S03.E10: Mad City: Time Bomb

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

On the eve of their rehearsal dinner, a threat to Mario and Lee is exposed, and Falcone looks to Jim for help. Meanwhile, Nygma seeks revenge and Bruce learns more about The Court of Owls.

 

[Chaos Theory]

I will say it.  This was one of the better episodes of the season and I think it was because it used its female cast well....ie Barbara Keen was awesome!!!!!!!   Maybe I will get my wish and Barbara will get more screen time now that it looks like she is pairing up with Butch to start a war between Nygma and Penguin.

I liked that Nygma holds Tabitba and Butch hostage stuff because it brought a quick end to Nygma thinking Butch killed Isabella but it did it in an entertaining way.   No one needs two hands anyway?

So Mario is infected with mad cow.  Isn't Lee a lucky girl?  

Edited November 22, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Lantern7]

So much for Mario being normal. And I'm guessing he's not hopped up on Alice's blood.

Damn, I keep forgetting that Ed might be the psycho one in the couple. At least Tabitha can get her hand back. I think they're still finding chunks of her brother.

Bullock as captain? Funny, but I'm hoping that doesn't last long. A rogue has to be a rogue, right?

ETA: WTF was up with the two hoods in the end? At least try to be subtle about mugging. And Barbara stepping up to the adults' table should be fun.

[HoodlumSheep]

Falcone. FALCONE.

his gloriousness makes me weep. He has single-handedly saved this season for me to be quite honest. I love him so much. Just the way he said "Gotham will burn"...chills CHILLS!!!!

Harvey being adorbs and funny as usual. And he's acting-captain again!

I have a question...when and how did Mario get infected? Did I miss something?

Butch and Tabs were so sweet! Awww! And Babs was coming to rescue them! I love the TabsBabsButch trio. They're pretty fun.

That court of owls killer was pretty crazy. That scene seemed extra Crazy. I'd say it looked watchmen/300-esque, but I've never actually seen those movies. Seemed graphic-novels inspired to me, if that's a way of putting it.

ivy was dumb leaving the house.

nygma was equally dumb having actually thought Butch killed Isabella. At least now he probably knows who actually killed her.

next week looks fun.

[janeta]

When Bullock and Gordon were watching Mario's father practicing amateur dentistry on the monitors, did i hear the F word? (!)

[HoodlumSheep]

Forgot to mention: solid episode. Probably my favorite since 'Anything for you' or whatever it was called (the one with all the back-stabbing).

and once again, gotham introduces an interesting minor character and disposes of them in the same episode. Goodbye, Ukrainian Whisper guy! Say hello to raptor girl and Alice Tetch for me! 

Okay, I cheated--Alice Tetch managed to stick around for 2? Episodes and not one. 

My point is, is that all the cool minor characters don't last very long. :'( 

i wanted a Whisper guy/Bruce team-up! ;_;

also, Baby bruce continues to rock those Michael Keaton Bruce Wayne turtlenecks, and I love him for it.

Edited November 22, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[Spartan Girl]

Mario's infected. Wow, I'm so freaking shocked [/sarcasm].

Even if he wasn't, am I supposed to feel sorry for a guy who jumped into a relationship with a woman right after she had a miscarriage and is only now just discovering that she's a big fickle twit?

I guess it's just too much to hope that Jim look the other will just let the poisoned blood do its work. He is the one in this whole stupid love triangle that's acted like an adult. He doesn't owe Lee anything.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Spartan Girl

[Danielg342]

It was an episode fit for a comic book show...because it was comically bad.

*crickets chirping*

Whatever.

I just can't get excited about Barbara wanting to take down the Penguin knowing, full well, who's going to win that battle. I've lost track about how many times I've scolded this show for false drama, but it never seems to get the hint.

I was also very disappointed that Nygma really did think Butch killed Isabella. Seriously...he should be smarter than that.

All that pretty much for an excuse to have Butch get tortured and Tabitha to get her hand chopped off.

Then we had Falcone pulling a tooth out of an assassin's mouth just to get him to talk...seriously, how much gore did we need tonight?

