon's doorstep. Now how cured is he by Hugo Strange? Or did Strange let her loose with full knowledge that she's still a psychopath? Barbara is fun when she's in full crazy serial killer mode, so I will shrug as they lob this insane motherfucker back into the fold.

All in all, though, while we're seemingly moving the show to focus more on Hugo Strange and the Wayne plot, what with Nygma being moved to an ideal position to be involved with whatever Hugo Strange is doing, it's actually gotten quite interesting, if utterly batshit crazy. And I will take crazy and insane over dull and repetitive, any day.