Episode 16 of Gotham's 4th Season, was directed by the show's star, Ben McKenzie. "One of My Three Soups," as the episode is titled, follows a massive breakout from Arkham Asylum, the episode starts with a female guard, putting on headphones and a walkman, to check on The Mad Hatter, Jervis Tetch, the music, countering his powers of persuasion from hypnotizing the guard, though it's too late he had already gotten to another guard who slits the throats of all the other correction officers on this floor. We're a couple minutes in and there have already been a few laughs with the juxtaposition of the music choice (Alice Smith - Fool For You), to the dour interior of Gotham's home for the criminally insane, and the diminutive frame and bodycount of Guard Tortuga.
There was an early screening of this episode at the Warner Brothers Television building on the iconic movie studio lot, in a big fancy conference room bearing posters of all the Warner Brothers Television programs currently on air, in alphabetical order, featuring "The 100" "Arrow" "i, Zombie" "Lucifer" "Life Sentence" "Supernatural" "Riverdale" all the way to "Young Sheldon." At least one program on every broadcast network. After the episode screened, the dozen or so TV Journalists invited, got a private Q&A with Ben McKenzie. This wasn't his first episode as director, but he explained that, as the show has gone on as long as it has, he is uniquely qualified, as an expert on the tone of the show, second only to Danny Cannon, the pilot director, responsible for setting the original feel for the show and veteran of at least 10 episodes of Gotham. McKenzie also feels that the show has course corrected from it's original Episodic NYPD Blue / Comic Book Villain of the week feel, especially as David Mazouz, the Bruce Wayne of the show, has grown over the past 4 years.
The episode has further Joker-ification of Jerome Valeska, who organized the breakout which also finds The Scarecrow back on the street. Jervis Tetch uses his hypnotic voice on a radio station to coerce hundred of Gothamites to throw themselves from the tops of buildings at midnight unless Captain James Gordon suffers for taking Jervis's sister Alice from him (Alice jumped and had a rather pokey landing, after she was tired of her brother using her for his own nefarious plot a few seasons back) - Ben felt this episode best encapsulates how Gotham is better with the growth of its villains and tests the heroes mettle, and how humor doesn't hurt the show or undercut moments with bathos. After Jerome escaped he made his way to a diner run by his uncle, and reveals that this same uncle's abuse is what helped shape his malice and contempt for people. The uncle beat the young Jerome, for no reason and would continue the beatings for what seemed like hours. The episode's title plays into the scene, as the Uncle had prepared 3 soups, like Goldilocks's conundrum, one was too hot, one too cold, and the other, Just Right, the uncle then reveals he had figured out Jerome was coming for revenge, and had a former circus Strongman protect him from the proto-Joker, the "Just Right" soup was for the Strongman, and the Too Hot soup, was to be poured down Jerome's gullet, scarring his lips and further rasping his voice. Before the bad Uncle can do away with his Nephew's life, Bruce Wayne enters the diner and picks a fight with the Strongman, he feels responsible for Jerome and all that has befallen the ruined clown, there is some delightful plays with power dynamics throughout the episode, as Bruce's life later gets saved by Selina Kyle, and in a C Storyline, Barbara Kean, Jim Gordon's ex-wife, has inherited the mantle of Demon's Head from Ra's al Ghul, and by her actions, causes a culling of The League of Assassins of their weaker members, who refused to listen to a woman. Ben elaborated that it was not intended to be a lip service 'female empowerment' story, but rather furthering of the already strong female characters of the show.
Back to the A story, it seems like Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock have swapped their attitudes towards policing, Jim has more skeletons in his closet now, and resorts to much more violent methods than his first year, and Bullock acts more selfless and altruistic than we've ever seen him through the series, though the characters continue to ground each other.
If this episode proves nothing else, it should prove that Ben McKenzie should sit in the director's chair more often.
10/10
There was an early screening of this episode at the Warner Brothers Television building on the iconic movie studio lot, in a big fancy conference room bearing posters of all the Warner Brothers Television programs currently on air, in alphabetical order, featuring "The 100" "Arrow" "i, Zombie" "Lucifer" "Life Sentence" "Supernatural" "Riverdale" all the way to "Young Sheldon." At least one program on every broadcast network. After the episode screened, the dozen or so TV Journalists invited, got a private Q&A with Ben McKenzie. This wasn't his first episode as director, but he explained that, as the show has gone on as long as it has, he is uniquely qualified, as an expert on the tone of the show, second only to Danny Cannon, the pilot director, responsible for setting the original feel for the show and veteran of at least 10 episodes of Gotham. McKenzie also feels that the show has course corrected from it's original Episodic NYPD Blue / Comic Book Villain of the week feel, especially as David Mazouz, the Bruce Wayne of the show, has grown over the past 4 years.
The episode has further Joker-ification of Jerome Valeska, who organized the breakout which also finds The Scarecrow back on the street. Jervis Tetch uses his hypnotic voice on a radio station to coerce hundred of Gothamites to throw themselves from the tops of buildings at midnight unless Captain James Gordon suffers for taking Jervis's sister Alice from him (Alice jumped and had a rather pokey landing, after she was tired of her brother using her for his own nefarious plot a few seasons back) - Ben felt this episode best encapsulates how Gotham is better with the growth of its villains and tests the heroes mettle, and how humor doesn't hurt the show or undercut moments with bathos. After Jerome escaped he made his way to a diner run by his uncle, and reveals that this same uncle's abuse is what helped shape his malice and contempt for people. The uncle beat the young Jerome, for no reason and would continue the beatings for what seemed like hours. The episode's title plays into the scene, as the Uncle had prepared 3 soups, like Goldilocks's conundrum, one was too hot, one too cold, and the other, Just Right, the uncle then reveals he had figured out Jerome was coming for revenge, and had a former circus Strongman protect him from the proto-Joker, the "Just Right" soup was for the Strongman, and the Too Hot soup, was to be poured down Jerome's gullet, scarring his lips and further rasping his voice. Before the bad Uncle can do away with his Nephew's life, Bruce Wayne enters the diner and picks a fight with the Strongman, he feels responsible for Jerome and all that has befallen the ruined clown, there is some delightful plays with power dynamics throughout the episode, as Bruce's life later gets saved by Selina Kyle, and in a C Storyline, Barbara Kean, Jim Gordon's ex-wife, has inherited the mantle of Demon's Head from Ra's al Ghul, and by her actions, causes a culling of The League of Assassins of their weaker members, who refused to listen to a woman. Ben elaborated that it was not intended to be a lip service 'female empowerment' story, but rather furthering of the already strong female characters of the show.
Back to the A story, it seems like Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock have swapped their attitudes towards policing, Jim has more skeletons in his closet now, and resorts to much more violent methods than his first year, and Bullock acts more selfless and altruistic than we've ever seen him through the series, though the characters continue to ground each other.
If this episode proves nothing else, it should prove that Ben McKenzie should sit in the director's chair more often.
10/10