The third episode of Fox’s “Gotham” delves into the characters’ states of mind and assesses the effects that the city has on all its inhabitants. This episode is all about people getting what they deserve. Personally, I think we all deserve a Danish. Spoilers abound.
1. Meditations on Vigilantes
The Balloonman, a new vigilante in Gotham, gives the characters a chance to discuss their feelings on the prospect of taking the law into one’s own hands. This would-be hero goes after public figures with a history of corruption. He handcuffs the offenders to weather balloons and sends them into the atmosphere. While investigating the murder of one of these offenders, conman Arnold Danzer (seemingly a pseudo Bernie Madoff type) Harvey expresses that the vigilante did them a favor. Jim balks at this idea, stating that taking the law into your own hands is not the right thing to do. Later Jim tells Barbara that everyone has to matter, or no one does. He sees it as his duty not only to ensure that justice is done, but to make sure that the people of Gotham know that they are not they are being protected by a men and women who stand on the right side of the law. After a corrupt police officer, Lt. Bill Cranston, is treated the same way as Danzer, Harvey loses his appreciation for the vigilante’s modus operandi.
Several Gothamites are interviewed on television and speak favorably of the vigilante. That being said, something about the casting and tone of those interviews reminds me of the television interviews depicted in “Batman: The Cult,” but that is neither here nor there. Young Bruce Wayne is fascinated by the actions of the Balloonman. Later in the episode he remarks to Alfred that this character killed people and that made him a criminal, too. This gives the audience a sense of how the pieces might come together to start forming the figure of Batman. Throughout the episode characters discuss what it might mean for Gotham to have a new champion, setting the stage for the need for a hero to step forward.
2. Montoya is Having a Bit of a Moment
Detective Renee Montoya is a woman on a mission. She needs to prove that Jim Gordon is not the man that Barbara Kean deserves. When Montoya and Allen visit Fish Mooney in her club to ask after Oswald, Renee is all to eager to adopt the narrative Fish feeds her which puts Jim Gordon squarely in bad guy territory. Willing to take the word of a criminal who obviously has her own interests in the situation without a second thought, Montoya brings news of Jim’s duplicitous nature to Barbara, like a cat presenting its owner with a dead mouse. She is so hungry for Barbara’s approval that she doesn’t stop to consider the possibility that Fish is playing her like a fiddle.
It becomes obvious in this episode that Renee and Barbara share a romantic history, and that Renee is still carrying a torch. There are things I really like about their interaction, but I am not completely sold on the role this storyline will play in the show. Barbara’s cheerful veneer cracks during their conversation, she appears vulnerable and flawed. This is interesting. I find the idea that after a destructive relationship a woman like Barbara would throw herself into the safest thing she could find, a relationship with boy scout-ish James Gordon, believable. Her struggle to reconcile the person she was with the person she wants to be seems plausible, and Erin Richards brings a credibility to the idea through her performance in this scene.
I am concerned though, that Montoya’s pursuit of Barbara, an unavailable woman, is an attempt to make her homosexuality less threatening to viewers. The way this love triangle has been constructed also places Renee in position to be the problem for the otherwise ‘perfect couple.’ By allowing Renee to represent Barbara’s inner darkness, this same-sex relationship is vilified, and a negative context is created surrounding their romance. In the absence of another, positive depiction of a similar relationship, this is a troubling comment on the program’s view on non-heterosexual relationships. Also, unlike Barbara, at this point, Renee seems somewhat one-dimensional, totally characterized by her desire to see Jim eradicated from Barbara’s life. We learn that she is in recovery, sober for one year, but even her decision to get clean seems to be cast in the light of an attempt to win Barbara back. If Montoya was a man, she would seem to be a stalker. If Barbara was a man, Renee would seem to be pathetic. I am not sure how we are meant to understand her character in the current context.
Continued below3. Jim Cannot Let It Go
Confronted with the Balloonman, Jim is forced to ask himself some tough questions about what it means to stand up for justice in a city that is fundamentally flawed. The Balloonman is able to accomplish more with four weather balloons than GCPD has since Jim arrived. However, Jim refuses to see the vigilante’s efforts as commendable. Instead he wants to see the law deal with the man who has become a folk-hero in Gotham City. His determination to catch this guy seems to echo the guilt that he is feeling about being seen as a hero for pinning the Wayne murder on the wrong man.
Early in the episode, Harvey chastises Jim for his inability to let the Wayne murder go. Jim clings to the idea that it is possible and necessary to do the right thing, even when it is not desirable or convenient. The scene in which Jim and Harvey confront the vigilante near the end of the episode directly mirrors this. After Harvey has served the Balloonman with his own brand of justice, handcuffing him to his own weather balloon, Jim grabs hold of the vigilante. The two men nearly float away before Jim convinces Harvey to shoot them down. In this moment, Jim prevents Harvey from continuing the cycle of street justice, but does so almost at the expense of his own life. This illustrates his commitment to procedure and his faith in the justice system, but also warns that it might be possible for Jim to lose himself in pursuit of his ideals.
It is easy to see that this character might represent what Jim could become if he abandoned his principles. Lamond, the Balloonman, was an idealistic public servant became so disenchanted with the system that he tried to find an alternate route for progress. This episode is the moment when Jim rejects that path, and firmly establishes his commitment to doing things, ‘the right way.’
4. Persona vs. Performance
Throughout this episode, the characters of “Gotham” show us that nothing is as it seems. All the characters put on masks of sorts and present contradictions that go to the very heart of their identities. Jim seems to be a hero, having brought down the Wayne killer, but he knows better and refuses to accept the result. Montoya seems to be looking for justice, but might just be looking for a way back into Barbara’s good graces. Barbara seems to be all sunshine and rainbows, a perfect support system for Jim, but in reality she is struggling just to keep her head above water. Lamond, the Balloonman, always seemed to be a sweet, mild-mannered fellow, but he becomes a killer. Fish Mooney pretends to accept her lover Lazlo’s affection, but in reality perceives it as weakness and has him killed. Similarly Fish seems to be cooperating with Allen and Montoya, but is actually just feeding them the story that best serves her interests. Even the Balloonman’s victims present a duality, Jim describes them as seemingly respectable, actually corrupt.
Perhaps the most literal example of people not being what they seem in this episode is Oswald Cobblepot. Throughout the episode Oswald assumes different identities, and plays different roles, all the while furthering his own agenda. He seems powerless, but he is in fact a master manipulator.
5. Arkham, Arkham Everywhere
The concept that something is brewing over at the currently defunct Arkham Asylum has been teased since the series premier. That all seems to be coming to a head, and I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the next episode. Everyone from Bruce Wayne, to Captain Sarah Essen, to Sal Maroni has mentioned or alluded to the asylum. What are they building in there?
