Gotham – Arkham Review
"The anticipated war has started. "
War has certainly begun but over Arkham? In a game of tag, Falcone and Maroni managed to sway the vote for Arkham. This episode was certainly an episode of plans with Cobblepot and Mooney. Cobblepot has set his plans in motion, Mooney is up to something and Maroni is getting ahead in the game. By taking away scenes from Mooney, the episode slowed down the pace but Jada Pinkett Smith should have taken the day off. Even though this war has begun, the puppet master pulling the strings is still vague. This mysterious puppet master has me intrigued.
Let’s begin with Cobblepot, who has indeed proven to be smarter. He hired to have Bamonte's (Maroni's restaurant) to get hit in order to sneak himself into his trust circle. It has already been established that he wants the power and he will deceive anyone to get. He was a snitch for Montoya while working for Mooney and now a snitch for Gordon while working for Maroni. It is a possibility that he will rise to power through infestation. He uses his weakness as a camouflage and the strong continue to underestimate him, which can lead to the Penguin's success. His ingenious plot made him responsible for the hit on Maroni, however he is only taking advantage of the war and so can't be the puppet master.
Of course Cobblepot has competition as Mooney is also fighting for the same prize. There was speculation that is was she who hired the Waynes to be murdered, but could that have been a trick from the writers? She, surely, made a huge effort to incriminate Pepper for the murder. Her mission in the show is to bring down Falcone in order to take his place. Her secretive plan involving a seducing woman (sorry, I mean weapon) is meant for Falcone. She has a lot to gain from Falcone losing the Arkham vote, which makes her suspect number one. She is capable of being the person that ignited the war by killing the Waynes.
As watchers may know, Gordon still hasn't solved their crime and until the murderer is revealed so will the puppet master. All signs point to Mooney or Maroni in order to win over Arkham.
Falcone and Maroni become the puppets in this war. They have the resources to go head to head and it was the Waynes murder (in a way) that caused them to go head to head. Arkham played an important role in this episode. Maroni getting a piece of it has proven he is rising to the top. This will essentially push Falcone right out the door if he doesn't retaliate. I had hoped the basics of the war were more complex.
This mystery of the Waynes murder, while nonessential now, will keep the curiosity of finding out who gave Maroni his opening.
Now for the more technical aspects.
The Penguin got his winning episode in Arkham. He is moving forward and this episode put him in the spotlight. It is too bad that he had to share his spotlight with Mooney. All of Pinkett Smith's scenes were unnecessary, the chick fight being the worst of it. Oh, how to begin hating that chick fight. She found her "weapon" when her girl successfully seduced her but the writers still believed we needed a girl fight. This ill-planned scene only proves that Mooney's mission of finding a seductress could have waited for another time. Of course, her plan is unknowing to me so I could be wrong. The only reason I concluded her mission to be pushed to another day is because this episode brought the beginning of Falcone's fall (actions all done through the hit man). As a result, anything Mooney did could have been avoidable to leave more time for the important characters in the show. Characters such as Bruce who is on the right track of finding a clue or Cobblepot who has gotten a promotion. Her complete dismissal of the show would have also changed the pace and pattern that has become redundant for the last three episodes.
As much as I want to say I liked the hit man, I can't. His weapon of choice fits in the Batman genre but he only made things confusing. Hired by both Maroni and Falcone, I wasn't sure who was winning and found myself rewinding a couple of times. On the other hand, the actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim is a man of nightmares. Calm and collective, he portrays a hit man well. Plus, he looks like a younger (very young) version of Tony Todd playing the role of Candyman. The Candyman is probably not what the councilmen wanted to see right before dying. The camerawork and environment when killing added to the affect of a horror movie.
The greatest moment in my opinion was Gordon letting go of Barbara. It has nothing to do with actress Erin Richards and more to do with Barbara being pointless. Heck, even her dating Montoya was pointless because I doubt Gordon would have cared if she was honest from the beginning. She only serves as a love interest for Gordon but he has no time for that if he is on a track to fix Gotham. With her gone, if she is in fact gone, the show will gain more minutes. Since the beginning of the show, I have not seen her do anything productive until she excused herself from Gordon's life.
Final Thoughts
• I am anticipating Mooney's plan and how it will further push Falcone to the ground.
• Cobblepot has grown to be smarter but still not stronger.
• The mayor’s plan to share Arkham has managed to help Maroni but Falcone was nonexistent in this episode, so he still hasn't shown his response.
• Barbara is gone but seeing as she is the love interest it is probably not for long.
Pros
- Barbara is gone
- Penguin's cleverness
- Kae-Kazim
Cons
- The girl fight
- Mooney's scenes
- Stealing stapler woman’s acting