Gotham: The Anvil Or The Hammer
April 30, 2015 8:02 PM - Season 1, Episode 21 - Subscribe
The Ogre takes his relationship with Barbara to the next level. Penguin starts a gang war. Bruce finds a troubling secret about his father. Nygma starts leaving riddles about his crimes.
And two EPs in a row with no Fish - huh?
I don't know how true this is, but I've heard/read from several sources that Gotham had to take a break and reshoot several episodes because Jada Pinkett Smith announced unexpectedly that she's leaving the show. Rumor has it that the hubs (Will Smith) is jealous of her popularity after several of his films in a row failed at the box office, and has strong armed her to leave the show. Don't shoot the messenger.
posted by the webmistress at 3:39 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know how true this is, but I've heard/read from several sources that Gotham had to take a break and reshoot several episodes because Jada Pinkett Smith announced unexpectedly that she's leaving the show. Rumor has it that the hubs (Will Smith) is jealous of her popularity after several of his films in a row failed at the box office, and has strong armed her to leave the show. Don't shoot the messenger.
posted by the webmistress at 3:39 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think Fish had pretty much run her course on the show, to be honest. I'm not missing her in the last few episodes, and I think that trimming the character list would be a good move overall.
posted by codacorolla at 9:17 AM on May 1, 2015
posted by codacorolla at 9:17 AM on May 1, 2015
So, I was all optimistic last week that when the Ogre showed Barbara his kill room at the very end, that she was going to get to do some interesting things, maybe have some agency for once, and that they would avoid the standard damsel-in-distress plotline.
Which they....partly avoided, I guess? (I mean, not initially, they went 100% unadulterated damsel-in-distress at the beginning, *sigh*.) But at the same time they somehow managed to give Barbara even less agency. Like, serial killer shows you his murder dungeon, and you--what? Thought it was just a kinky sex dungeon, and are totally shocked and surprised when the guy turns out to be a psycho? Really?? But then he convinces you to join him in his sick murder-games - not, of course, because you make an actual decision to join up with him, because you're an independent person with your deep-rooted self-loathing and he's providing you an outlet to lash out at the world - no, he just forces you to go along with it so you do. In kind of a halfhearted way. I mean, really, it is just a kind of stunning, unimaginable lack of agency to be present for a to-the-death showdown between the Ogre and Gordon and somehow manage to not really pick a side.
They haven't yet completely quashed my hopes that this'll have some interesting results for her character, since there should obviously be some lasting impact on her from this whole plotline. But considering how ridiculously awful the writers have been at handling/utilizing her character, and that this episode had the opportunity to reverse that trend and instead somehow managed to worsen it, which I wouldn't even have imagined possible...well, I'm not holding my breath.
Fortunately, the Penguin was good, Nygma was good, and even the Bruce plotline was pretty good. We get a young Lucius Fox! Nice!
posted by mstokes650 at 10:20 AM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Which they....partly avoided, I guess? (I mean, not initially, they went 100% unadulterated damsel-in-distress at the beginning, *sigh*.) But at the same time they somehow managed to give Barbara even less agency. Like, serial killer shows you his murder dungeon, and you--what? Thought it was just a kinky sex dungeon, and are totally shocked and surprised when the guy turns out to be a psycho? Really?? But then he convinces you to join him in his sick murder-games - not, of course, because you make an actual decision to join up with him, because you're an independent person with your deep-rooted self-loathing and he's providing you an outlet to lash out at the world - no, he just forces you to go along with it so you do. In kind of a halfhearted way. I mean, really, it is just a kind of stunning, unimaginable lack of agency to be present for a to-the-death showdown between the Ogre and Gordon and somehow manage to not really pick a side.
They haven't yet completely quashed my hopes that this'll have some interesting results for her character, since there should obviously be some lasting impact on her from this whole plotline. But considering how ridiculously awful the writers have been at handling/utilizing her character, and that this episode had the opportunity to reverse that trend and instead somehow managed to worsen it, which I wouldn't even have imagined possible...well, I'm not holding my breath.
Fortunately, the Penguin was good, Nygma was good, and even the Bruce plotline was pretty good. We get a young Lucius Fox! Nice!
posted by mstokes650 at 10:20 AM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
I really didn't like the sexual violence in this episode. Barbara's always been a bit naughty, all bisexual and kinda kinky. That should be good. Instead they put her in a sexualized, vulnerable situation in a kinky murder room with a kinky murderer. It felt like some ancient morality about how slutty girls deserve to die. Lame.
Otherwise a decent episode, I liked that they tied the Ogre story up. And Nygma gets to go somewhere weird, a nice B-side to the Ogre story.
posted by Nelson at 10:02 PM on May 14, 2015
Otherwise a decent episode, I liked that they tied the Ogre story up. And Nygma gets to go somewhere weird, a nice B-side to the Ogre story.
posted by Nelson at 10:02 PM on May 14, 2015
Another head in a box?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:54 PM on May 15, 2015
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:54 PM on May 15, 2015
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posted by davidmsc at 11:25 PM on April 30, 2015