Gotham returned from it's mini-hiatus last week with the installment Beasts of Prey, which featured the debut of the show's version of The Ogre. With the beginning of one new arc, we also come to the end of another as the Fish-Dollmaker storyline drew to a close last week and we started to see the ball get rollin on some of the other subplots. So while, it wasn't an action packed hour that I thought we'd be getting heading towards the finale with only three episodes to get there, it was the beginning of the end for a rather uneven first season that felt like we were finally headed somewhere.
File Name: Beasts of Prey
Case File: Season One, Episode 19
Study Originated By: Bruno Heller & Ken Woodruff
Conducted By: Eagle Egilsson
The Case: Well, that was most certainly a twist I didn't see coming with the Ogre case. While the case itself isn't really interesting or entertaining, the motives behind it and the repercussions of it are what truly make it an entertaining development. Jim is riding high off his victory in
Everyone Has a Cobblepot over Commissioner Loeb, so he doesn't even bat an eye when a young officer comes to him with a case. He tells Jim he really admires all the work he has done to clean up GCPD and hopes he could help with the case.
Jim of course agrees to take the case of Grace Fairchild, who showed up floating in the river, despite Bullocks insistence they work less instead of more. They show the case to Dr. Thompkins, (man, the foreshadowing was thick in her dialogue about how this could have been her) and they check into some local bars. Turns out she was at one of the ones they check out with a very handsome guy apparently. Thus begin the flashbacks of when Grace met the Ogre. Things quickly change from passionate to tense as the flashbacks carry on, culminating in the Ogre deciding things just aren't going to work out between the two of them. Which is how grace ended up in the state she was when she turned up floating in the river. We don't meet present day Ogre in this episode, but honestly, that's not what this week was about.
This week was all about the why. Closer to the end of the hour, Bullock realizes this case feels too familiar and realizes what this is. There's a reason this case goes untouched; the killer goes after the loved ones of any cop who investigates him. Bullock tells Jim that not many cops could have known about this fact, and they set off to question the officer who gave Jim the case. The officer admits that he was sent to Jim by Commissioner Loeb with the case and coached on what to say because he knew Jim would take it. He knew Jim would eat up his words. Jim angry, confronts Loeb and basically tells him all bets are off since he's come after the one he loves. Did I mention Jim couldn't get a hold of Leslie?
Supporting Research:In truth, this hour really belonged to Fish Mooney, which is only a good thing because it appears to set the stage for her exit. Picking up where we left off, we open the hour seeing Fish adjusting well to her new position of power at the mansion, until she makes an attempted escape outside to the waiting helicopter on the grounds. An attempt squandered by a man called the Catcher, who kills anyone trying to escape. Fish forms a plan; she convinces a couple of guys that she could unlock the gate and they could take the boat out of here(Because she can't fly a helicopter so she said) but really they are bait and she plans to take another team to helicopter. She almost gets caught stealing a knife, but she pays it cool, playing with the Dollmaker's hubris. He almost buys it until the day of her escape and she heads back to save the people in the basement where he is waiting to turn her into his next grotesque creation. He doesn't know the gate holding his captives are already open, and they rush him and beat him down before running away. They break free, and Fish's plan almost goes off without a hitch until she is shot by the Catcher as the helicopter takes off. Elsewhere, Bruce and Selina track down Reggie and question him about his attack on Alfred. They manage to get a name from him by holding his "medicine" hostage, Bunderslaw. Reggie threatens to tell Bunderslaw how much they know and how they will surely be dead following and then he reaches out the window to grab his "Medicine" from the ledge where Selina sets it, and Bruce contemplates pushing Reggie to his death for a brief second. Bruce backs out of the decision, but Selina doesn't and Reggie falls to his death. Oh, and Penguin does a favor for a shop owner in exchange to enter a deal with her establishment. He gets her daughter back and he gets a the shop, which he plans to kill Don Maroni.
This was a really okay episode. For a return from a hiatus, it just really wasn't a stellar installment. While it did feature a lot of setup, the hour primarily belonged to Fish and her escape from the
Island of Living Dolls. Thankfully she was shot, because it seems we are finally drawing to close with her character and I'd rather she'd be killed off so she can't make a return in the future. The best part was watching Selina kill Reggie. This was a great move to help solidify that while Bruce and Selina have so much in common, they will always differ because Bruce chooses to walk the line, but Selina will cross it if she has to. I'm excited to see how their dynamic changes following this event.
I've kind of come down from my Penguin high that I had during the first part of the season and I'm really hoping that this thing with Maroni comes to a close, because I have just about had enough of this. Finally, for the main event, The Ogre. I was really let down we didn't get much more than flashbacks this week. While I understand why they did it, to get us acquainted with the character, with so little time left in the season this felt like an hour wasted. We took a month off and got an episode that didn't bring anything major to the table, well except for the fact the Loeb is a pretty sinister foe.
What did you think of Beasts of Prey? Sound off below!
About the Author - Winston Mize
Winston is a 24 year old goofball, born in the north, and currently living in the south. He loves TV.... for some it's coffee, for him it's TV talk that gets his day going. He wants to be a screenwriter, and watches some of everything. You name it, he's probably checked it out. And he would like you to know that it is okay for a 24 year old to play with action figures... well, he does anyway
Gotham returned from it's mini-hiatus last week with the installment Beasts of Prey, which featured the debut of the show's version of The Ogre. With the beginning of one new arc, we also come to the end of another as the Fish-Dollmaker storyline drew to a close last week and we started to see the ball get rollin on some of the other subplots. So while, it wasn't an action packed hour that I thought we'd be getting heading towards the finale with only three episodes to get there, it was the beginning of the end for a rather uneven first season that felt like we were finally headed somewhere. 
