4.19 To Our Deaths And Beyond Ooops, wait, did I spoil the fact that Ra’s Al Ghul returns from the dead? Well, Ra’s Al Ghul returns from the dead and the whole Demon’s Head plot is so threadbare that it barely exists. Weeks back, Ra’s Al Ghul chose Barbara Kean as the new boss of the League of Shadows. The League splinters off with the female half backing Barbara and the male contingent seeking to resurrect Ra’s Al Ghul. This week, the misters of the League succeed and Ra’s returns in a very cool zombie form. He’s all like, ‘Why did you awake me from my eternal slumber?’ The League is all like ‘Because Barbara sucks,’ and Ra’s is all like ‘No, she doesn’t,’ and the League is all like ‘Yeah, she really does,’ and Ra’s is suddenly like, ‘Really? Okay I screwed up, imma kill her.’ It was like the writers on Arrow said ‘No one can top the mediocrity of our Ra’s Al Ghul season,’ and Gotham was like ‘Hold my beer.’ The struggle for the Demon’s Head power draws in Selena and Bruce who have to steal back the Ra’s-killing MaGuffin knife to once again kill Ra’s. Of course, Bruce hesitates because the first killing of Ra’s Al Ghul led to Bruce’s transformation to a douchebag rich kid. But Bruce is game; he helps Barbara steal the knife (in a heist sequence that is the most entertaining part of this near lead balloon-like episode). Not as bad is a plotline involving the burgeoning relationship between Riddler and Lee Thompkins. Riddler is helping Lee knock over some mob banks in order to fund the Narrows. Penguin gets wind of this Lee Thompkins windfall and wants to horn in on the action. Butch throws himself into Penguin’s play so he can raise the funds to find a cure for Solomon Grundy, so we have quite a group of bank robbers. Penguin convinces Riddler to betray Lee and cut her out because Penguin fears Riddler’s love for the doctor-turned-crime-boss will signal a return of the Ed Nygma persona. Riddler looks like he is going to betray Lee but turns the tables on Penguin and Grundy so now we have a war between those two duos. Now this is a story arc that shouldn’t work, but the sheer force of the performances force it to be compelling. With Gordon playing the hapless cop between Team Lee and Team Oswald, there is a lot to get behind as the Riddler/Thompkins pairing evolves. The episode actually provides an explanation for Lee’s out of character behaviour when Riddler postulates that Lee is still somehow feeling the effects of the Tetch virus. Okay, I’ll buy that. At least there is an effort. But there is no effort in the Ra’s and Barbara war as stuff just happens without thought or explanation. This is getting to be Azrael levels of bad, so thank goodness we have the unlikely Ridder/ Lee Thompkins romance to keep things interesting. If this week proves anything, it’s that Gotham really needs the Joker storyline to keep things engaging because this series has mastered a good Joker yarn. Ra’s Al Ghul stories? Not so much. Read Marc’s review of the previous episode, That’s Entertainment, here.
