Gotham Season 3, Episode 20
Whatever faults Gotham may have, you can never accuse it of not taking chances. In the course of an hour: Jim Gordon took the Tetch virus; Bruce Wayne turned against Gotham; Fish Mooney came back just as Ed was about to kill Oswald; and the Tetch virus was unleashed on the city.
Jim Gordon takes the virus.
The end of Season 3 has seen all of Gotham’s most moral characters turn evil in some way. Bruce has been brainwashed by the Shaman. Lee has taken the Tetch virus (which I still maintain was both idiotic and out-of-character). And now Jim has also taken the virus to avoid death by aspyhxiation. But what has the virus down to Jim exactly? Before Lee interrupted him, it looked like he might have been working to stop the virus bomb. Is there a chance the Gordon’s extreme (read: obnoxious) righteousness has given him some kind of resistance to the virus? I wouldn’t put anything past Jim Gordon… or the “logic” of Gotham. That being said, I will never tire of seeing so many over-the-top comic book villains trying to out-villain each other on Gotham. There is a fine line between love and hate and Oswald and Ed are obviously still the most important people in one another’s lives. Seeing Barbara, Tabitha, and Butch roll their eyes at Ed’s insistence that Oswald call him by his Riddler moniker was kind of perfect, as was Oswald’s continued insistence that the name is stupid. It will be interesting to see how these characters are affected by the virus — or by the virus’ release, at least? Will they band together in the wake of Gothamliterally going crazy? Or will the virus tear these already tenuous alliances apart? And what exactly is Fish planning? Sound off in the comments below. Alfred’s shenanigans leading up to the Bruce/Shaman confrontation were much more interesting. Watching him hang Hugo Strange off of a Gotham rooftop by his tie was a particular highlight. Sure, it was ridiculous that Bullock would have given him that much power, but this show is fueled by ridiculousness. And hearing Alfred call Bruce any variation on “my son” or “my boy” will never not pull at my heartstrings. Inevitably, Alfred’s shooting of the Shaman is obviously going to cause problems between these two — especially because we know R’as al Ghul has to show up at some point to train Bruce. I’m not looking forward to their estrangement, but I may forgive the lapse in Bruce/Alfred scenes if R’as al Ghul’s training is more interesting than the Shaman’s.
