Gotham: “By Fire” Review

The two-episode Firefly arc concludes with a scorcher.

I’ll say this for “By Fire,” it didn’t let anyone off lightly. I think most of us presumed, given Firefly’s future self, that this mini arc would end with a full-body meltdown, but there’s just something about it happening to a victimized young girl, which is who Bridgit was essentially, that made it feel all the more brutal.

Horrible fate aside now, that doesn’t mean I fully bought Bridgit’s transformation into an empowered vigilante fire bug. I recognize the steps taken, it just didn’t all fit together quite right. Something about the few minutes between her crying and being tormented with firecrackers to then putting on her full gear and torching her “brothers” felt rushed. Next thing you know, she’s on a rooftop telling Selina that her new lot in life was to burn bullies alive. I appreciated the violence, but the growth period felt too short. Also, as cool as she looks in the Firefly costume, I don’t think the sight of a flame thrower would stop an entire room full of criminals from shooting at her. She doesn’t have unlimited range.

Sticking with sad outcomes here, Nygma choked Ms. Kringle to death without even realizing what he was doing. I’m not exactly sure how this Ed becomes Riddler, but this was a nice, vile payoff to the Kringle story. Which has more or less been around since the show started. And I liked the idea of Ed’s body now acting separately from his feelings. His other personality unintentionally shining through. There was also nice play against expectations here because it seemed as though, for a second, Kringle might love “bad boys” enough to possibly give Ed a pass on his murderous confession. So to see her recoil in horror was a good move.

Now, quickly to the end scene (side note: somber musical montages feel out of whack on a grimly cartoonish show like Gotham) which took us down into the Indian Hill mutant monster warehouse – the one that Falcone acquired in a deal with Maroni last season. Now it’s got Wayne Enterprises name stamped all over it. Do we know how and when it changed hands? Or did Falcone want it for Wayne Enterprises? Either way, it’s housing some curiosities to say the least – a beast with a four-fingered reptilian hand (Croc?) and this leather clad chick with heart monitor electrodes on her chest…

Anyone recognize which character this might be? Or the actress at least? Let me know on Twitter if you do.

So then…a secret dungeon of freaks? Could be good. Also, a one-stop-shop for future villains, which is this show’s cash crop. And now Bridgit’s been shuffled off there, with both Gordon and Selina believing she’s dead. Her death faked so Wayne Enterprises could add her “fireproof-ness” to their oddity collection.

Speaking of all things “Wayne,” Bruce had a sparring session with Alfred (that was satisfyingly merciless) and then went off to have some dinner with the Galavans and Silver. Theo, obviously, is trying to ingratiate himself to Bruce for nefarious purposes, but that end scene, with the Indian Hill dungeon, seemed to suggest that there are big parts of his enemy’s company that he doesn’t know about. Ones that will most likely clash with his diabolical plans to ruin Gotham.

And speaking of the Galavans, the siblings almost immediately saw through Butch’s ruse – though not before using his missing hand to have some fun. Ideas of add-on weaponry were discussed until a mallet was settled on. So yes, now Butch has a metal mallet hand. Rather hilarious actually. As was the Galavan household’s treatment of “Sad Bear” Butch. Now Tabitha has a new play thing and Butch was forced to set up Penguin using the same “I escaped” story that he tried to unload on Theo.

The rest of Gotham was fine. Again, there are just dumb moments that come in and take you out of the story every so often. Whether it’s really bad “street kid” dialogue or Theo applauding Butch for being a hard-working, loyal employee (after not having done a single thing), Gotham’s never a smooth ride. Though I did like Barns writing up Gordon for beating up a perp. As it turns out, Barns is the straightest arrow of the bunch. Less appealing though was Gordon recognizing Selina on the robbery video (where she didn’t wear a mask despite having one!) and then walking out of Barns’ office without telling him who she was. All he said was that he knew her and then…he split. Tell your damn captain her name, you goof.