Gotham, Season 4, Episode 11: Things that Go Boom
One of the things that got lost in all the shuffle of late 2017 is Gotham, a series that I watched and love for all its warts... but I've simply completely forgotten to review.
This episode is... far more of a setup for the next episode. Gordon doesn't actually do much in this episode other than discover the real identity of Professor Pyg -- Lazlo Valentin (his comic-book alter-ego), a murderer with a southern accent, and he has changed his face and has metal plates implanted in his face. It's not particularly an important detail, to be honest, and serves more to keep Gordon busy for the episode.
The episode's main focus hinges more around Penguin, Sofia and the Lady Gang of Selina, Barbara and Tabitha. And there's definitely a great callback to the first season. Penguin, now convinced that Sofia is a traitor, hands her over to 'the Dentist', one of Gotham City's inexhaustible psychopaths. Sofia, meanwhile, is exactly where she wants to be, knowing that the Dentist is the only person in Penguin's repertoire that's a sadistic torturer, and blackmails the Dentist as she goes onto finally putting her full touches on her war on the Penguin. She gets captured by the Lady Gang, however, who wants to use her as leverage for Penguin, only to discover that Sofia wants to team up with them instead... it's a lot of fun backstabbing and second-guessing, even if it's not as well-paced as it should be. Perhaps the biggest problem is Sofia's far more unfocused plans, and at times (especially when she's held by Barbara's gang) she feels a bit of a Villain Sue at times.
They end up kidnapping Martin, who then seemed to be Penguin's weak point... and Oswald brings him to his car... and blows Martin up! It's not wholly unexpected because despite their friendship I've always banked on Oswald being a heartless son of a bitch when it comes to betrayal. Hell, the revelation that Penguin actually had Zsasz hide Martin away from the car is far more surprising than Penguin killing Martin. Robin Lord Taylor's an amazing actor, though, and all his mannerisms in this episode is just so much fun.
Also thrown into the mix -- Sofia trying to get Gordon to bring the wrath of the GCPD to oust Penguin, thus putting Sofia Falcone as the mob boss that controls both the biggest criminal organization and the police. Of course, Gordon being Gordon, he decides to... make a deal with Penguin to get rid of Sofia. Um.
We also get a weird subplot with Thompkins and Riddler dealing with a rival gang boss, and Thompkins' attempt to play nice ends up getting her clinic trashed, so she decides to poison the rival, and only agree to give him the antidote if he kowtows to her. It's... an interesting dynamic, especially when Thompkins reveals that the Riddler's actually not sick, and it's all in his head, but it adds to the muddled B-plot bunch in the episode.
Zsasz appears a lot in this episode, and it's fun! I've never appreciated just how much of a presence Mr. Zsasz has been in season four, and he's definitely a welcome one -- he's just so fun and happy, and as the next episode would reveal, he's actually plot-relevant too. He also gets to bazooka Barbara's gun shop, which is hilarious.
Overall, though, it's still a bit of a weaker episode, and its function as a setup episode is painfully obvious.
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