TV Review: Gotham – Season 1 Episode 9 “Harvey Dent”

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Episode 9: "Harvey Dent"

Synopsis: Trying to close the Wayne murder case, a young Harvey Dent and Gordon team up, much to Mayor James’ chagrin. Meanwhile, Penguin makes contact with Mooney’s secret weapon, Liza.

Recap: The Barbara/Jim Gordon relationship hits a snag as she realizes she is still f*cked up from her encounter with Victor Zsasz a few episodes back and leaves town.  Gordon finds a note in her penthouse apartment while finding a place for the reappeared Selina Kyle to stay.  As she drinks milk, Gordon tells her that place will be Wayne Manor.  To say this series is heavy-handed would be an understatement as the acting alone in this five minute sequence borders on comedy.  Ben McKenzie continues to not know what to do with the character of Jim Gordon when the scene doesn't call from yelling, shooting, or waxing philosophical about the importance of the city.

The interaction between Alfred, Bruce Wayne, and Gordon continues to be both the most interesting and frustrating on the series,  Alfred wants what is best for Bruce, but comes across as a condescending asshole every time he speaks.  Every iteration of Alfred from the comics, animated series, or big screen has always been a fiercely loyal, smart, and resourceful ally to the Wayne family, but this take just has not come together for me yet.  And Bruce is still the whiniest prequel character since Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker.  He switches wildly between boy wonder, Asperger's sufferer, and grieving child, sometimes in the same scene.

Bruce meeting Selina Kyle for the first time (people call her Cat, by the way) teases the first hint at romance for the future enemies and is one of the rare genuine moments on the series so far with both child actors playing their interaction well, but only at their first meeting.  After that, they pair argue about their differing class levels, their parentage, and pretty much everything that makes them different from one another.  This leaves Bruce sounding like someone out of touch with reality and Selina like a character out of a 1940s take on Batman as she drops lines that sound antiquated and wrong for the show.

But, this episode is called "Harvey Dent" so naturally we need to talk about the future Two-Face.  His debut in the series features the attorney asking a street kid to wager going to jail or going back to school for a better life on a coin flip.  Dent explains away that most kids pick heads, a random piece of trivia that sounds completely made up.  Dent, played brilliantly by Aaron Eckhart in THE DARK KNIGHT, here feels like a caricature of himself, even at one point stepping in front of a projector that obscures half his face.

We also learn of another player in the Wayne-Falcone-Moroni conspiracy plot: Dick Lovecraft.  The billionaire magnate could be a reference to comics character Dr. Lovecraft or just a poorly veiled reference to H.P. Lovecraft.  The episode hinges on this additional reveal and the play that Dent is another "white knight" alongside Gordon but where Gordon comes across forced, Dent is even more over the top in his rampant pursuit of justice.  All of this is displayed when Dent offers Lovecraft a deal and makes what could be the most over the top face in TV history.

The "main" case of the week involves an escaped explosives expert from Blackgate Prison.  When Gordon and Bullock interview the convinct's brother, we get a very blatant speech about how he isn't a criminal but rather "sick" and not getting treatment at Blackgate.  This plays directly into the entire Arkham plot being investigated by Gordon and Bruce Wayne.  Edward Nygma's appearance in the episode (along with a forced "riddle" reference) clues the detectives in to find the convicted killer who is being forced to make bombs, eventually revealed to be at the request of Fish Mooney.  We then find the whole motivation is to break into the Gotham Armory, owened by Falcone, with the purpose of stealing the money housed within.

Penguin makes a brief appearance as he investigates Liza, probing for her connection to Fish Mooney's plan to take down Falcone.  His scene doesn't seem to fit well with the rest of the episode and almost feels like an afterthought to keep that subplot fresh despite no connection to the episode overall.  GOTHAM tends to have an issue with consistency, especially when it comes to the balance of the numerous plots taking place concurrently.

The episode wraps with (in order): a foodfight between Bruce and Selina that Alfred finds refreshing and precious, Penguin confronting Liza about knowing her working for Fish and asking her to continue doing so, and the reveal that Arkham Asylum is the new home for the criminally insane, transferred from Blackgate.  We also see Gordon making a call to Barbara, pleading for her to come home.  Barbara is shown naked in bed next to a fire with a glass of wine…in the bed of her former lesbian lover Renee Montoya.  Ugh, really?

Verdict: 4/10 Gotham PD Badges

If there is one thing we are going to have to accept about GOTHAM, it is the fact that the show is going to spend more time shoe-horning in characters from Batman comics rather than telling compelling, original stories.  This marks the second episode named after a character whose screen time amounts to less than a tenth of the episode's duration.  The main plot of the episode feels secondary to the half dozen subplots presented, all of which range from half-cocked, out of place, and even poorly timed.  Both the dialogue falls flat and the introduction of Harvey Dent is rushed.  GOTHAM showed some promise after the first couple of episodes but is now backsliding to the poorly executed pilot.  This could be the weakest episode yet and I sense many are losing patience with the series.

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Next Episode: "LoveCraft" airs November 24th. Following a misstep, Gordon is reassigned to duty at Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile, Selina leads a new friend on a perilous journey through Gotham to evade the assassins after her.