GOTHAM Season 4 Episode 16 Review: One of My Three Soups


The moment that Tetch showed up in the recap, I knew this was going to be an interesting episode. He was stuck in Arkham for what he had done, but it seems he made some friends while he was there. He hypnotizes a guard to do his bidding while He lets out Mr. Crane and Jerome. Then, they let out everybody in Arkham. Poor Riddler had to set up a whole escape plan for Penguin when he only needed to wait a week more for a major prison break. 

Tetch captures Gordon’s attention after the escape. He is hypnotizing people and lining them up on the roof to jump off, just like his sister did before she was impaled. He is using the radio to reach a large amount of people, and even Harvey gets hypnotized. I’m surprised that so many people in Gotham still use the radio so much. Has anyone told them about Spotify or Apple Music yet? 

Gordon goes to the radio station to catch Tetch and command him to unhypnotize everybody. When he refuses, Gordon shoots his hand. They really got a thing for mutilating hands on this show suddenly. Tetch tells him he can’t save the day, so Gordon tells everyone to save each other. 

Afterwards, Gordon is still feeling sorry for himself, as if he didn’t just save the city. He thinks he should be in jail for the whole Sophia situation. Harvey gives him an inspiring speech about how Gordon is the only person that could save the day and he can’t be in jail. I suppose Harvey is ready to fall into his position as Gordon’s sidekick once again; that didn’t take much time at all. 

While Gordon and Harvey are drinking whiskey and feeling sorry for themselves, Bruce is doing their jobs for them. He asks Selina to steal Jerome’s file for him, so there is debt between them anymore. This includes a great scene where Bruce bribes and fake-cries to Detective Harper to distract her from noticing Selina stealing the file. I bet she’s glad she transferred to this precinct. 

Bruce wants his file because he feels responsible for Jerome’s action because he didn’t kill him when he had the chance. Selina essentially calls him egotistical, and while I agree with her, she was also doing the same thing last episode when she was blaming herself for a crime she didn’t commit either. He leans over to open the car door for her to leave, in a moment that could almost have been a kiss scene. Right now, they are the best couple on this show. However, the standards were pretty low, considering Gordon’s last relationship. 

Bruce does the detectives’ job for them and tracks down Jerome at his Uncle Zach’s diner. He went to threaten his uncle, but he turned the tables on Jerome. He brings out a Luke Cage-esque guy (wrong universe, sorry) who holds him down while his uncle pours hot soup on him. Bruce interrupts this torture and orders that they call the cops instead. Luke Cage-esque man starts fighting Bruce instead, while Zach is left in charge of Jerome. It’s a bad idea because shortly afterwards Jerome gets power over his uncle to get the information he wants and ultimately killing him. 

Besides being choked by the big guy, Bruce probably feels awful that his intervention led to his Zach’s death. Jerome isn’t going to save Bruce because it is funnier that way, but Selina saves the day. She takes a gun and shoots at Jerome, but Bruce stops her. He doesn’t want her to become a killer. 

After saving Jerome’s life twice, Bruce alerts Gordon with all the information he knows of where Jerome is going so they can apprehend him together. At least he realizes that he needs help from someone, and that someone should know proper firearm protocol. Where is Alfred in all of this? They are supposed to be cool now, but he hasn’t been involved in any of Bruce’s antics recently. 

However, my favorite part of the episode may be Barbara’s storyline. Her hand is still glowing, and her memories are causing her pain. She goes through the pain to see her memories, and finds out that Ra’s Al Ghul left her more than powers, but an entire group of individuals called the League of Shadows. She is now the Demon’s Head. 

The League of Shadows aren’t too happy about it. They don’t want a woman to lead their group. One of the men threaten to cut the Demon’s Hand out of her for himself. It doesn’t seem like something that mystical would be so easy to transfer from one person to another. Barbara asserts her dominance to command them, but the women in the league have another idea. Instead of deal with the constant tensions and whining of men, they decided just to kill them and have an all-woman league. 

I can’t wait to see what all these powerful women do together. I always thought that Barbara may take on a Harley Quinn role and just start following around Jerome once he was out of Arkham, but I am happy to see her doing her own thing and doing it well.

Written by Nicole Teeters, GOTHAM Beat Writer


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