As the epic final season of Gotham rolls along, the show is introducing nearly every single Batman villain it can along the way. I have no complaints This week’s episode, ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ brought about three new classic baddies.
Killer Croc:
In the aftermath of last week’s river poisoning, strange things are happening in the sewers of Gotham. Bruce and Alfred investigate and come across a man named Hank who is straight out of a horror movie. Hank is running for his life and tells them that the others are all dead. “He’s coming, He’s coming…” Hank exclaims.
In the dark Sewer tunnels we hear snarls and growls before we see glimpses of what I can assume is/will become the Killer Croc. We never get a good look at this incarnation of the character with moving camera work, darkness, and constant fight scenes.
From what we can see, it’s a dulled down take on the Suicide Squad (movie) character, with more of a fast zombie type vibe. I’m usually blown away by the villains on this show, but Croc was nothing mind-blowing. Not yet anyway.
Mr. ScarFace
I’m so mad at myself for not seeing this one coming. There was something about Penguin’s assistant, Mr. Penn that was dripping with super villain, and I never connected the dots. I simply have to tip my hat to the writers on this one. Since no one really stays dead on this show, Mr. Penn is back with none other than the dummy mob boss Mr. Scarface. Mr. Scarface is someone I remember prominently from the Animated series, and as always this show gets it right. Andrew Sellon delivers a phenomenal performance in this episode as the psychotic Ventriloquist. It was perfectly creepy. I only wish Mr. Scarface had the Tommy Gun.
A little Easter Egg here as Penguin kept mistakenly calling Mr. Penn Arnold instead of Arthur. This was a call back to the comics where the villain, “The Ventriloquist” ‘s identity was actually Arnold Wesker. As always, this show does its homework.
Jane Doe/ False Face
The identity stealing girl in this episode only reminded me of one particular villain from the 1960s Adam West Batman: A man by the name of False Face who could disguise himself as anyone. Obviously this makes for the classic, they could be anyone or who’s who storyline. (And it did) After a bit of research, I found that Jane Doe is actually a character from the comics who debuted in 2003. The character would study her victims before taking their identity. I think this might be amalgamation of both villains, but regardless it was an intriguing storyline. Long story short, Harvey made some poor choices in a case concerning Jane’s mother, and Jane is getting her revenge.
The scene where she is in a stand-off with Harvey is pretty intense, as he has no choice but to pull the trigger on her before she kills him. I think this move is going to impact Harvey big time. Also, I’m still very nervous that he’s going to out before the show ends. I hope I’m wrong.
Jane isn’t the only villain who gets killed in this one as Mr. Penn (and Mr. Scarface) is shot in the head by Ed. This was a fun (Multi) villain of the weak type episode that kind of made you forget that Gotham has been abandoned by the outside world. With a limited number of episodes remaining, Gotham really is trying to cram everything and EVERYONE into the final shows. The thing is, they’re pulling it off nearly flawlessly.
Rating: 8 out of 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAAgYNlP_U4
