Fox’s “Batman-without-Batman” soap opera is the most amazingly weird show on television. For every episode this season, Deadshirt’s own Sarah Register, Kayleigh Hearn and Max Robinson discuss the good, the bad…the beginning? of little Bruce Wayne, skinny Oswald Cobblepot, and Jim Gordon sans ‘stache as they try to find their way in the misery-soaked, work-a-day world of…GOTHAM.
Max: Gotham this week was so insane that a guy exploded and that wasn’t even the craziest thing that happened. Let’s dive in.
FIREFLY IS BACK ON FOX Y’ALL
Kayleigh: #SAVEFIREFLY.
Max: I really dig this put-upon teenage girl as Firefly spin that the show’s going with here. Firefly’s a pretty generic Batman rogue, so this is a case where really doing something different was a good idea.
Sarah: I hope Selina opens a Home for Wayward Teen Supervillains Who Just Kind of Fell into this Gig.
Kayleigh: I only know Firefly through an episode of The New Batman Adventures, so I can’t compare her to the comics or any other prior versions of the character, but I like Bridget. I hope she torches her gross, shithead pyromaniac brothers. I think her friendship with Selina was handled well —much better than the way Ivy Pepper (eternal lols) was awkwardly shoehorned into the first season.
Max: Bridget seems like an okay kid whose brothers happen to be abusive urban thrillbillies.
Sarah: Now she’s a cop-killer though. I don’t really want to watch Jim hunt down a tween girl.
Max: There was very little “cop stuff” in this episode, aside from Bridget accidentally roasting that one guy alive.
Kayleigh: Also we totally called the rookies getting killed off quickly, though “burned alive” was a flashier death than I expected.
Sarah: “Flashier” ha. Not nearly enough Harvey for me this time.
Kayleigh: With lines like, “A ROCKET LAUNCHER?!” “WELCOME TO GOTHAM!” Harvey made his few scenes count.
PENGUIN: NOT MAD, ACTUALLY LAUGHING?
Kayleigh: Penguin’s pissy teenager :< face whenever he was dealing with the Galavans gave me life. Also, every time he beats a man to death with a random object (here, a fire poker) I’m like, “that’s adorable.”
Sarah: I love that his cronies know this about him now, and step away from every messenger.
Kayleigh: I should have guessed that Penguin’s paranoia over being betrayed was an act to mislead the Galavans, but he still surprised me. (Just like he surprised Butch.) No one beats Penguin at the long con.
Max: Yo The Penguin fucked up bad this episode. He kills/maims two of his own guys FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER. He needs to get his head back in the game.
Sarah: What do you think he’s going to do when his mother inevitably dies this season?
YEAH SO THERE’S A SPECIAL K-MART JUST FOR SUPER-VILLAINS
Sarah: Costco for Bad Guys. Why is the GCPD only just now raiding this place? They’ve been open long enough to establish blue light specials.
Max: I love that this is in the episode purely for a sight gag and will probably never appear again. Also, and I want to stress this, Firefly’s ne’er do well brother tries to steal a bunch of C4 and is literally OBLITERATED by police gunfire. Explosion by cop.
Kayleigh: A dude explodes right in front of Jim Gordon and then he goes home to find Edward Nygma in his apartment, eating fondue. I love Gotham.
Max: Also feel like I’d be remiss in not bringing up the hilarious scene where it’s “women in their underwear in a warehouse counting money” but with a bunch of dumpy fat guys in their boxers.
Sarah: And briefs. I can’t get that image out of my head.
THEO GALAVAN’S FAMILY HISTORY….REVEALED!
Kayleigh: Every old woman on this show looks like a Hogwarts professor.
Max: “200-year-old blood feud tied into the Order of St. Dumas” is a pretty unexpected swerve even for this show. The second season of show ostensibly about THE ORIGIN OF BATMAN is going to revolve around fucking Azrael. This rules.
Kayleigh: I know nothing about Azrael! So that totally flew over my head when I first watched the episode. But with the family name “Dumas” this is obviously a tip of the hat to The Count of Monte Cristo, where the wrongfully punished man (or in this case, his descendant) comes back with a new identity for revenge. Dumas is one of my favorite authors, so Gotham suddenly pausing for a powdered wig and poofy dress flashback (with bonus limb removal) is like sweet, sweet cake to me.
Max: Music Editor Julian apparently used to work with the girl who plays great-great-grandma Wayne. I love how many millions of dollars and two centuries have gone into a plan that presumably leads to the end game of “cut off baby Bruce Wayne’s arm with giant ass knife”.
Sarah: I was so focused on looking for Court of Owls stuff that I completely missed the Order of St. Dumas mention. DUH. That line Father Creel says, “Our brothers are crossing the ocean even now, warriors like this city has never known” is ten times cooler now. Post-Knightfall Batman is right about when I started reading comics, and the prospect of watching Azrael lore play out on screen is pretty neat.
Max: I want to point out that Harvey was eating a gyro this episode AND we’ve got holy ninjas coming to Gotham so my prediction a couple weeks ago is seemingly coming true.
Sarah: “It’s true. All of it.”
R.I.P. BUTCH’S ARM
Max: Why is everyone being mean to Butch. I hate this.
Sarah: I actually grabbed my face and yelled “nooooooo” when this happened. Oh, Butch. When will Fish return and avenge you??! The juxtaposition between Theo’s sister hitting on Butch for his macho bravado and Penguin emasculating him was especially heartbreaking.
Max: Fish is definitely coming back, right? I feel like they’re seeding this.
Sarah: Even Selina mentioned her in this episode.
Kayleigh: Every time they lampshade Butch’s offscreen brainwashing? conditioning? it just gets funnier and funnier because the character makes no sense. “It’s complicated, FUHGEDDABOUTIT.”
Max: Butch has hardcore PTSD and is now missing an arm and being sent undercover by Penguin. Dude’s going to have a robot eye in three episodes.
Kayleigh: It’s hard to be a henchman in Gotham City.
Sarah: Maybe this is the Gotham origin for Solomon Grundy.
Gotham airs Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern on FOX.
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