Tuesday, November 25, 2014

My Review of Gotham's 1x10: "LoveCraft"


Written by Rebecca Demaron
Directed by Guy Ferland

Bruce: “No offence but you don’t strike me as a nice person.”
Selina: “What do you mean? I’m nice.”

She might be a pickpocket who would put Fagin’s crew to shame but essentially, yes, this version of Selina Kyle is pretty nice. Especially to Bruce and especially in this episode as being on the run from overzealous assassins meant that the two of them had to rely on the other for their own very survival.

Without getting into shipper territory here, the scenes with Selina and Bruce are without a doubt, the highlight of the episode. Even in this incarnation, the two of them work superbly together and their hi-jinks in the street are a joy to watch as even assassins and greedy fence people are no match for the pair of them.

The assassin plot was actually better handled than Victor Zsasz from a few episodes ago too. I didn’t catch the name of the lady that was gunning for Selina but she was one of the most charismatic and interesting guest villains we’ve had on the series and I’m hoping that she’ll appear again in the second half of the season too.

However the only reason that Selina had her life in danger (along with Bruce) was because of Harvey Dent being a blabbermouth and leaking information that got into the wrong hands. I liked that Gordon called him out for it. I didn’t like that Dent cowered when the Mayor got involved and that Gordon got a demotion to Arkham as a security guard though.

The Lovecraft stuff though took an interesting turn. I wasn’t expecting that the assassins sent after Selina were also gunning for him but his death being used to demote Gordon, I did see coming. Then again, having Gordon at Arkham could also mean that he ends up causing more hassle for the Mayor and that can’t be a bad thing really.

Another highlight from this episode was the pairing of Bullock and Alfred. Can I just say that was an inspired choice? The two of them work brilliantly together, even to the point where Bullock ended up looking like good cop by comparison. As for Fish extending her kindness to Alfred – I’m fairly certain that’s going to be something she’ll cash in on during the second half of the season as well.

If the episode had a weak moment, it was probably the mob related story of the week. Not because it was bad but just because the Bruce/Selina and Alfred/Bullock/Fish scenes were more interesting to watch. However it was nice to see Falcone exert some authority and he even managed to put the frighteners on Fish with that awkward dinner scene as well. As for Oswald, I don’t think this episode actually needed him to be honest.

Also in “LoveCraft”

Despite the episode being presumably named after him, Lovecraft himself barely appeared in it.

Selina: “You wanna kiss me?”
Bruce: “No, thank you.”

Alfred showed a lot of bad ass moments in this episode. He’s also a better detective than both Bullock and Gordon too.

Bullock: “You’re pretty handy for a valet.”
Alfred: “Butler, mate. I’m a butler.”

Oswald (to Falcone, re Fish): “With respect, I don’t understand why you still tolerate her existence. She has proved her disloyalty a hundred times. She wants your head.”

Oswald possibly pinned the mole on the shot Bannon. Liza is more useful to him alive than dead.

Selina (to Bruce): “You’re right about me. I’m not nice, not like you. You got a nice way about you.”

Selina: “You’re crazy.”
Bruce: “Please don’t run off again. I’m out of breath.”

This episode might have been appealing to Bat/Cat shippers with the rooftop chase scene and the kiss between Bruce and Selina at the end. Barbara, Renee, Crispus and Essen didn’t appear in this episode.

Ivy: “I’m doing great. How do I look?”
Bruce: “You look good.”

Bullock: “Am I the only one in this damn town who waits for back up?”

I thought Ivy was going to kill Bruce at one point. She seems a bit unhinged since the opening episode. I also loved seeing Nygma hugging Gordon as well in this episode.

Alfred (re Selina): “This old house seems very quiet without her, don’t it?”
Bruce: “Yes, it does.”

Chronology: Not long from “Harvey Dent” left off.

As a mid season finale, “LoveCraft” was easily one of the best episodes we’ve had with the series and it did seem to set up an interesting second half with Gordon at Arkham, Fish continuing her machinations against Falcone, Oswald keeping his head above water and an even bigger league of baddies if those assassins were anything to go by.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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