'Gotham' Recap: 'Rise of the Villains: Scarification' fails to leave its mark

Since Jerome’s death, Gotham has not been the same.  It has lacked panache.  It has lacked excitement.  It has lacked smart storytelling.

“Scarification” continues this trend.  While the episode introduced more backstory of Galavan (or should I say Dumas?) and more parts of his master plan, it doesn’t have the same feel as when he and Jerome were working together for those two plus episodes earlier this season.  Unfortunately, it seems Jerome’s mini-arc has been more an exception than the rule for Gotham.

“Scarification” featured a lot of exposition.  Galavan is trying to settle old familial feuds with the Wayne family by burning down any buildings that Wayne Enterprises holds.  To do this, he enlists the help of the Pike brothers, Gotham City’s most well known arsonists (so well known that this is the first time they’ve ever made an appearance).  But when Gotham’s Wal-Mart of weapons gets raided by Barnes and Gordon’s Strike Force and kills one of the Pike’s, they force Selina’s one-time friend and the Pikes' half-sister Bridget to do their bidding.  Enter Firefly (or proto-Firefly).  

The “twist” for Firefly - that she is a girl - is another instance in which Gotham takes the easy road.  There’s nothing wrong with Bridget wanting to be the Firefly, but her quick journey from abused half-sister to costumed baddie doesn’t feel genuine at all.  Within a 10-minute span, she goes from refusing to even help her brothers to getting kind of jazzed that she gets to create a flame-retardant costume. Sure, she got burned when she set a bomb off and that’s why she’s making this suit. But she also says it was exciting and she enjoyed setting the bomb off as part of the reason why she’s going to continue with her brothers, despite the fact she showed no thrill or enjoyment during the scene.  Now, after she burned a Strike Force member to death, there’s no going back.

Luckily, Selina helped her escape the police after Bridget burned the officer in self-defense.  Selina has been an under-utilized character this season, so it would be nice to have her and Bridget team up a little for a few episodes.  Selina is always better with a partner in crime and is actually one of the better recurring characters.  Plus, her helping Bridget puts her at immediate odds with Gordon, who will eventually need to fall in line with Barnes’ hardline on criminals.  Seeing what Gordon does when he’s actually forced to be face-to-face with the criminals, Barnes' desire to rid the city of them should make for an interesting dilemma.

It’s easy to see how the Strike Force could turn into more of a hit squad than a policing unit.  Barnes is clearly no-nonsense and while he and Gordon do share a military background, Gordon can see the shades of gray where Barnes can’t.  And when you add in a bunch of young, idealist academy graduates who have personal vendettas against crime in the city, the Strike Force may do more harm than good once all is said and done, especially now that one of their own was killed.  “Scarification” missed a good opportunity to further draw a line in the sand between Gordon and Barnes when Gordon did accidentally blow up the one Pike brother.  When Barnes made the joke about Gordon blowing a main to smithereens Gordon could have distinguished himself by feeling sorry/guilty about actually killing him.  

And if Gordon killing a man wasn’t enough, he also was forced by Leslie to go on a double date with Nygma and Kringle.  Nygma and Kringle have an odd but understandable chemistry together and Nygma did not break into evil Nygma during dinner – though expect a Kringle breakup to throw him over the edge (just a prediction).  Gordon also seemed a little tired with Leslie in “Scarification”, though maybe that was just being tired from the job.  In any case they don’t seem to be seeing eye-to-eye as they did much of last season.  

Gordon was also approached by Theo Galavan in hopes of getting an endorsement from the President of the Policeman’s Union.  Though he initially declined, Gordon ended up telling Galavan he would endorse him as long as they worked together to rid the city of the changing crime.  Galavan’s devious smirk clearly shows he’s got some serious plans for whatever this “alliance” will become.

Which brings us all the way back to Galavan.  Again, he has met no resistance in his quest for city domination.  He continues to unfurl his master plan for taking Gotham City back.  His character is ultimately pretty drab, despite the fact Penguin and the audience learn how his family was wronged generations ago by a Wayne.  However, it was introduced that Galavan is a member of a very random religious sect from outside of Gotham City that certainly feels eerily familiar to the League of Shadows.  It seems as though Galavan and his priest’s plan is to sacrifice Bruce Wayne, or something to that effect, for no better reason (at this time) than revenge.  Though sacrificing Bruce at the knife of his ancestor does not require Galavan to become mayor of Gotham City, so his full plans still have yet to be revealed.

“Scarification” was your typical episode of Gotham.  That electromagnetism Jerome had brought to the show has basically vanished, leaving the audience with more episodes that follow the typical plot.  Without Galvan’s full plot being revealed or the Strike Force going off the rails in a meaningful way, Gotham has returned to its ho-hum existence.