The first half of Gotham’s inaugural season is now complete, and “LoveCraft” typifies the show’s improvement over the past four episodes. Not only was the Fish vs. Falcone storyline brought closer to the brink, but more is revealed about Harvey Dent’s character and Bruce has a couple “wink-wink” Batman formative moments. And oh yeah, we saw some absolute brilliance from Alfred.
In “LoveCraft,” Wayne Manor is attacked by assassins who are trying to kill Selina because she saw the Waynes’ murder. This was a nice bit of action at the beginning of the episode that not only got Bruce out of the house, but also showed what a badass this iteration of Alfred is. He takes on the assassins, first in hand to hand combat and then with a gun, which buys enough time to let Selina and Bruce escape. Alfred also shows his worldliness off as he tries to bribe one of Selina’s friends and butters up Fish to get her to find some information on the whereabouts of Bruce. This also showed just how much Bruce actually cares for Alfred, there’s no time for his early teen angst, as Bruce continually tells Selina he’s worried about Alfred and wants to call him. Eventually Selina convinces Bruce to go along with her for a while – through lying about who the assassins were really after – and allows their relationship to grow.
The Bruce and Selina relationship has been a nice surprise in the past couple episodes. While the relationship is fairly one-dimensional, it is a nice take on what a teenage relationship between the two would be. Clearly all the smoldering rooftop making out and sexual innuendo that will happen between the two later had to start somewhere and it all starts with Selina’s somewhat odd but truthfully tactless blaming Bruce for wanting to kiss her routine. What’s most refreshing, however, is that they also seem to have a bit of a budding friendship, which could get Bruce into a lot more trouble in the future.
Bruce’s “Batman” formative moments both come more naturally in the story as well, taking the impetus off of Bruce to randomly hop in a pool with all his clothes on to practice holding his breath. His jumping across the roofs of two buildings as he chased Selina was the moment that was teased in the commercial but it was his distracting one of the assassin’s/almost taking her on that truly showed that Batman is a part of him already. Having Selina come back at the end of the episode for her kiss was a little cheesy but it was nice to see her sneak back into see Bruce and not disappear into the city. One thing is clear, Bruce and Alfred need to get out of the house more.
The relationships of other characters in “LoveCraft," however, are becoming quite strained. Falcone doesn’t quite believe Penguin when he tells Falcone that it wasn't Maroni who destroyed some of Falcone’s secret money. Penguin gets Falcone to believe there is a mole in his midst, which there is in Liza, but refuses to tell Falcone the mole is Liza because the timing isn’t right. On the other side of the law, Gordon and Bullock’s partnership disappointingly comes to an end all too soon. The mayor has decided to publicly blame Gordon for LoveCraft’s “suicide," despite the fact he was killed by the same assassins who were after Selina. The scene in which the mayor decides whether Gordon or Dent should take the blame was a good one as it revealed that Dent may not be as goody two-shoes as he had presented himself to be to Gordon. The mayor says Dent knows where the edge is and that Gordon does not. Clearly Gordon’s trust in Dent is further strained as earlier in the episode Dent told Gordon he had revealed that Gordon had a witness for the murders. Whether Dent tries to get back in the good graces of Gordon or not, or whether he has a corrupt side not yet introduced, will be something to look forward two in the second half of the season.
This culminates in Gordon being demoted to security at the recently reopened Arkham Asylum, breaking him up from Bullock. While Bullock has taken a bit of a backseat lately the two did have nice chemistry and were enjoyable whenever they were together with each playfully chiding the other. It will be interesting to see if Bullock’s role further diminishes now that he’s not with Gordon.
What has been the biggest and best change during Gotham’s recent run is the world building. In the earlier episodes, Gotham stuck to its few sets – the GCPD, Gordon’s Apartment, Wayne Manor, Fish’s club – but recently the series has ventured out into Gotham City, making the city feel like its own. Originally I had complained that Gotham City basically looked like the New York City skyline with computer generated buildings thrown in. While that is still the case, there has been much more exploration of some of those random buildings. The introduction of The Flea, an underground flea market for the homeless (perhaps even just for homeless teens), continued to grow the city. On top of that the inclusion of Ivy Pepper in The Flea as not only someone who Selina knows but is scare of puts another layer onto Gotham City. It is becoming a more complete city with characters whose stories we may not ever be privy to, the ancillary pre-villains no longer feel like they are just there as Easter eggs.
While Gotham is still finding its stride, it has certainly improved a good amount since the beginning of the season. Getting away from the procedural detective stories and the relationship between Gordon and Barbara has helped keep the show moving and building. I am genuinely excited to see what the second half of the season holds for Gotham. It is quickly becoming a must-watch every Monday. Hopefully it continues to improve.