Gotham “The Blade’s Path”

OK, so one thing I was concerned about turned out worse than I thought, something else turned out better, and I have no idea what Sofia Falcone is doing.

Yeah, whatever Sofia is doing, it involves having Oswald out to dinner to eat goulash just like his mother used to make.  Um, OK?  Is that supposed to knock him off guard?  Cause emotional confusion?  What?  Help me out!

Wait, I’ll find out later.  This is Gotham.  While there is a good chance it will be as ridiculous as all get out, there will always be an explanation for whatever nutty thing they’re doing.

So, let’s look at what I did like first as I did not expect it to.  Having Butch come back as, well, Solomon Grundy seems like an odd thing to do.  Butch, friendliest mobster in Gotham, was somehow only in a coma after taking a bullet to the head.  And I don’t mean it grazed him.  Dead center of his forehead.  That sort of thing doesn’t usually cause a coma, but it seems that thanks to a full hospital, he’s getting dumped in a nearby swamp next to some chemicals, the likes of which heal him.  Sort of.  Mostly.

Now he’s pure white and speaks in broken English, taking his new name from a nursery rhyme he overheard after attacking some campers.  Though, to be fair, it was sort of self-defense, and he’s a lot stronger now.  Why do campers listen to nursery rhymes on old vinyls?  I don’t know.  It’s campy, and Gotham is nothing without the camp.  Point is, Grundy finds Ed Nygma and has a vague memory of him.  Ed is so messed up in the head that he can’t even effectively rob a drug store as the pharmacist tricks him rather easily, and unfortunately, Grundy remembers Ed just enough to decide they are friends and not let him go.  That comes out even after those campers show up with friends to try taking Grundy down again, and that is a terrible idea.  Seeing Grundy in action gives Ed an idea:  if he can raise enough money using Grundy’s strength to his advantage, he can become smart again, and then he says he can help Grundy remember his old life.

OK, as this show goes, that isn’t bad.  I was even impressed how good Grundy looks considering they literally just painted the actor white and slapped a wig on his head.

Then there’s the other angle, the Ra’s storyline.  He’s got diplomatic immunity, because of course he does, and that means Bruce really wants to kill Ra’s for the murder of that kid in the previous episode.  Bruce has that knife, so why not use it?  Sure, Gordon and Alfred will follow Bruce to Blackgate, and this show has just enough continuity for Gordon to remember he used to be locked up in there himself and that the guards are all kinda new.  That part is fine.  Heck, for once I liked something Gordon did enough to give the show credit for it.  It’s where Ra’s taunts Bruce into using that blade whereby Ra’s turns into dust and that’s it that I have a problem.

Do I believe, for a moment, that Ra’s is dead and gone?  Of course not.  The actor is too recognizable and the bad guy too big to die this early in the season.  Later?  Sure, maybe.  But not now.  So, somehow, I am betting Ra’s comes back from that.  And the fact the show would even pretend to kill him this way bugs the hell out of me.

But never mind all that.  Ed takes Grundy to an underground wrestling ring to make some money, and the doctor on hand is…Lee?

The hell?  How does something like that happen?

Oh yeah.  This is Gotham.