Ugh.

Then there was all that business with the Whisper Gang and Bruce...and Ivy being Ivy, apparently. Getting aged up means you get to do what the other women in this show do- be a damsel in distress. I miss the younger Ivy who was at least wonderfully weird. This one is just plain...well, plain.

Just not interested in Jim & Lee: The Tragic Love Story, especially knowing Mario Falcone isn't long for this world. I guess good that Mario's attempted assassination actually led to something of substance- Carmine Falcone getting a power play with the Court of Owls- but Jim is just not interesting as a character and Lee doesn't actually do anything. Not to mention Mario leaves no impact and is really just there to give Jim some angst.

I mean I don't have too much to say other than I felt this was an episode where the writer just wanted excuse for gore...because that's what stuck out for me. The storylines just didn't quite have the impact they could have had, nor did anything really have resolution. I guess this is all about next week.

Still, we could have had three episodes out of this one and maybe that would have been better- certainly the concepts behind the three storylines were good. They just suffered from a lack of concentration, and big time.

The Bullock Meter- 4

Yeah, he was in much of the episode. Yeah, he had that poignant speech with Jim. Yeah, he really dug being acting captain again. However, I didn't really feel like Bullock really did anything except brute around in his gruff. A robot could have said his lines and no one would have known the difference. I suppose I should have expected a pedestrian Bullock in a pedestrian episode, but it's still heavily disappointing.

Episode Grade: F. The bottom of the barrel. It can't get any worse than this, can it?

[SoSueMe]

I'd give it a B+. Loved Barbara's logical insanity (or insane logic?). It seemed like an awful lot was packed into one hour.

[Chaos Theory]

50 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

I'd give it a B+. Loved Barbara's logical insanity (or insane logic?). It seemed like an awful lot was packed into one hour.

Me too.  This isn't high art.  It's a fun show and when I have fun watching it and Erin Richards gets more then one two minute scene it automatically gets at least a C from me.  

Plus I really did like everything BUT the baby Bruce/Court of Owls storyline. 

Edited November 22, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[immortalfrieza]

I'm not surprised Nygma genuinely believed Butch and Tabitha were the ones who killed Isabella, if I were him I'd rule out the people who are very clearly my enemies and have reason to retaliate for crap I did to them before I started suspecting my closest friend. Still, he shouldn't have needed to chop off someone's hand before he realized they were telling the truth. [sarcasm]BTW, that Butch! You are some criminal mastermind huh? Still going to your favorite restaurant while you are in hiding is a brilliant move![/sarcasm] Tabitha is even more idiotic for going with him, she REALLY should have known better than that.

After the punch to the face a couple episodes ago it became quite clear to me that Mario was just another romantic false lead just like Vale rather than someone who Lee is supposed to marry and leave the show with, someone to be between two characters while both blatantly lusted after each other the whole time until the writers finally decide to get them together for real, the fact that Mario is infected here just showed exactly what it is that will get him kicked off the show. Alice's blood was very obviously just a plot device to turn good people evil out of the blue rather than have it happen through genuine character development from the very beginning, I just hope they come up with something that is a little more believable and less blatant a Deus Ex Machina soon, especially if they aren't even going to explain how they got infected first.

Edited November 22, 2016 by immortalfrieza

[ElleMo]

who was the masked guy?

[Lantern7]

So I was wrong in thinking Alice's blood isn't involved in Mario's transformation into an asshole? That's a disappointment. And I'm hoping Bruno Heller is paying royalties to the creators of 28 Days Later.

[Dame sans merci]

Episode MVP: Babs. Or possibly that amazing miniature guillotine. Or Butch's disbelief that anybody could be in love with that 'psychotic beanpole'.

Lee, you bad girl. Pretty 'meh' on the idea that they're twisting Mario into a villain to make it an easy choice for her to go back to Jim, but inevitable really. 

So, if there was a weapon that was potentially dangerous and could help to destroy you and your shadowy secret organisation...wouldn't you seek to destroy it first? Instead of say, locking it away with a poorly-secured key? No, just me?

