'Gotham' Recap 'The Scarecrow': A Good Origin Cut Too Short

Gotham’s latest two part “mini-event” was capped off with “The Scarecrow”, an episode in which Jonathan Crane is forever transformed. Unfortunately “The Scarecrow” ended up being the weaker of the two episodes, lacking much of the emotional punch and tension that “The Fearsome Dr. Crane” had built up so well. As a whole the two episode arc about the Cranes was solid but it certainly feels like there was much more possible that could have been doled out over more episodes to greater effect.

It is the fault of the previous episode, “The Fearsome Dr. Crane”, that makes “The Scarecrow” pale in comparison. Not only was the elder Crane more dangerous because of his mysteriousness but he was also quickly racking up the body count in last week’s episode. The audience was learning the gruesome things he was doing and their reasons. In “The Scarecrow”, aside from the opening five minutes, Crane was done collecting adrenal glands and was focused on overcoming his fears with his fear inoculation. Naturally this part of the story might not be as tense even with the fear hallucinations he was having.

There was also a distinct lack of tension in Crane giving Jonathan the treatments that end up making him go insane. Jonathan didn’t put up much of a fight, especially when his dad was going to give him a much larger dose to “complete the treatments” sooner as Gordon and Bullock chased them down. Crane showing off his fearlessness as Gordon and Bullock peppered him with bullets was certainly a good way to show just what his serum could do but it felt like there could and should have been more to this plot arc.

After “The Scarecrow” had ended there was also a sense that the Crane storyline may have been better over a longer story arc. The elder Crane would have been perfect as a recurring serial killer, one victim popping up each week while it is slowly revealed what he is doing. It also would have given some extra time to explore Crane and Jonathan’s relationship further. Why is Jonathan helping his father out and/or why does Jonathan follow his father’s instruction? The extra time would also be nice as Crane began his transformation into fearlessness and maybe even struggled with his decision to give the serum to his son and finally doing it because his lack of fear compelled him to, which was slyly hinted at during “The Scarecrow”. Last, having a new Crane kill a week would have mounted pressure on Gordon, which has been somewhat lacking in terms of case load. This is Gotham City after all, eventually Gordon needs to become bogged down by all the crimes of the corrupt city and Crane’s story would have been a nice addition in conjunction with a new case of the week. Though it will be interesting to see what, if any, reaction Gordon has to his unintentional assist of Jonathan’s new found insanity.

“The Scarecrow” also suffered because the other plots and subplots were not as interesting as they were last week either. Penguin had escaped Maroni last week and now this week he was given very little to do as he set up his nightclub, resulting in a pretty disappointing grand reopening. His first run in with Nygma was played more for laughs than anything and it still doesn’t make much sense why Nygma approached him. And while Gordon’s refusal to take Penguin’s help and invitation showed both Gordon’s willingness to accept outside help and a lesson learned that he must make sure to place his trust in the right people – two things that will certainly factor in later down the line – it wasn’t exactly monumental. The same goes for Gordon and Leslie’s unneeded drama over public displays of affection at the precinct.

As Penguin is setting up Fish’s old club to his liking, Fish is setting up some underground gang of captives. It is not clear exactly where she is or who are her captors but seeing Fish actually having to do some of the dirty work herself to get what she wants, i.e. killing the boss of the prisoners by flirting with him and stealing his knife, was good to see. Fish actually showing she is willing to get her hands dirty when necessary in a more hands on approach was good for her character. Now all that remains is how long she will be in this makeshift jail and if her new followers will help her try to take down Penguin.

Finally there was Bruce who was going on an annual hiking/camping trip he and his father used to do. Aside from preteen angst making him kick over his dad’s rock pile from previous trips and Bruce crawling back up the hillside after spraining his ankle there was little here. At least this event felt a little more natural for part of Bruce’s initial training to become Batman than him trying to hold his breath as long as he could in his pool. The storyline felt tacked on but Alfred not helping Bruce back up the hill but also standing in for his dad to wake Bruce up for dawn showed some of the complexities of Alfred’s character.

“The Scarecrow” was a fine way to wrap up a two episode arc but the arc should have been longer than two episodes. It did set up Jonathan as the future Scarecrow but who knows when he will make his return as the villain we all know. It is hard to follow such a good episode as “The Fearsome Dr. Crane” and, unfortunately “The Scarecrow” could not match its predecessor.

image via Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com