Gotham, Episode 10 “LoveCraft” Broadcast November 24, 2014
Written by Rebecca Dameron
Directed by Guy Ferland
A lone woman in leather is discovered by a gardener on the grounds of Wayne Manor. He directs her back to the road, since she’s lost, but she says, “I’m where I need to be.” She then breaks the man’s neck. Two other similarly garbed assassins appear and she orders one to “Open him.” He does so and she streaks some of the innocent man’s blood on her forehead. Within the manor, Bruce is receiving training from Selina on how to walk on a stair’s railing…from three stories up. She says if he really wants to test himself he should go with her to the top of the Midtown Bridge. Their conversation soon drifts to Bruce’s strange focus on his parents’ deaths and what makes a person nice. The doorbell rings, Alfred answers it, and it’s the female assassin, claiming her car went off the road. The two children come down to see what’s wrong and Selina recognizes the woman. Alfred orders them to run and they scramble off, with the woman and another assassin in pursuit as the faithful butler deals with the final thug. The kids make it outside, but Bruce pauses, concerned for Alfred. Selina restates that he told him to run. Young Master Wayne can’t decide, so Selina says, “I’m out,” and tears off. The appearance of the two killers spur Bruce to run. As the villains chase them down, Alfred appears with his defeated foe’s pistol and shoots the man. The butler is winged in the process and loses track of the children. He yells in frustration, “Bruce!” Cue title card sequence.
Gordon and fifty police officers are at Wayne Manor. Alfred is not pleased James had Selina stay with them, and not helping is Bullock’s arrival with a picture of Selina found on the dead man outside. Only the butler’s interjection about Bruce being on the runs stops the detectives from arguing once Bullock has been brought up to speed with Harvey Dent’s plan. Bruce wants to contact Alfred or the police, but Selina says he needs to relax. She’ll find him a phone once she’s got him hidden in the city. Cue first commercial break.
This episode spotlights Bruce and Selina on the run, with Bruce now having to live in her world. If it wasn’t for her, he’d be dead in hours. Their scenes together are good and foreshadows their mixed future well. This was the first episode where Selina didn’t seem like a cliché of her comic book self. Bruce was the typical fish out of water, but he shows promise of greater things, as evidenced by a rooftop sequence. The mobsters have bits in this episode to keep the previous gang storyline going, but some are better than others. Falcone and Cobblepot’s only scene didn’t do much but remind viewers that the Penguin is planning things for the long haul. Fish Mooney doesn’t do much, though her interaction with Alfred is great. Alfred really gets some great things to do in this episode, and I’m sure he’ll have a sorted past revealed eventually, ’cause he has skills most butlers do not. Harvey Dent is a footnote in this episode, which is sad because he was built up so much previously. The turning point for Gordon is fantastic, and I’m eager to see what he does when this series resumes in January.
The good: Bruce and Selina, another youthful character returns and spooks even Selina, Alfred being a major ass kicker, James’s new position, and the Danny Elfman inspired score at the reveal of this new locale.
Fun lines: “You think too much, kid,” “You don’t strike me as a nice person,” “Well you were wrong, you plank!”, Butler, mate,” “Let me give you some context here…”, and “Yes, Ma’m.”
The bad: Not enough Cobblepot, why the assassin does what she does to Gordon, Harvey Dent being impotent as a character, Falcone and Cobblepot’s scene, and Nygma’s over the top good-bye.
The final line: Bruce and Selina hit the streets and it’s just a bit better than average. Overall grade: B-
Patrick Hayes was a contributor to the Comic Buyer’s Guide for several years with “It’s Bound to Happen!”, he reviewed comics for TrekWeb, and he currently reviews Trek comics at TrekCore. He’s taught 8th graders English for 20 years and has taught high school English for two years and counting. He reads everything as often as he can, when not grading papers or looking up Star Trek, Star Wars, or Indiana Jones items online.
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