One of My Three Soups Plot Summary:
Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) breaks out of Arkham alongside dozens of dangerous inmates, including Jervis Tetch (Benedict Samuel) who puts hundreds of Gothamites in danger with hypnosis. Bruce (David Mazouz) is determined to hunt down Jerome, while Ra’s al Ghul’s (Alexander Siddig) plan for Barbara (Erin Richards) is finally revealed.
Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. A lot of heavy guilt was thrown around Gotham this week, occupied mostly by Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Bruce, which should surprise no one. Whether it’s the comics, movies or this show, these characters are like human anvils when it comes to being weighed down by their guilt. Both their partners brilliantly call them out on this. We’ll get to that later. When you have an episode that begins with Jerome, Jervis Tetch and Jonathan Crane (David W. Thompson) breaking out of Arkham Asylum, we’re obligated to start there.
As I’ve said many times, whenever Cameron Monaghan pops up, it’s guaranteed quality. He’s like the Ichiro Suzuki of Gotham. Monaghan is maniacally great, as always, although his story starts off a bit slow relative to other Jerome appearances. He reconnects with his uncle (John Treacy Egan) looking for information about his old school, but we don’t know why yet. Jerome plays with him for a little bit. It’s entertaining, but we know Jerome can do better.
It’s not until Bruce shows up where Jerome starts gleefully dancing around like the crazy clown that he is. Gotham proves once again how well they get these villains. Jerome makes all his decisions based on the funniest outcome. Vintage Joker. While Jerome was pure entertainment, the villain highlight may have been the long-awaited return of Jervis Tetch.
Why the hell did they wait so long to bring this guy back? Benedict Samuel is awesome. I love how they committed to the rhyming bit. It never felt forced. Tetch wastes no time screwing with Gordon. His first act out of Arkham was brutal. He goes right for the gut punch. Ouch. This was a great Mad Hatter storyline. It puts hundreds of citizens on the brink of death, with Tetch providing plenty of hypnosis contingency plans whenever Gordon got a step closer to saving them. The Mad Hatter plot also lead Bullock (Donal Logue) into a very heroic act, and put Gordon to the test. He really had to think of an escape route to save all these people.
Speaking of Gordon and Bullock, they built off the momentum from last week beautifully. This is where that pesky guilt comes into play. After Bullock tells Gordon that living with his mistakes is the true burden, it really puts Gordon through the ringer. As Bullock tells him rather bluntly, the cops need him to be a hero, not a disappointment. The last scene between them is classic Gordon/Bullock, and classic Gotham City. There are no heroes in Gotham. You make due the best you can. The city feeds off past demons, but as Bullock says, “That’s what the whiskey is for.”
Gordon isn’t the only one fighting inner turmoil. With Jerome on the loose, Bruce feels responsible for not finishing the job last time they met. The biggest problem with this episode is how contradictory Bruce gets when he meets up with Jerome again. Whenever the topic of “to kill, or not to kill” is brought up in superhero entertainment, it’s usually prone to sloppy writing. That’s what happens here. Arrow made this mistake constantly, holy matza.
While the whole killing element is inconsistent, the Bruce/Selina (Camren Bicondova) dynamic fired on all cylinders. Selina tells Bruce to get over himself. Stop putting the weight of the world on your shoulders. One of the classic Batman traits is how unpleasant Batman is to be around when he’s feeling super-duper guilty. Selina calls him out on this in a very Selina way. It’s perfectly delivered by Camren Bicondova, who continues to be the MVP of this season.
There was a lot going on in this episode, but they still managed to incorporate one of the best Barbara arcs in the history of the show. We saw Barbara having some bad migraines last week, and in the final seconds, it’s revealed that Ra’s al Ghul had something to do with it. We get the answer to this with authority.
Barbara has always been one of the most confident and in control characters on the show, but at the beginning here, she’s weak and desperate. Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) even calls her out on it. That’s what makes this episode’s conclusion so satisfying. To see where Barbara ends up brings it full circle, and shows the mastery of Ra’s al Ghul’s plan. This was also one of the best performances Erin Richards has ever given. She goes through quite the whirlwind in this one.
It’s always a tough task to deliver greatness with no Oswald or Nygma, but Jerome helps. There was no fat to trim this week. While a lean, packed episode, next week proves to be even better as we inch closer to Jerome’s maniacal master plan.
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Great)
