After getting off to a reasonably good start in its sophomore year, Gotham laid a giant egg last week with an episode that was so rough, it caused more than the usual mild irritation for the viewer. My tepid reaction to last week’s “Strike Force” was due in part to the fact that I, for once, had legitimate expectations coming off the surprising choice to kill Jerome in episode three. I felt that Gotham was poised to find its rhythm, given the drama’s new confidence in year two, and reversal of storytelling philosophy. But, I was pushing the show too soon and it proved not yet ready to take the next step.
Luckily, Gotham did not allow its misstep to turn into a full-on slide, picking itself up quickly with a far more competent and interesting hour of television with last night’s “Scarification” (though the name is supremely stupid). The episode was a bit of a change-up in regard to the serialization effort that has been the hallmark of the young second season, but it was done cleverly. “Scarification” found a way to squeeze in a villain of the week that fit with the grander storyline. Theo Galavan continued to pressure the Penguin to do his bidding (which he accomplishes by kidnapping Oswald’s beloved mother), forcing him to complete some grunt work. Being the proud mobster he is, however, Penguin won’t do the dirty work himself, but instead contracts Gotham’s most talented arsonists. What we eventually get is an origin episode of sorts for a lesser-known Batman villain, Firefly. In this iteration, the character is a young girl stuck in an abusive familial relationship (there’s no blood in common) with a group of boys that have a penchant for fire. Bridget Pike begins as a lowly house slave, but when one of the brothers is taken out of the picture (more on that in a minute), she’s thrust into the thick of it. Unlike the attempts at origin stories last year, “Scarification” did a commendable job at developing Bridgit before she became any sort of villainess character. The writers didn’t rush things this time around, and it paid off in a big way. Next week we’ll see more of Firefly, and the groundwork laid in this episode should hopefully pay dividends.
While the Firefly storyline was the meat of the episode, through the multiple arson attempts we also got to learn a little more about the Galavans. As we already knew, the Galavans have a history with Gotham that goes back generations, but last night we were made privy to the fact that their relationship with the Waynes, in particular, also has deep roots. Nearly 200 years ago, the Galavans and the Waynes had a dustup of sorts that led to a member of the former losing a hand (the details aren’t as important as the mere fact that these two have a sordid past). The new information helped enlighten Theo’s greater plan, though the reasoning is still paper-thin. There has to be more than a series of unfortunate encounters and desire for revenge that would lead a man (albeit an insane one) to want to kill a young boy (Bruce), but that’s precisely how Theo’s decisions have been framed. It’s not enough, but given that this episode represents the first time we learned of the Wayne-Galavan history, there must be more horror stories to be unveil.