“There is no line, there’s just the law.”
By Matt Fowler
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
A little preface here before I get into the review part. FOX is pretty good at putting their Gotham episodes up online for press to view before Monday’s airing. This episode was not, even though press were notified by email that it would be. I wondered if this was due to sensitivity regarding the tragic events from this past weekend, as both CBS’ Supergirl and TNT’s Legends opted not to air their regularly scheduled episodes tonight due to the particular violent scenes they contained (Supergirl aired a different episode, out of order). Gotham’s “A Bitter Pill to Swallow” was not pulled however, it just wasn’t screened. Which was odd.
I’m not sure if this was to prevent press from vaguely tease-tweeting about the violence contained in tonight’s episode – which involved shootings, stabbings, mutilations, and some cannibalism – and perhaps coming down on Gotham for it, but it is what it is. Gotham has been super-violent this season, as you know. And for all the show’s stumblings, it’s this element that’s actually helped it stand out, and apart, from the other DC shows. For better or worse. So was “A Bitter Pill to Swallow” any more violent than – say – the GCPD massacre from back at the top of the season?
We want to hear it.
Well, I would have said “no” had it not been for the moment right at the end when Eduardo Flamingo (yes, DC’s face-eating villain, Flamingo) chomped down on rookie Officer Parks’ neck. Up until then, it was the usual over-the-top bloodbath. But that particular scene was like – whoa. That stood out. Maybe be cause it just stayed on her face while she was dying from blood loss. Hovering there, in slo-mo, as she tragically passed. So if anything made the people behind the show hesitant to screen this episode, it was probably that. Well, maybe the ear too.
Overall though, “A Bitter Pill to Swallow” was pretty good. The Bruce/Alfred stuff didn’t lead anywhere (I was expecting Silver to somehow get caught lying by the end), but the Penguin/Riddler combo worked really well. As did Gordon and Barnes’ “last stand” against a squad of hitmen sent by Doctor Who’s Michelle Gomez – playing a character known as “The Lady. The first of whom was a terrible hitman by hitman standards. Nothing like a overly-chatty piano tuner to draw attention to oneself. Man, that’s how all TV hits start out.
Really quick, now – I need to all point out too that the security guard on the docks at the end was a terrible security guard. What kind of Gotham guard walks up to a dozen ninjas on a wharf and demands to see their IDs?
Anyhow, none of the assassins other than the piano guy and Flamingo were particularly notable, but the threat felt real. And this episode, more than any of the past chapters involving the big fat fail that is Strike Force, handled the idea of “rookies being in over their head” really well. And Barnes getting injured allowed him to actually open up more as a character and not just be the guy busting Gordon’s chops for being overly aggressive. Here, Barnes actually confessed to wrongfully killing a POW in the war, and how it haunted him for years. Causing him to be extra rigid with the law.
We want to hear it.
And, as mentioned, the Nygma/Cobblepot pairing was a lot of fun. Not only is Ed now a much more acceptable character, and way less of the caricature he was playing back in Season 1, but Penguin also got to wonderfully wallow in the wake of his mother’s death. And these two, by the end, were able to bond over riddles, drinks, songs, and murder. It was just the pick-me-up Penguin needed and it also help further mold Ed into a fleshed-out, motivating villain.
So is the show going to go through with Jim and Leslie breaking up? Or will something bad happened to her, sparing Jim the indignity of her actually leaving him? And how will the news about Parks (getting killed by the guy whose life he spared) affect Jim and the fears he has about his own inner darkness? And who are Galavan’s “brothers” and how might they connect to the League of Shadows/Assassins?
Aside from the Bruce being “grounded” story, this week’s “A Bitter Pill to Swallow” was really, and violently, eventful. It even contained a moment – the death of Parks – that topped Jerome’s slaughter of all those GCPD cops months back. Whether or not it was something you were comfortable watching however is another issue.
Also, I enjoyed Barnes opening up more as a character and the Riddler/Penguin pairing quite a bit.
