Gotham 2×8 Review: Tonight’s the Night

This week’s episode of Gotham let Barbara shine, and even though I was expecting a bit more from her, it was good to see her finally get something to do. Also Theo probably made the worst deal with Baby Bruce but more on that later.

The episode opened with Barbara’s bad dream that turned her wedding to Gordon (Ben McKenzie) upside down. Penguin was the priest, Arkham inmates were attending, Theo Galavan was playing the piano, and a bird came out of Barbara’s mouth. It was awesome!

Coming to the real world, Theo Galavan initiated his plan this week. He sent Barbara to distract and kill Gordon while he tried to make a deal with Baby Bruce. I liked the scene where Gordon tried to interrogate Barbara. He even acted as if he was on her side, but she didn’t take the bait and kept playing with him. He knew she was leading him into a trap, and he went along with it.

The most obvious thing to come out of the scenes they shared was that Gordon still felt a connection to her. It might not be romantic, though I’m hoping it is as it’ll make the show even more messed up and enjoyable, but a weird connection is definitely there. Even Gordon’s girlfriend Leslie saw it and confronted Gordon about how it was unhealthy.

Playing into Barbara’s trap, Gordon got himself kidnapped, even though he had a lot of security, and she took him to a cathedral. That’s where things got interesting as Gordon tried to break free before his psychotic ex-girlfriend could murder his current girlfriend. While all Leslie has done is play the romantic love interest to the male lead, she knows how to handle herself in dire situations. That’s why I hope she gets more to do as the season progresses. She needs to become her own person rather than just being Gordon’s girlfriend, but then again that might be asking for too much on a show that doesn’t have fleshed out characters.

The whole episode played out in a manner that felt as if it was Barbara’s swan song. I like the changes made to her character and I enjoy watching her onscreen but I would’ve felt okay if she had died. The last scene where Gordon tried to rescue her from falling really felt as if it was the end for her. But she survived!

Now I have no idea what the show plans to do with her. Maybe she’ll get revenge on Galavan for using her as a pawn?

Coming to Galavan, he tried to make Baby Bruce sign away his share of Wayne Enterprises in exchange for information regarding who killed his parents. Of course the whole thing didn’t work because Baby Bruce told Alfred about it all. Theo’s plan to take over Wayne Enterprises felt flawed from the start. It would’ve worked better if he had given the information to Baby Bruce out of good faith. At least that might have persuaded the kid to sign over his company. For Theo, who has been written as a genius manipulator since the start of this season, the whole thing felt out of character.

Nygma’s subplot also picked up momentum this week. While burying Ms. Kringle’s body in the woods, he ended up killing another person. Nygma looked comfortable in his newly found confidence and fingers crossed we see more of his Riddler side. He ended up meeting Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) in the woods, too, and I can’t wait to see a Penguin-Riddler team up!

What did you think of Gotham this week? Did you like Barbara’s role in “Tonight’s the Night”? 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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