GOTHAM Season 1 Episode 17
Episode Title: “Red Hood”
Writer: Danny Cannon
Director: Nathan Hope
Previously on GOTHAM:
Episode 1.16 “The Blind Fortune Teller”
To anyone unfortunate enough to still be watching Gotham: Can we not agree that this is just a really bad TV show? The writers of Gotham consistently fail to grasp what makes the world of Batman so intriguing… and I’m not sure that they even understand basic human interaction.
There have to be some diehard fans out there who actually love Gotham, otherwise the ratings would be in the tank. But how long are the fans going to put up with such a subpar series? Every time I think that Gotham has reached its bottom, it manages to dig an even deeper hole and create a new low for itself.
The Red Hoodies
Not satisfied with last week’s shitty possible Joker origin storyline, Gotham jumps right back into the Joker mythology with the Red Hood gang. For the non-comic book crowd, the Red Hood was Joker’s first supervillain identity (although some stories disagree about whether the Joker was the Red Hood by choice).
The tone of the episode begins on a strangely absurd note as a group of masked robbers approach a bank and begin complaining when one of their own dons a red hood… well, it’s more like a homemade red ski mask than a hood. But whatever. The Red Hood goes on to declare himself the new leader of the gang before he is killed by the actual leader of the gang… who then claims the identity for himself.
Almost as if he’s infected by the Red Hood’s madness, the leader takes on some of the characteristics of his dead underling before yet another man shoots him for the mask. Detectives James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) eventually get ahead of the rapidly dwindling Red Hood gang and they seemingly wipe them out in a shootout. But another young man soon finds the supposedly cursed Red Hood at the very end of the episode.
I Want You To Hit Me As Hard As You Can
After Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) foolishly called out the Wayne Enterprises board last week, Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) is initially suspicious when his old war buddy, Reggie Payne (David O’Hara) shows up at their door. But Reggie soon reestablishes Alfred’s trust in him and Bruce allows Reggie to stay with them.
Reggie even begins acting as a mentor to Bruce by teaching him how to fight dirty and urging him to hit him as hard as he possibly can. Needless to say, Alfred does not approve of the training. But Reggie’s presence emboldens Bruce into showing defiance towards Alfred.
The Tao of Butch
It seems like Gotham can’t make up its mind about Butch Gilzean (Drew Powell). Last week, Butch was essentially the buttmonkey of Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) who danced on command. This week, Butch seems decidedly less brainwashed as he undermines Oswald’s control of the bar and sets up a robbery of Sal Maroni’s booze without running it by Oswald.
Amazingly, Oswald seems to miss the warning signs that Butch will turn on him soon. Butch said that he’s tired of being a sidekick, even though he is essentially Penguin’s sidekick. Oswald is also unnerved by the lack of loyalty that Butch feels towards Fish.
Barbara’s Home For Imaginary Girls
Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) is the character on Gotham who is most in need of a creative reboot. For reasons that aren’t very adequately explained, Barbara continues to allow Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) and Ivy Pepper (Clare Foley) to stay in her home as she tries to mentor them.
While positioning Selina in front of a mirror, Barbara tells the future Catwoman that her physical appearance can be used as a weapon?! It doesn’t even matter that Selina points out how poorly that Barbara is doing at the moment. The more disturbing aspect is that Barbara’s advice doesn’t track with her character in any of the previous episodes that she has appeared in. There is no consistency to her character.
You’ll Pull Your Eye Out, Kid
Meanwhile, Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) tries to get a meeting with Dr. Dulmacher (who totally isn’t The Dollmaker… except we all know that he is). Dulmacher’s underling convinces Fish to take a shower and relax… before telling her that they intend to harvest her eyes.
Instead of trying to fight the henchmen herself, Fish gouges out of her own eye and smashes it in an act of defiance. Holy shit… that was really stupid.
“Curse Your Sudden, Yet Inevitable Betrayal”
That Firefly quote came to mind when Alfred ran into Reggie just as he was ransacking stately Wayne Manor. Alfred chided him for stealing and offered to help Reggie out, but his kindness was returned with a blade to his chest. As Alfred started to bleed out, Reggie escaped and Bruce discovered what had happened.
Gordon rushes to the hospital to comfort Bruce. Around the same time, Reggie was revealed to be on the Wayne Enterprises payroll as he shared the intel he gathered from Bruce’s investigation into the board’s criminal activity. Reggie tells them that the time to make a move against Bruce is now… but he seems to balk at the idea of the board having Bruce assassinated.
Share your thoughts about this week’s episode of Gotham in the comment section below!