People who know that Oswald is in love with Ed:  Barbara, Butch, Olga, Gabe, the entire court of freakin' Owls, the man who sells Harvey his hot dogs, the population of Arkham, that bus full of church ladies from that one episode

People who do not know Oswald is in love with Ed:  Ed

 

ETA: I have thoughts about them seemingly just splitting up whatever Babs and Tabs had going offscreen, in favour of getting Tabitha back together with Butch. I say thoughts, it's more of an expletive-strewn torrent of ranting. I will spare you all.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Blackcanary

[darkestboy]

I could've done without seeing Tabitha losing a hand, but overall I liked this one. That said, Nygma seriously needs to get over himself as well.

This episode made me care for Butch and Tabitha than I have done in the show and I did like Barbara trying to save them as well as later teaming up with Butch for some revenge.

Barbara was brilliantly used in this episode and had some great interactions with everyone. Her reaction to learning about Oswald's feelings for Nygma were priceless to be honest.

Mario being painted as a bad guy feels a little too convenient in order to have Gordon and Leslie get back together but if it means more of Falcone, then I'm pleased.

Ivy was fairly useless in this episode but I did like the Bruce/Selina/Alfred/Whisper Gang/Court of Owls stuff though, 8/10

[Biggie B]

This was the first episode since the show went on the air in which I really and truly liked Barbara. Finally! She was a woman with a mission and got all the information she needed quickly and efficiently and found Butch and Tabitha just in time (well, hopefully in time enough for poor Tabitha's hand!). Well done. I'd never liked her portrayal and was sorely disappointed last season that she wasn't killed off. So this was a pleasant surprise. I hope this version of her continues.

Always glad to see Selena and Bruce in action. I like their back-and-forth about their relationship. "Why can't we just be us?" asked Cat. Would that it were so easy!

I'm glad Ivy didn't do anything to harm Alfred. He's been beaten up enough!

What is it with show and eyeballs? We've already seen Fish Mooney scoop out her own eye - and now we see Mario plunge a sharp piece of jewelry into someone's eye! Yikes!! And ewww! Speaking of Mario, I definitely thought he was infected with Alice's blood but am completely open to the possibility that there's a different cause. Maybe the Owls did something to him?

[Chaos Theory]

Mario being suddenly painted as a villian is a page torn right out of the soap opera guide to love triangles.  Then again it may not even really be about Mario at all. It's probably more about getting Falcone out of retirement and in the middle of a looming war for Gotham.

[ElleMo]

8 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

So I was wrong in thinking Alice's blood isn't involved in Mario's transformation into an asshole? That's a disappointment. And I'm hoping Bruno Heller is paying royalties to the creators of 28 Days Later.

 

He seemed a little too interested/ uncomfortable when Leslie mentioned that there is now a test to determine if you had been infected with Alice's blood, so I am assuming that he was infected. 

But I am not sure how the Court of Owls fits in

[Chaos Theory]

9 minutes ago, ElleMo said:

He seemed a little too interested/ uncomfortable when Leslie mentioned that there is now a test to determine if you had been infected with Alice's blood, so I am assuming that he was infected. 

But I am not sure how the Court of Owls fits in

Maybe it's a Jekyll and Hyde thing.  If I remember the story correctly Jekyll purposely drank the potion that turned him into Hyde.  It's possible that Mario did as well.  

What made Barnes story so tragic was that he actually was a good man driven insane by Alice's blood.  What happens to someone who never was a good man in the first place!

[Winter Rose]

I think this was one of the better ones. I'm so relieved Butch didn't die that I don't care if Ed genuinely thought Butch was the one to kill Isabella. Besides, it's natural to think the ones that are actively against you would be the ones trying to tear you down. The only flaw in Ed's logic would be how would Butch and Isabella have met. I'm also liking Butch and Tabitha more and more, and I actually liked her (temporarily) sacrificing her own hand, it kind of evens the score between them. And of course them and Barbara teaming up has the potential for all kinds of awesome. I'm also glad Barbara got more than a minute of screen time.

