#the appeal to me isn’t in finding Bruce acting like a maniac entertaining in the same way

[daydreamerdrew]

All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (2005) #2

[ncfan-1]

Gotham 04X18, ‘That’s Entertainment’

Last week: hardly anyone in the Legion of Horribles had a comprehensible motivation. This week: chaos. This is Gotham.

- We open with an extreme close-up on the interim mayor. Apparently something happened to the old mayor. And there are a bunch of other higher-ups at a dinner. Including the chairperson of the Gotham Moral Authority office… What decade is this show set in again?

- And Victor Fries and the other Horribles break into the dinner.

- And we’ve established that Bridgit does remember all the shit that happened to her, and that because of that, “there is no Bridgit anymore.” Okay, so we’ve established that. Thank you, show, for putting the bare minimum of effort into explaining why she suddenly wants to rip the city apart. If only you could have done a better job building up to this moment.

- Oswald could not look less happy to be in that van, and even less happy to have Jerome wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

- Okay, Alfred’s story about Bruce’s seventh birthday is kinda sweet. And Alfred has given him car keys. To a proto-Batmobile. Alfred, stop enabling him.

- …Alright, the hugging was sweet. I don’t have a heart of stone.

- And poor Oswald has slipped away long enough to warn Jim of what’s going on.

- The story is still very much treating Jonathan as… basically, the Tagalong Kid with a flair for mad science. There’s the way Oswald phrases it—he says that Jerome has Freeze, Firefly and Hatter working with him, and that Scarecrow made a gas for him. He differentiated between them; Oswald’s assessment, apparently, is that Jonathan is performing a different function than the others. Like, I know I keep beating this horse, but it’s striking the way the show, even though they aren’t interested in treating him as a character anymore, let alone a sympathetic character, he still comes off like someone who isn’t here on his own initiative, very much comes off as a subordinate, like even more so than the others (I don’t think Jerome recognizes equals). I noticed in the van, too, he was huddled in the corner up until the moment it came time to gas someone, with Jervis standing right in front of him. It’s just an interesting visual detail.

- “He scares the living hell out of me, okay!” Oh, Oswald, sweetheart.

- Oswald is unreasonably pretty, and I say this as an aro ace. He’s just… vaguely luminous.

- Old school Gobblepot, complete with Oswald limping away hurriedly when Harvey starts calling for Jim. My heart is glad.

- Jerome crashes a concert and does the old “bomb strapped to a hostage” trick.

- And Tabitha has apparently been her charming self.

- Tabitha’s also done with this League of Assassins business.

- Fries and Jonathan have busted into… a chemical laboratory, apparently. How much do you wanna bet this is the only scene in the episode where Jonathan has any lines?

- Jerome reveals who his two “guests of honor” are—Jeremiah and Bruce, to the surprise of no one. Jim tries to offer himself up in place of Bruce (which, okay, it’s a nice moment, even if it doesn’t redeem him), but no dice. As for the Police Commissioner… off with his head!

- Baby Batcat is still good. Even Alfred looks happy to see Selina. And Selina thought the brat thing was just an act.

- Alfred and Selina experience a rare moment of solidarity over Jim and Lucius’s horrible plan.

- Barbara follows the League to a house of Ra’s’s. Apparently there is a secret door, and more of the glowy hand. What’s behind the secret door? Uh, not sure, actually, but the music thinks it’s impressive. On the far wall, there is a portrait of Ra’s with a woman. Is this supposed to be some sort of reincarnation thing?

- Back to Jeremiah. Jeremiah is not nearly as charitable as Bruce, and doesn’t want to go along with Jim and Lucius’s plan. But Bruce moves him to going along with it. Jeremiah doesn’t seem terribly sympathetic towards the suffering of others. There’s still something just a bit… off, about him.

- Harvey goes to the lab, and a woman there reveals that Fries and Jonathan made them make the Joker venom. So maybe Jonathan’s not the one who’s been making it after all? Or maybe he just doesn’t have the skill level needed to make a more refined version.

- Jeremiah’s color scheme is very… Joker. I’m sure that’s not clumsy foreshadowing. I should also note that a more subtle bit of foreshadowing was Jeremiah lying about Jerome trying to kill him as a child last episode. I don’t know about other versions, but DCAU Joker lied about his past all the time.

- Bruce’s not flinching when everyone ducks when shots ring out seems reminiscent of 1989’s Batman. Seeing as Michael Keaton is my other favorite live-action Batman, that’s fitting.

(Yes, I said other. I really do like David Mazouz’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne, though we haven’t seen too much Batman from him yet.)

- The Horribles have commandeered a zeppelin. Jonathan had more lines! Jervis and Jonathan continue to be a duo, Jervis still sounds a bit like Jonathan’s minder/babysitter, and Oswald’s betrayal was anticipated.

- Tabitha’s assessment of Ra’s is a cult leader. Given the way Barbara is acting, it’s hard to argue.

- I’d say I feel sorry for Tabitha, but Tabitha’s so awful it’s hard to feel much of anything. And Tabitha, honey, I can’t even remember how many episodes it’s been since Selina last interacted with you and Barbara. At this point, I don’t think she’s coming back.

- Jerome’s comedy act is not very comedic.

- “You’re as crazy as I am.” And Jerome’s about to make sure Jeremiah is, by giving him the knife.

- Jeremiah doesn’t need a lot of persuading to try to kill Jerome. Given the way he screams, yeah…

- Jim and Oswald think the same way. :)

- “Time to kill this maniac once and for all.” Lucius doesn’t look like he approves of you’re taking the law into your own hands, Jim.

- The zeppelin of doom has arrived.

- We cut back to tied up and none too happy with his surroundings. He breaks his bonds and tries to get the hypnotized pilot to turn the zeppelin around. Unfortunately, the hypnotized pilot has a gun.

- Oswald calls Jim for help, and is, I think, convinced to try to help them.

- Jerome is on top of a building.

- And, not for the first time, Jim commits murder.

- Oswald gets into a fight with the pilot. Poor man doesn’t even drive his own car, how’s he supposed to fly a blimp? Very poorly, I assume. (He called it a blimp, I’m gonna assume that’s what it is.)

- And Jerome isn’t dead. He’s dangling from a drain pipe.

- “Lawman or murderer?” Jerome, Jim’s already a murderer, I wouldn’t appeal to him that way if I was you.

- But Jerome chooses to let himself fall, saying “I’ll be seeing you soon.” Unsubtle reference to Jeremiah, I presume.

- We cut back to Jerome’s dead face. People are gathered around his body, collecting his blood like he’s some sort of medieval saint.

- Bruce seems overcome. Poor kid.

- And Oswald picked up blimp-flying on the fly.

- Poor, poor Oswald.

- Tabitha vs. The League of Shadows. Pretty one-sided after about thirty seconds, with a mysterious man who is totally not Ra’s al-Ghul looking on from a distance.

- And it wasn’t Ra’s al-Ghul, as it turns out. Another faction of the League of Shadows. They promptly drug and kidnap her. Okay, now I do feel a little sorry for Tabitha. Today’s been the day that fun forgot for her.

- Jeremiah back in his sterile, creepy maze-house. He seems to be trying to cope with everything that just happened, only to find a present waiting on his desk. (It had better not be Ecco’s head in a box.)

- Okay, it’s not Ecco’s head in a box. Good; I’ve gotten entirely too used to this show pulling cheap tricks like that. It’s a spray of Joker venom. And we see Jeremiah’s face turning white, his lips turning very, very red, and we here a familiar-sounding laugh…