After a string of very strong episodes were kicked off by "Balloon Man," this is the first episode in a while to slide back into some of the less polished and enjoyable aspects of the show that the pilot was drenched in. There's still some of the good stuff peaking through, enough to keep it afloat, but this is not up to the show's current standard.
For what's good: the relationship between Gordon and Bullock gets stronger with every episode. These guys are never really going to like each other, or the way the other goes about their job. But they do have a mutual respect at this point and the dynamic makes both of them better when they play off each other. I continue to enjoy Jada Pinket Smith and her characterization of Fish Mooney, and the Penguin is delightful as always. There are several more villains from the comics introduced here, Black Mask and Hush, and the way in which they're introduced is much more organic than we've seen before. This is especially true in the case of young Tommy Elliot, the future Hush. Though it's worth noting that Black Mask, while well integrated, doesn't really amount to much by the end of the episode.
However Barbara continues to be a massive drag on Gordon and on the show as a whole. This episode, literally the only things she does is drink and mope. I understand that she's damaged at this point, but the show never bothered giving us enough reason to really like her before having her break down like this. As a result she's just a burden, and I found my attention waver badly whenever she was on screen. It's doubly damaging because when she's present she takes over what's going on, and she's just not interesting or fun. I only hope that her "leaving" at the end of the episode is permanent, though I doubt it.
The other big problem is a relatively new one, and that's a shift in the portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Up to this point we've seen him dealing with adults like Alfred, Gordon and some people who work for his parent's company. And in those interactions he's come across and intelligent and trying to understand this world that he's probably too young to be dabbling in, which works. But now we see him in a school environment and that "trying to figure this out" mentality is maintained even with people his own age. Frankly he comes across as having some mild streak of autism: he flat out says to Tommy's face that he doesn't understand why the other boy is acting the way he is, and does so in this detached way of speaking. He offers to give Alfred statistics on why he should just be home schooled. If this was meant to be an undercurrent of the character, it was never properly made clear before because it feels like it comes out of nowhere.
The things that have been strong continue to be strong, but this is an episode where the weaker aspects really pull things down. Usually they're just little annoyances, this time they almost killed the episode. Fingers crossed that Bruce at school isn't something we'll see much more of and that Barbara will stay gone for at least a few episodes.
For what's good: the relationship between Gordon and Bullock gets stronger with every episode. These guys are never really going to like each other, or the way the other goes about their job. But they do have a mutual respect at this point and the dynamic makes both of them better when they play off each other. I continue to enjoy Jada Pinket Smith and her characterization of Fish Mooney, and the Penguin is delightful as always. There are several more villains from the comics introduced here, Black Mask and Hush, and the way in which they're introduced is much more organic than we've seen before. This is especially true in the case of young Tommy Elliot, the future Hush. Though it's worth noting that Black Mask, while well integrated, doesn't really amount to much by the end of the episode.
However Barbara continues to be a massive drag on Gordon and on the show as a whole. This episode, literally the only things she does is drink and mope. I understand that she's damaged at this point, but the show never bothered giving us enough reason to really like her before having her break down like this. As a result she's just a burden, and I found my attention waver badly whenever she was on screen. It's doubly damaging because when she's present she takes over what's going on, and she's just not interesting or fun. I only hope that her "leaving" at the end of the episode is permanent, though I doubt it.
The other big problem is a relatively new one, and that's a shift in the portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Up to this point we've seen him dealing with adults like Alfred, Gordon and some people who work for his parent's company. And in those interactions he's come across and intelligent and trying to understand this world that he's probably too young to be dabbling in, which works. But now we see him in a school environment and that "trying to figure this out" mentality is maintained even with people his own age. Frankly he comes across as having some mild streak of autism: he flat out says to Tommy's face that he doesn't understand why the other boy is acting the way he is, and does so in this detached way of speaking. He offers to give Alfred statistics on why he should just be home schooled. If this was meant to be an undercurrent of the character, it was never properly made clear before because it feels like it comes out of nowhere.
The things that have been strong continue to be strong, but this is an episode where the weaker aspects really pull things down. Usually they're just little annoyances, this time they almost killed the episode. Fingers crossed that Bruce at school isn't something we'll see much more of and that Barbara will stay gone for at least a few episodes.