GOTHAM Season 4 Episode 3 Review: They Who Hide Behind Masks


This episode introduces a few new characters to us. First, Gordon has found himself a new girl, and one that is already crazy so he doesn’t need to blame himself for it. Gordon went down to visit Falcone (without warning him first, which probably doesn’t help his opinion of him). He then proceeded to make some prolonged eye contact with his daughter, as you do when you are trying to get on someone’s good side. However, it doesn’t matter, because Falcone can’t do anything to help anyway. He is dying. 

His daughter hasn’t been in Gotham during her father’s reign, and she wants to go back to help. Even though the man that she would go back with is the man that killed her brother. Yet, she recognizes that her brother had the virus and Gordon did what he had to do. Seems a little suspicious. 

After they started kissing, I was sure that the reason she would want to go back would be a long play for revenge. He was with Barbara for a long time. Can’t he recognize crazy at this point? Yet she says that it was the plan that she would come back all along, and she was just sizing him up to see if they would work together well. I’m not sure if I still believe her entirely. 

They also briefly introduce a new detective at the end of the show, to add to all the new characters that the show introduces. Even though the idea that the GCPD would bother with transfers when all cops have turned their backs on crime seems a little weird, I’ll let it slide. Maybe if Gordon had stayed around he would have made prolonged eye contact with her instead and made his romantic life a whole lot easier. 

However, the best character they introduce is Bruce the Billionaire Brat. So close to the Bat, but not quite. I think it may be the only time we have ever seen him show any sort of emotion. It seems like he is being so extra because he has forgotten how to portray emotion after all this time. 

He needs to go out as himself to buy a knife at an auction. A knife that Penguin has smuggled through that belongs to R’as Al Ghul. It is the key to R’as Al Ghul finding his heir and becoming free, yet somehow he lost it and Penguin got ahold of it. At least a knife is better than a crystal owl. 

Despite how important this knife seems to be, it seems that he lost it at some point, and Penguin got ahold of it. Yet, Bruce isn’t the only that wants it. Barbara wants it, or more accurately, Barbara’s mysterious benefactor wants it. Barbara sends Selina to retrieve it. When she fails to get it, Barbara tries to ask Penguin for it, but he refuses to give it to her unless she wins it at the auction or she tells him who her benefactor is. I see Penguin has also taken the role of billionaire brat. 

When it comes time for the auction, Bruce wins the knife by outbidding Barbara. Penguin is delighted, and Barbara is pissed off. So Barbara gives Selina a second change to steal the knife. Even after Selina begs, Bruce refuses to give it to her. Selina isn’t going to get anywhere in the criminal underworld at this rate, the poor thing. 

It is then revealed that Barbara’s benefactor is Ra’s Al Ghul. He brought her back to life to teach her martial arts and kiss her occasionally it seems. It doesn’t seem like he told her any important information since he brought her back, since she doesn’t know the significance of the knife. He finds it interesting that Bruce has the knife, but it doesn’t seem like he is going to do anything about it just yet. He has to make out with Barbara first. Priorities. 

They also introduced another new girl character that took a blow torch to get Ed out of his frozen prison. However, as she was killed off by the end of the episode by Penguin’s men, remembering her name seemed irrelevant. 

While I’m sure that Ed was happy to be released, waking up to a large shrine dedicated to him must have been a little worrisome. They were in the same elementary school, and I can tell you right now that the most I’d ever do with people from my elementary school is follow them on Facebook and mute their racist posts. You couldn’t pay me to rescue them from an ice cube. 

His muscles have atrophied from being frozen. However, that isn’t the worst part. His brain seems to have atrophied too. He can’t think of a plan, and can’t solve riddles from a children’s book. Eventually, he regains control over his muscles to escape the crazy lady, but he wanders the street lost and angry and confused. 

Before Penguin kills off the lady that set him free, he is made aware that Ed’s brain is broken. He doesn’t seem to appreciate this information as much as he should. This is Ed at his weakest point, and he needs to catch him now before his brain clicks on again like his muscles did. There’s no way things will be that simple for Penguin though. I doubt that Ed will team up with Barbara again to take down Penguin, but he will probably come up with something himself eventually. I wonder how Cyrus Gold is feeling about all of this.

Written by Nicole Teeters, GOTHAM Beat Writer


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