I still couldn't care less about Jim/Lee/Mario but I don't really mind the implication that Mario somehow got infected with Alice's blood, I'm guessing it was meant to be a surprise. But maybe it gives some reason to Mario's more unreasonable jealousy. The question is just when it would have happened. But as long as there's plenty more Falcone to come, I'll tough it out through this snoozer of a triangle.

It's just too bad that guy that was actively opposing the Court of Owls died. The promise of him and Bruce teaming up had potential.

[Maximum Taco]

12 hours ago, ElleMo said:

who was the masked guy?

You mean the one who killed the Whispers?

I'd assume he's working for the Court of Owls. In the comics the Court has agents they call Talons to do their bidding.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Maximum Taco

[paigow]

1 hour ago, Maximum Taco said:

You mean the one who killed the Whispers?

I'd assume he's working for the Court of Owls. In the comics the Court has agents they call Talons to do their bidding.

He also gave Alfred a beatdown while kidnapping Bruce

[blackwing]

The scenes of Nygma giving Butch electroshocks went on for way too long.  Seemed to go on forever, and they were boring.

Enjoyed Barbara Keane... would love to see her team up with Penguin.

Can't say I care too much about the Mario and Lee and Jim triangle.  Can't say I care that much about Mario being infected.

I hope they are setting up Ivy to blossom into a real baddie because she isn't all that interesting right now.  I want to see her grow plants from seeds, huge plants with writhing tentacles that will bind people.  This perfume thing is boring.

[JyDanzig]

Quote

I have a question...when and how did Mario get infected? Did I miss something?

At the end of 307, Mario is treating Jim in the hospital, he turns away and there was a Meaningful Close-Up of an Unexplained Band-Aid on his neck.  Tetch had been in the hospital earlier, so I guess we are to infer Mario was injected with the blood then.  I'd imagine we'll eventually have a flashback or something to make this explicit

The Gordon/Falcone relationship is perfect, all those scenes are spectacular.

This episode really sold me on Tabatha and Butch not only as a couple, but also as continuing characters on this show at all -- I'd been thinking it was time to write them off.  They also really should not save her hand.  It's too perfectly comic-y if they're a criminal couple who each have a fake hand!  Don't let that one pass you by, show!

This Ivy-aging-up continues to be a disaster.  Not Maggie Geha's fault, but I can't stop thinking how this is just a much better story with the original actress.  The three kids together, Alfred trying to wrangle them.  Clare Foley is 15, just put her in something other than that oversized shapeless sweater and you could have done the same basic arc of Ivy realizing how men are starting to sexualize her, and the power that gives her (and she wields her control through the plant toxins, you wouldn't have her actually sleeping with any of these adult men).

Of course, in that version you're legitimately doing a story about the creepiness of the early sexualizing of women/girls.  To the extent that that theme is present in the existing story, it's only as a pretext to invite the audience to do the same thing.

Or you could have had Maggie Geha show up as Pamela Isley, and take orphan Ivy Pepper under her wing.  Then you could have this cool sisterhood of plant-loving budding villains working together

It was just such a bad trade, dramatically.  They lost a lot of interesting angles by aging Ivy up, and gained nothing but a hot woman of legal age they could put in sexy outfits.

Ugh, writing that out made me feel so bad for both Ivy actresses.  They both deserve better!

Edited November 22, 2016 by JyDanzig

[Chaos Theory]

More Barbara is always a good idea.

Also more Butch and Tabitha.

i kinda also like Nygma.

Less Bruce/Cat/Ivy

[SoSueMe]

Yeah, more crazy Barbara. Funny to think back to season one when she was sooooo boooorrrring.

[Snookums]

Quote

He is the one in this whole stupid love triangle that's acted like an adult. He doesn't owe Lee anything.

Gotta agree. I usually refer to him as Jim Gordon, The Dummy but Lee's constant insistence on closure closure CLOOOOOOOSSSSUUUUUUURE no wait let's open this door again is super, uber tiresome. And even if Mario Kart wasn't infected it would be unfair to marry him if you're so busy telling your ex it's over that you can barely focus on your own wedding.  

