LoveCraft- Gotham Season 1 Episode 10

An interesting episode, not my favourite but it certainly great to see Alfred in a stronger position than he usually is.

The premise of this episode is that an assassin (Copperhead- Not named in episode but is defiantly her)  has been sent to hunt down and kill Selina Kyle, who has been identified as being the witness to the Wayne murders. She escapes with Bruce, causing Bullock and Alfred to team up and find him. Gordon goes to find LoveCraft, Harvey Dent's main suspect to the murder, but things go from bad to bizarre when he is killed with Gordon's own gun in his bathtub. After the children are saved, Gordon is confronted by the mayor, where he is positioned to become a security guard at the newly opened Arkham Asylum.

I love the interactions between Bruce and Selina, being a perfect foreshadowing for their relationship as Catwoman and Batman being both flirty, but also disparaging to the other. Another relationship that I'm glad they explored (though differently to how I imagined it to be) was the Selina and Ivy "friendship." Ivy Pepper, who had mysteriously disappeared since the first episode is back and her awkwardness is refreshing to see, when you see how different she is in her Arkham counter part in the video games. I like how Selina is scared of her. I also like the slightly flirtatious side she shows with Bruce, which I hope grows with the show to become the classic Poison Ivy from the comics.

I am very fond of Edward Nygma, and although absent through much of the episode, the hug between himself and Gordon was sweet. I am really enjoying his smart and socially awkward personality, making him human and relate-able and not just plain annoying as the Riddler was in Batman Forever. 

I was not sure about Alfred in the earlier episodes, but I have warmed to him. I think the turning point was the episode where he sits down with Bruce and helps him with the investigation into his parents murder. But back to this episode, I love how he respectably talks Fish Mooney into helping him, something that Bullock is finding harder to do after so many incidents between them. 

What made this episode good was that Barbara kept far away from it. No disrespect to Erin Richards as an actress, but I just don't like her character and I feel she serves no real purpose in the show. It is not even that she is a strong female character like Felicity Smoak or the Lance sisters in Arrow or Caitlin Snow in The Fash. She is merely there to be his girlfriend. So unless Gotham has great arc for her character (like they did with Laurel-as I didn't like her much before the later half of series two) I feel she is just there in the background. The relationship's between the  other characters are really strong, which was a plus for the episode. In terms of a mid-season point, it lacked the action that Arrow had with it's first two seasons, where the big bad was revealed or some big plot shift. Although having said that it does introduce Arkham very nicely for the second half of the season. 

What I didn't like about this episode was line "Mayor James... Kiss my ass" at the very end by Gordon  during his closing battle with James. The comic would, I feel, have given a very witty retort to this and not descended into childishness. Also I found Falcone's response to half his criminal activity being destroyed was slightly underwhelming. I would have liked to have seen a full response gang with Maroni (who he believes is responsible), not see someone shot and spend the rest of the episode with his face in a bowl, while he still trusts Fish Mooney. The trust he has for her, even with everything she has done against him, is shocking. For someone to be a crime boss with that much fear and respect, surely they would be smarter to know that everything that has happened has connections to her. 

If I were to predict what might happen in the second half of the season, I would guess that Liza may not last until a season 2 if one is made and nor would Fish. But what do you think?