GOTHAM Season 1 Episode 10
Episode Title: “LoveCraft”
Writer: Rebecca Dameron
Director: Guy Ferland
There’s a simple rule that not enough writers follow: if you can’t write for kids, then don’t write for kids! The writers of “Gotham” apparently have no idea how to make children sound convincing, and “LoveCraft” had some of the worst dialogue of the series to date. It was so terrible that I had to double check and make sure that “Heroes” creator, Tim Kring didn’t write this episode.
And yet “Gotham” gets good ratings, so neither the network nor the writers have a vested interest in improving the show as long as people are watching it in significant numbers. The premise is fantastic, but the execution is not.
Assault on Wayne Manor
Inside the family home of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), the future Batman continues his quest to die horribly before he can become the world’s greatest superhero other than Superman. Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) unsuccessfully tries to flirt with Bruce, but he turns down her offer to kiss and she gets pissed when he starts asking about her family.
Outside, an assassin named Larissa Diaz (Lesley-Ann Brandt) goes full Xenia Onatopp on the Wayne family’s Hodor as she squeezes him to death with her legs. Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) eventually picks up on the danger and warns Bruce and Selina to run while attempting to hold off Larissa’s deadly associates.
Bruce and Selina manage to make it into the city, but she won’t let him call Alfred to let him know he’s alright. When James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) arrives at Wayne Manor, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) forces him to admit that Harvey Dent’s (Nicholas D’Agosto) plan to trick Dick Lovecraft (Al Sapienza) into implicating himself in the Wayne murders has backfired.
The Penguin and The Mole
For our weekly Penguin check in, we find Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) in the doghouse with his real master, Carmine Falcone (John Doman). Falcone understandably blames Sal Maroni (David Zayas) for the heist that destroyed a lot of his underground gambling money and he won’t accept Penguin’s simple (and accurate) explanation that Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) planted a mole near Falcone to learn where the money was held.
Of course, Penguin already knows that Liza (Makenzie Leigh) is the mole, but he’s not in a hurry to tell Falcone. Meanwhile, Fish uses Falcone’s actions to undermine his control of the crime family and pick out two more potential allies.
Now Here’s Poison Ivy For No Reason
Selina eventually admits that the assassins are after her, not Bruce and she tries to ditch him. But Batboy leaps across a roof to pursue her… and he dies decades before he was supposed to, causing the collapse of this timeline and the DC multiverse… Well, at least that would have been interesting. Instead, Bruce makes the jump and gets a bad boy makeover from Selina.
Out of nowhere, they run into future Poison Ivy aka Ivy Pepper (Clare Foley), and it’s incredibly painful to hear them speak to each other. This is “Arrow” Season 1 bad, but at least that show had interesting stories and good action. “Gotham” struggles to do anything well.
Eventually, Bruce and Selina are held by her fence, Clyde (Devin Harjes) so that the assassins can easily find them.
Talk To The Fish
Gordon goes down to the wannabe Bond villainess, Larissa, and he wakes up to find that Lovecraft has been murdered with Gordon’s gun. Too bad Lovecraft didn’t finish telling Gordon who was buying up stock in Wayne Enterprises right before Thomas and Martha were murdered.
Meanwhile, Alfred assigns himself to Bullock as his partner and they pay Fish a visit. Alfred humiliates Fish’s second-in-command, but she is charmed by his British manners and she agrees to help them find Selina through Clyde. Eventually, Fish gives them the address and Alfred shoots his way inside as a disbelieving Bullock is left behind in a gunfight.
Get Used To That, Kid
Bruce distracts Larissa to give Selina a chance to escape. But rather than kill the future Batman, Larissa offers Bruce some advice before she departs. Gordon arrives and helps Bullock finish off the gun battle before Bruce and Alfred are reunited with each other.
Later, Selina briefly returns to Wayne Manor to give Bruce the objects that she stole from him and an incredibly awkward kiss before she disappears into the night. This show is really becoming Batman Babies, isn’t it?!
Arkham Awaits
In the fallout of Lovecraft’s murder, Mayor Aubrey James (Richard Kind) forces the cops to rule it as a suicide and he makes Gordon pay by getting him reassigned to Arkham Asylum as part of the security team. I really dislike Harvey Dent on this show, as he comes off like a weasel while Gordon gets the blame.
Gordon and Bullock actually have a nice goodbye, that gets a little weird when Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) inserts himself into it and gives Gordon a hug. This is followed by more clumsy foreshadowing that Eddie will be the Riddler… because we can’t get enough reminders of that.
While Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) is presumably still in bed with Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena), Gordon reports to his new gig among the madmen.
Through ten episodes, “Gotham” has been a pretty terrible show with only occasional glimpses of its potential. But apparently there’s an audience for this show even in its flawed incarnation.
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