Gotham
Episode Title: “The Fearsome
Dr. Crane”
Channel: Fox
Director: John
Behring
Writer: John Stephens
Genre: Crime,
Drama, Thriller
Runtime: 42 min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: February 2,
2015
One
would think that with a title like “The Fearsome Dr. Crane” this
week's episode would be all about Crane and his origin story.
Although that's not the case, it's not a bad thing. First, the
aforementioned Dr. Crane is not Jonathan Crane, the man that will
eventually become Scarecrow. The Dr. Crane of this episode is his
father, who's trolling a phobia support group for people suitable for
his research. That research involves killing people at their most
afraid and harvesting their adrenal glands. It's this work that
Scarecrow will eventually expand upon, presumably leading to the fear
toxin for which the character is known. Although this portion of the
story did lead to some good moments for Bullock it was overall the
weakest part of the episode.
Despite
the fact that this episode still featured some of the jumping from
character to character that has detracted from previous episodes; it
was handled more smoothly this week. Selina tells Gordon that she
lied concerning the Waynes' murder. Upon arriving at Wayne manor to
discuss it with Bruce, Bruce releases him from his promise to catch
the killer. It's high time that happened, as Gordon hasn't made much
of an attempt at the investigation in weeks. Let Gordon worry about
rampant corruption in every corner of the city, and Bruce start
working towards becoming the world's greatest detective. We also got
to see more of the burgeoning relationship between Gordon and Dr.
Thompkins. After the catastrophe that has been Barbara Gordon thus
far the new love interest is a welcome change.
Undoubtedly,
the best moments of the episode were those involving Penguin and
Maroni. Before fleeing Gotham Fish Mooney placed a call with Maroni,
cluing him into the plots Penguin has been concocting against him.
The verbal cat and mouse between the two was hugely entertaining.
Lured away to “see a guy about a thing” Penguin's life is put in
jeopardy after Maroni tricks him into revealing how duplicitous he's
been. It was a little predictable, who didn't know that the gun was
loaded with blanks, but it made for some tense moments. Which brings
us around to one of the down sides of the episode, and of the series
as it's presently constructed.
Because
the audience knows where so many of these characters end up down the
road it's very hard to believe the mortal peril a lot of the
characters are thrust in to. The only way to combat this would be
for the writers to throw us a real curve ball, kill someone we're
sure can't die. If they'd be willing to show us that the series is
completely separate from any previous media by doing so it would add
to the enjoyment factor a great deal. As it stands I find it nigh
impossible to keep what I know about the characters from taking most
of the steam out of the life and death situations
The
only other odd or end I want to mention is the final scene of the
episode. The ship Fish is on is being assaulted and a man walks
through her cabin door. They lock eyes and then run at each other in
an utterly ridiculous fashion. It's almost like a corny 70s kung fu
movie; it felt completely out of place.
Conclusion:
Don't let the title fool you, this episode is only barely about Dr.
Crane. An improved sense of focus and some actual character
development makes “The Fearsome Dr. Crane” a successful episode.
The new villain is secondary to the other things happening, and I for
one have no problem with that.
Rating:
7.25/10
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