by Snow Drift
On this episode, Patti (Lili
Taylor) and Doug (Frank Whaley), a strange duo, of snatchers, work together to
capture homeless children from the streets of Gotham to take them to their
boss, the mysterious Dollmaker. When given this case, Detectives James Gordon
(Ben McKenzie) and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) have to work together to save
these children, if with several problems along the way.
Plot-wise, the episode began to
gather momentum as the snatchers captured the children and were eventually
discovered by Gordon and Bullock. However, the episode ended anti-climatically.
Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), or Cat, simply slipped away from their clutches
and was saved by a deux ex machina-like arrival of Gordon. There was no tension
if Gordon would have arrived on time to save the children; he was just suddenly
there, right on time, with no explanation as to how he got inside a building
that had armed guards around. The viewer is told to believe that the police
were just that good in the nick of time.
Besides that, I liked the rest of
the subplots. The power struggle between Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith),
Carmine Falcone (John Doman) and even Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), with
his viciousness and cruelty, makes for an interesting dynamic and view of the
criminal underworld. The corruption and lack of care from the mayor and most of
the police department in regards to the well-being of the homeless and
delinquent children help to readily show an environment of hopelessness and
selfishness, all of which help portray Gotham as having a darkness that goes
beyond mere physical violence and murder.
In a way, this episode felt more
like a prelude to another than anything else. The importance of the snatchers
was based more on giving information on a potentially new future villain and Selina
Kyle’s presence in this episode seemed more to be about showing her skills,
ruthlessness, cunning, and significance as to the identification of the Wayne’s
killer than anything else. However, Kyle’s actions do help to establish the
kind of person she is and how that might develop in future episodes.
Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz)
character development seems fascinating, for he, although already succumbing to
the determination, and possible obsession, of his future self, still acts like
the child he is. He does not know much of how the world works, nor how he must
move on from the tragedy. He wishes for an answer and a way to help the
innocent, but is still too young to understand how to reach the conclusions to
those.
Alfred Pennyworth’s (Sean Pertwee) attitude
on this episode was disconcerting, to be honest. His way of treating Bruce is a
bit too harsh for his character, even at this stage of his life. One thing is
being disciplinarian and attempting to stop Bruce from going too far with his
antics, but it is entirely another to be constantly harsh to him at nearly
every moment. However, he does show compassion towards him, but it would be
nicer for the sake of his character for his attitude to be a bit more humbling.
In terms of acting, I’m still not
entirely convinced by McKenzie’s and Logue’s; its seems as if Logue is trying
to be as outwardly corrupt in attitude as possible to the point of it being a
bit exaggerated, while McKenzie just seems to still need to get into his
character. The acting of the snatchers, although successfully unnerving at
times, felt a bit forced during others, as if the actors were trying a bit too
hard to sound and look creepy. The rest were relatively good for the portrayal
of their respective characters, Bicondova especially portraying her character
as young but used to the horrors of Gotham, to an extent.
Overall, the episode was decent,
although it could have had a better-handled ending. The possible mafia war and
the existence of Dollmaker do help establish the possibility of much more to
come throughout the series.
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