– Spoiler Review –
In “The Fearsome Dr. Crane,” everyone’s trying the dating game while people die experiencing their greatest fears and somehow those two threads weren’t connected. But with Gordon unfortunately pulling off the throttle this week and the overload of characters and plotlines returns, Gotham settles back into it’s more procedural and unfocused ways.
Ending Gotham TV Show Reviews (9/26/15)
I probably should’ve done this more formally back when I called it quits with the show after its umpteenth break during the first season, but I won’t be reviewing this series anymore. I had been holding out hope the show would get better for the second season and the creative team behind it were saying all the right things, but the S2 premiere was just more of the same. Sure, there’s some promise for better things ahead in it so I’ll be tuning in, but this is more in regards to my own personal time constraints and my sanity. Sorry and thanks for checking out Mynock Manor for details on Gotham and I seriously hope the show hits its stride soon. We still have plenty of content on the site so browse around before heading somewhere else!
Like most of the ones before the winter break, “Dr. Crane” is another one of Gotham‘s busy episodes and it slips off the good streak the show had going since returning. Considering Gordon trying to date Thompkins while catching up with Selina and Bruce, Nygma’s battle for Medical Examiner and his crush on Kringle, Mooney’s ship-ride, Maroni and Penquin’s honesty game, and elder Dr. Crane killing for fear toxins all happen in the same episode, no single thread really gets the focus it deserves. And much like what was the case with episodes like “Selina Kyle,” where the named character had little to do with the proceedings, Dr. Crane is only around long enough here to make me shrug. In fact, it’s Gordon’s squeeze Thompkins who explains what Dr. Crane was up to, and no one seems too concerned he’s still on the loose. While I know they’ll be addressing it in the next episode, it would’ve been nice for at least one single moment here explaining a manhunt still on for Crane or show him and his son toiling away with the adrenal glands.
Gordon and Thompkins getting the whole dating thing going was rather cheesy, but somewhat cute. Morena Baccarin pulls all of her scenes off with ease, helping McKenzie a bit with the awkward material, and her smile just about saves everything. Thankfully, things between them never got as strange as Nygma’s attempts with Kringle…so far. On the flip side, Bullock got to have some fun with his crush, and it brought back the Bullock we saw in flashbacks during “Spirit of the Goat.” And it sure felt like some of what he shared with the phobia group was part of his actual feelings, though it seemed to be working well to get the gal, too.
While it had to take a call from Mooney for Maroni to get wise about Penguin, the way he approached Penguin’s betrayal was fairly entertaining. Their honest game was fun, though it wasn’t terribly surprising Maroni put blanks in the gun. As much as I was finally beginning to appreciate Maroni for being more than a rival mob boss to Falcone, he went and ruined it when he chose car trash compactor death for Penguin. But it wasn’t the method or his reasoning that bothered me about it, but rather that he chased after the other guy instead of just hopping into the compactor and finishing the job. He was smart for a little while, at least. Despite how lucky the billboard being within view and the compactor operator making his cellphone number his business number were for Penguin, it was pretty quick thinking to get out of all that. And it definitely gets me wondering just what exactly is next for Penguin now that his usefulness to both Falcone and Maroni is basically shot.
JOKER WATCH:
The Joker Watch section will be going into early retirement, considering the latest news from the Bruno Heller (Gotham‘s showrunner) about his newer plans to put “…a little tap on door” for Joker’s introduction on the show before the S1 finale. So there’s no hints to be looking for anymore because it sounds like it’ll be pretty obvious at least. And out of the season so far, there was really only two credible Joker potentials anyways.
Here are a few other things:
- Can we stop for a moment and please explain where the hell Nygma got all those body parts? And explain why everyone was so quick to believe the ME had been hording all those parts all this time and was stupid enough to leave them in his locker? But despite all that, Nygma on the edge was way more entertaining than he’s been all season.
- I’m still not convinced Selina was lying about seeing the Wayne’s killer.
- Will we ever find out what exactly Bruce thinks he has in the case for his parent’s killer where he doesn’t need a detective to work on it? Though I can’t say I blame Bruce for relieving Gordon of his promise because he honestly was doing a terrible job at it so far.
- Mooney’s on a boat, living the life in the captain’s room. But someone doesn’t want her to get away and attacks the boat. I’m guessing that someone is a person from Mooney’s past, considering the looks they gave each other before growling into combat with one another. Hopefully next week picks up right at that moment and shows us their battle.
- I had a pretty good laugh when Dr. Crane was holding a little piglet and that guy totally froze up as I couldn’t help but think of Babe and the line, “That’ll do pig, that’ll do.”
“The Fearsome Dr. Crane,” fell into the pitfall of trying to handle all of Gotham‘s myriad of characters and plotlines, coming up short compared to the more recent weeks, though it had a few bright spots.
+ Bullock trying to get a date
+ Penguin’s (lucky) quick thinking
+ For once…Nygma
– Yes, Maroni, why did you fall for Penguin’s crap before?
– Feels like the high school dating scene
– Not much of the good doctor
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
GOTHAM REVIEWS:
S1, Ep. 13: “Welcome Back, Jim Gordon”
S1, Ep. 12: “What the Little Bird Told Him”
S1, Ep. 11: “Rogues’ Gallery”
S1, Ep. 10: “Lovecraft”
S1, Ep. 9: “Harvey Dent”
S1, Ep. 8: “The Mask”
S1, Ep. 7: “Penguin’s Umbrella”
S1, Ep. 6: “Spirit of the Goat”
S1, Ep. 5: “Viper”
S1, Ep. 4: “Arkham”
S1, Ep. 3: “The Balloonman”
S1, Ep. 2: “Selina Kyle”
S1, Ep. 1: “Pilot“