Gotham S02E19 Review: To Create Azrael

Gotham, Season 2, Episode 19: Azrael

Holy shit, this episode is insane, and I love it for all the wrong reasons. If Azrael was not so much fun, I might have gone on a rant for disrupting the more cohesive storylines of the Wayne Enterprises thing, or whatever, but man. Hugo Strange and Gallavan Azrael's moment at the beginning, where Strange basically takes a risk and tries to implant a 'story' into Azrael's head is pretty insane, but it works! And Azrael basically thinks he's imported from some feudal era and with such utterly insane medieval lines it's definitely a giant hoot just watching it all go down.

Not Red X.

Azrael gets handed a sword, gets fed stories which the original Theo Gallavan knew from the book of St. Dumas, and goes off to murder Gordon. It's a bit wacky and I'm confused why Hugo Strange doesn't use Mr. Freeze again... but hey, I guess he wants to try out his new toy. And Azrael is just crazy awesome. He's dressed up in this caped suit of armour that brushes off all bullets, and that scene where he just scrambles up the side of the building, and later assaults the police department in a dark parallel to Batman's tactics when ambushing criminals. Except, y'know, Azrael kills. It's a very tense scene as Azrael murders like a half-dozen policemen, then charges Barnes up on the rooftop. And such a madman like Azrael simply cannot be bargained with... though his face when his sword of ultra-awesome destiny snaps in the middle of the battle... oh, it's a riot. As Peabody mentions earlier: "Generations? That sword was forged yesterday."

Though literally everyone from Oswald to Tabitha saw that Azrael is (was) Theo Gallavan right after Gordon throws him off the roof in front of a live news report, so it's bound to be an interesting next episode. Barnes gets stabbed by the sword, and we all know it's a matter of time before he bites the bucket, and being killed by a zombie superhuman is no a shameful way to go out.

What an utterly crazy episode, though! Hugo Strange brings a man back from the dead, convinces the dead man that he's his father and that he's the incarnation of the holy angelic knight Azrael, and sends him off in a suit of armour and a sword to murder a policeman investigating his shady dealings. It's utterly insane and hilarious, but damn if it isn't entertaining.

The rest of the episode wasn't half-bad either, with Nygma finally embracing Riddlerness and starts trying to throw his weight around. He tries to sweet-talk Hugo Strange to letting him help out with his Gordon problem, and later manages to get the help of other inmates like the kleptomaniac and the cannibal to acquire certain objects to help him investigate... which ends up coming to fruition as he finds the secret elevator to the basement of horrors. It's a bit odd that he's posturing about knowing how to deal with all these crazy people in front of the actual doctor, but I think Hugo Strange just finds Nygma's little struggle amusing.

That bit with little Bruce seeing a caped figure clamber up and escaping from a superior number of men probably inspired the little future Batman. And his frustrations about how the law and the police regulations aren't getting things done... yeah, granted, if this wasn't Bruce Wayne, he might be delving into Punisher-level territory. And I think I just give the little kid a lot of leeway simply for being Batman. And Gordon finally confronting Bruce that killing people in cold blood just isn't the right play.

Oh and there's a Mad Hatter reference around halfway through the episode as Hugo Strange goes off to create more colourful personalities.

Overall, an absolutely insane episode. I must watch more! I shall have more of this insane version of Azrael. Yeah, all you people who told me to continue watching Gotham... this bit of comic-book insanity was awesome and worth it. It doesn't particularly make a lot of sense, no, but hey, if I wanted a normal cop show I wouldn't be watching Gotham. Scenes where Gordon broods and whatnot are very boring, and this? This was entertaining as all hell, and it doesn't even have to be actually bad to do it. Time for this show to embrace lunacy and I can't be happier for it.