Gotham 1×16 Review: The Blind Fortune Teller

Did Gotham just tell The Joker’s origin story this week? Well, I’m not sure, but I have to say that I enjoyed the episode. Not because of the ‘could-be-The-Joker’ Jerome, but due to Fish Mooney’s slow rise to regaining power, and Baby Bruce taking charge of his family’s company.

Setting the plot of “The Blind Fortune Teller” during a circus act allowed the writers to introduce the ‘Flying Graysons’ and the ‘could-be-The-Joker’ Jerome. I’m using the words ‘could-be’ because I’m not sure if Jerome, played amazingly by Cameron Monaghan of Shameless fame, really is the famous crazed villain from the Batman lore. The writer of this episode, and developer of Gotham, Bruno Heller, didn’t clearly state whether or not fans saw The Joker this week. However, he did say that Jerome is an important character. For all I know we could’ve seen The Joker in the premiere when Fish was auditioning acts for her bar. Anyone remember that stand-up comedian who she refused to hire? Now he could have been The Joker all along, right?

Talking of the bar, with Fish gone, Falcone gave its ownership to Oswald. I don’t think he’s going to stay happy just owning the bar, and I can’t wait to see him manipulate his way to higher ranks.

Fish made the episode for me. I loved how she took control of the situation and ended up leading a group of people to a better life rather than just being organ donors. She’s a female character who doesn’t scare easily and I love that about her. No doubt she will come back to Gotham to give Oswald a tough time.

Baby Bruce also took things in his own hands and confronted the company’s board members about corruption within Wayne Enterprises. Two members, a man and a woman, looked suspicious to me during the whole scene, and I think they won’t stay silent and let Baby Bruce have his way. They might even try and have him killed.

I don’t know why the writers want to make the audience see some sort of connection between Leslie and Jim Gordon. I’ve tried to invest in those two but couldn’t. The romantic drama is probably the most boring part of this TV show, except the puppy love between Baby Bruce and Kat which I hope to see more of. Barbara came back this week to find Kat and the ‘budd ing’ Ivy staying in her loft. Even though I don’t like Barbara as a character (what is she doing in the show anyway?), I wanted to see more scenes of the three females bonding together.

What did you think of this week’s episode of Gotham? Were you excited to see the Graysons? Do you think Jerome is The Joker or is he connected to the famous villain somehow? Who wants Gotham to let go of the ‘Leslie-Jim-Barbara’ love triangle? Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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