Gotham 1×20 Review: Under the Knife

With only two episodes of Gotham left, it does seem that the Ogre storyline is going to end up being a four-part finale. I don’t mind the Ogre continuing to be the main focus in the episodes to come, but being a show about the Batman franchise I wanted the writers to debut and use a more familiar villain to wrap up the first season.

Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Bullock (Donal Logue) continued investigating the true identity of the Ogre. It was fun to watch the two detectives trying to solve the mystery because the viewers were already showed that he moved around Gotham using the name Jason Lennon. We got to know a bit more about his backstory this week as Gordon and Bullock were able to uncover that he was the son of Jakob Skolimsky, who served as a butler for Constance van Groot.

While I appreciated the backstory, the whole thing felt a bit clichéd to me. Jason found out that Constance wasn’t his real mother when he asked for a part in her inheritance. He then killed her and went on a killing spree murdering women around the city after getting plastic surgery. It just sounded like something I’ve heard before.

The interesting parts of “Under the Knife” were definitely Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) and Barbara Kean (Erin Richards). I never imagined I would ever find Barbara interesting but she proved me wrong this week. Even though I’m still not invested in her character, her interactions with the Ogre were a treat to watch. And besides, it’s always fun watching Milo Ventimiglia being seductive even though he’s playing a serial killer onscreen.

Selina Kyle was amazing as always. She and baby Bruce (David Mazouz) looked cute throughout the episode even though Selina murdered a guy last night (in the show’s continuity). I liked the little conversation they had where it was made clear that Baby Bruce would never cross the line and kill someone while Selina was okay with offing people if needed. The two have teamed up to take down the corrupt personnel in Wayne Enterprises, and I’m enjoying the fact that Baby Bruce is going after the bad guys without relying on the grownups around him. Those two should create a kid version of the Justice League and recruit Baby Ivy!

The episode also served as an origin story for Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith). While Gotham added a domestic violence storyline, I felt it could’ve been handled a lot better. The writers made Miss Kryngle suffer a beating from her boyfriend just so Nygma could have his own story move forward. I would’ve liked Kryngle to be a bit more active and at least try to stand up against her abuser.

The mafia-war plot thread felt out of place considering everything that was going on this week. I would’ve preferred the writers skip the whole thing and save it for the next episode. Even though I’m a fan of the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) I couldn’t wait for his scenes to end so I could watch what the other characters were up to.

What did you think of this week’s episode of Gotham? Do you think “Under the Knife” laid the groundwork for a 50 Shades of Grey inspired spinoff starring Barbara and Jason? 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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