Instead, I shall reserve the Dummy Designation for his terrible one handed shooting into a crowd at the equally terrible "assassins" who apparently couldn't just shoot their target but instead rode heavy motorcycle into a tiny, hard to maneuver in closed space while attempting to stab him with a knife. I guess after the weapons grade car bomber who was clearly instructed to leave nothing but ashes failed the string-puller just said hell with it, stab him in the dumbest way possible, who even cares.

Ed somehow deciding that Butch was behind Isabella's death made no sense. None. Butch didn't care about her, didn't care about Ed, wasn't working for anybody, and was actively in hiding (albeit very badly. DON'T HAVE FOOD DELIVERED TO YOUR HIDEOUT AND STIFF THE DELIVERY GUY. Rule number one!) That whole thing was just to set up the whole "war" bullshit. There was no reason for Ed to even think of Butch, let alone go off to buy sexy restraints and make a tiny hand chopper. Ridiculous.

But Barbara made it all worth it! She was so great, once she has a mission she can focus like nobody's business. And man, the guy who played the clerk was the luckiest day player in the history of TV! That scene and her "Okay, we've gotta revisit that later" when she hears about Penguin's feelings made me laugh until I cried.

I am pretty exhausted tracing the vagaries of the whole Court of Owls Mystery Factioning crap but it's worth it to watch Bruce and Selena be un!comfortable! about saying they're an item. And I think the actress playing Ivy is doing a terrific job of playing a woman in her twenties who literally has the mind of a semi feral child. "One Thousand Dollars!"

[thuganomics85]

Mario's infected with Alice's blood?  Hmm... as mentioned above, I guess that could be why he had that bandaid, after he was treating Gordon in the hospital.  I guess this was Tetch's doing?  Either way, this can't be good.  And what part does he play in whatever the Court of Owls are planning?

Any episode featuring plenty of Carmine Falcone is good in my book.  John Doman can do so much with so little, so when he gets actual material to work with, the show really benefits from it.

Nygma finally figures out that Butch didn't kill Isabella, although Tabitha had to loose her hand for him to finally do so (although, I guess she might get it reattached?)  He's still in the dark, but Barbara hilariously has put two and two together, and knows it is Oswald.  I can't wait to see what she does with this information!  Oswald won't be expecting this at all.

Bullock is Acting Captain again!  Yay, Bullock!  Even if he's apparently destroying your stomach!

I'm really starting to think that Gordon could actually do better then Lee, which I never would have predicted.  But she really has become kind of unlikable this season so far.

The Bruce/Selina/Ivy stuff was a waste.  Ivy really is the biggest moron in Gotham.

[NutmegsDad]

"We've secretly switched Ed Nygma and his riddles with Jervis Tetch and his Hobson's Choices. Let's see if people noticed."

We noticed.

[Enigma X]

While most people seem to either hate the Bruce/Cat/Ivy or the Gordon/Lee/Mario stuff, I hate the Nygma/Penguin stuff. I find both characters annoying.

Although I like Bruce and Cat, the Court of Owls stuff seems to be going into that annoying Nygma/Penguin hammy territory for me.

More Barbara, Butch, and Tabitha for me.

[HoodlumSheep]

8 hours ago, Enigma X said:

While most people seem to either hate the Bruce/Cat/Ivy or the Gordon/Lee/Mario stuff, I hate the Nygma/Penguin stuff. I find both characters annoying.

I've gotten tired of the Ed/Penguin stuff too. I just feel like their storyline is in it's own bubble. Especially Penguin's part, because 99.9% of his interactions and scenes are with Ed now (and mainly just with Ed). I just miss seeing him interacting with the rest of the cast. I feel like his mayor plotline did more damage than good because it isolated him from the rest of the cast and most of his mayor stuff ends in disaster (like the butch and Tetch fiascos).

ed has more freedom in interacting with the cast (being penguin's middleman basically). 

You'd think you'd see Penguin interacting with the gcpd more with all the crazy nonsense that is going on more. I miss the Jim/penguin interactions.

