Gotham: The Executioner review Season 3, Episode 9
The Executioner proved Gotham is all the better for not going the slow and steady route with hot story lines. While earlier in the series’ run, the main arc would have played out over the course of 8-10 episodes, Gotham’s more economical approach wrapped things up in just two. At some point that speedy approach could prove detrimental, but so far it’s worked in keeping the show far more unpredictable and exciting.
It definitely seemed like the whole Barnes pulling double duty as the GCPD’s top cop and Gotham’s executioner could have gone on a bit longer. But ultimately, it was for the best that this episode featured Gordon confronting and ultimately taking down his former mentor/boss. Too often Gotham has gone the incorrect route of making character look silly to extend a story line.
This time, Gordon knew things weren’t on the up and up with Barnes and almost immediately started investigating. That played out even better by having Barnes subtly feel Gordon out to determine if he’d join him over on the Dark Side. Michael Chiklis eating up the opportunity to chew up the scenery is never a bad thing. With Barnes safely locked up in Arkham Asylum, hopefully that leaves the door open for Chiklis to return as The Executioner again.
Just as important was Gordon solidified his partnership with Bullock and re-established at least a working relationship with Lee. That’s bad news for Mario Falcone as Lee already seems to be having second thoughts regarding her engagement.
Ivy’s all grown up subplot wasn’t really doing much for me. She was always just another random oddball character that occasionally popped up around Selina. It’s made her adult petty thief arc dull even with the hottie makeover. Pairing her in a new mystery with Bruce and Selina and some crossbow wielding assassins was a smart move that suddenly makes Ivy a hundred times more interesting. Maggie Geha hasn’t had a lot to do with Ivy early on, but she played the whole Big dynamic of a child in an adult body perfectly.
Despite my hopes from last week, Isabella is dead. There seemed to be more possibilities with the Ed/Isabella/Oswald love triangle than killing her off so soon. Fortunately, Ed discovers her brake lines were cut and has a prime suspect in mind. While Butch is a reasonable patsy, it seems very un-Ed like for him to miss Oswald’s motives for killing her off.
With its big showdown with Gordon and Barnes along with actual progress on the Oswald/Ed subplot and a new subplot for Bruce and Selina, The Executioner was another highly entertaining episode.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Photo Credit: Jeff Neumann/FOX