[paigow]

The Owls are not behaving rationally...Antagonizing Don Falcone with no explanation is folly.

Owls wanted to kill Mario because:

1. He was helping the Whisper Gang
2. He is infected
3. 1 & 2
4. None of the above

[Chaos Theory]

5 hours ago, paigow said:

The Owls are not behaving rationally...Antagonizing Don Falcone with no explanation is folly.

Owls wanted to kill Mario because:

1. He was helping the Whisper Gang
2. He is infected
3. 1 & 2
4. None of the above

The Owls reek too much of evil villians who evil.  At least with most of the other villians their rationale had some twisted logic to it.  The Owls only logic is power and I have never particularly cared for that kind of villain.

[Kathemy]

http://www.douxreviews.com/2016/11/gotham-time-bomb.html

[Gobi]

Was it my imagination, or when Barbara was in the hospital telling Butch she knew who killed Isabella, did Butch see Penguin walking up behind her?

[Proteus]

Barbara is the only saving grace on this show for me.

I hate Butch and Tabitha together. It's too bad Tabitha is being wasted on Butch and this so called great BabsandTabs relationship that the show promotes so much only exists offscreen.

Oh look. Gotham kills off another interesting character way too fast.

Love Ivy so far but I'm sure she'll be wasted as well.

[TobinAlbers]

The Whisper Gang leader was a bit too talky all things considered. Still, I liked the actor. So of course the character was offed.

The assassins coming after Mario with a machete was hilarious.

Beautiful Cameo brooch doubling as a murder weapon. Only in Gotham.

Dang, Butch loves him some Tabitha.

Lee went from Jim to a mafia don's son and considered that an improvement? Jim's issues aside, that's just dumb. She went from Jim's obsession with Gotham to a man who will ALWAYS have a target on his back because he's the son of a 'retired' don.  AND he's crossed with the Court of Owls?  I agree, Lee went from a breath of fresh air in S1B to a drag this season. And I adored Lee but the writing did her a disservice. I think her arc would've been better served as an old medical school friend to Thomas Wayne who moved to Gotham and wanted to check up on his son. She gets involved with Bruce and Alfred's sleuthing because she also wants to find the truth behind what happened to her old friend and if we had to have a romance, it would've been an Alfred/Lee romance with Bruce getting an unexpected parental unit out of the two. It'd be an interesting situation for Alfred because how many opportunities would he have for love if he's always tending to Master Bruce? His finding love at this stage of his life and balancing it with his duty to Bruce would be a decent story. Having 'new parents' that are threatened by the CoO would be a reasonable explanation for Bruce backing down if they're threatened. We'd have also gotten some Lee and Selena scenes.

Wonder if Mario was dosed with Alice's blood as part of an experiment the CoO is doing with a refining of Talon training? Increased strength and stamina seems like something they'd be interested in. 

"If my son is dead, winning won't be the point." Falcone is giving the CoO fair warning. But it was interesting his uncertainty and fear when he asked 'What aren't you telling me?'

[jhlipton]

On 11/22/2016 at 6:21 AM, Blackcanary said:

I have thoughts about them seemingly just splitting up whatever Babs and Tabs had going offscreen, in favour of getting Tabitha back together with Butch. I say thoughts, it's more of an expletive-strewn torrent of ranting. I will spare you all.

I like Babs and Tabatha but I also like Butch and Tabatha.  He cares about her as a person like no one else, including Barbara.

[Miss Dee]

I'm personally expecting a polyamorous relationship between Babs, Tabs and Butch. Bonus points if Harvey finds out and waxes eloquently on the likelihood of two hot women in such a relationship with Butch.

[jhlipton]

On 1/1/2017 at 0:00 PM, Miss Dee said:

I'm personally expecting a polyamorous relationship between Babs, Tabs and Butch. Bonus points if Harvey finds out and waxes eloquently on the likelihood of two hot women in such a relationship with Butch.

If Harvey joins them, I would be done!  Pardon me -- I'll be in my bunk!