Gotham: Smile Like You Mean It Review

Leonard Marciano Leonard Marciano
Contributor
January 30th, 2017


Reviewed by:
Rating:
5
On January 30, 2017
Last modified:January 30, 2017

Summary:

This episode really delivered with the return of Jerome. Paying homage to every Joker imaginable from the movies, video games, cartoons, and comics was like watching a best of hit. This episode also did a great job in showing the progress Bruce has made as he has an encounter with Jerome in a circus no less!


Reviewed by:
Rating:

5
On January 30, 2017
Last modified:January 30, 2017

Summary:

This episode really delivered with the return of Jerome. Paying homage to every Joker imaginable from the movies, video games, cartoons, and comics was like watching a best of hit. This episode also did a great job in showing the progress Bruce has made as he has an encounter with Jerome in a circus no less!

He's baaaaaaaaack! We are reviewing this episode of Gotham, which features the return of Jerome! 

Gotham: Smile Like You Mean It Review

Like the past few episodes this season we are treated to three storylines. The first and main one is the return of Jerome. The second is Bruce helping Selina's mother with her problem. The third is Nygma's revengedetta against Penguin.

This weeks episode opens with the leader of the Cult of Jerome, Dwight leading a break in to retrieve Jerome's body. We see two security guards try to stop him when one of them turns on the other and kills him revealing themselves to be part of the cult. In the opening scenes we see a lot of Joker motifs like the blood on the joker card and the infamous HAHAHA! graffiti. When the police arrives we learn that the government shipped all of this evidence from their investigation back to this facility owned by Wayne Enterprise. As the episode continues we see Dwight attempting to resurrect Jerome in a Dr. Frakenstein's monster fashion. He is unsuccessful in his attempts and is alerted by a contact inside of the GCPD that they know of his location and are coming for him. One of the followers tries troubleshooting with Dwight and gets electrocuted for his trouble, but not before Dwight takes his advise and takes Jerome's face for the followers to see. This scene was done great as it pays homage to Scot Snyder's Batman:Death of the Family where the Joker has his face removed. Later on we see Gordon and Bullock try good cop and bad cop until they finally lose their patience and start beating up on the mole. Lee then comes in and injects the mole with Sodium Pentathol (truth serum) so that they can get the location of Dwight and the Cult.

Smile Jerome
Credit: Fox

We then see Lee return to her office only to be greeted by Jerome in full bandages on his face. Jerome's faceless demeanor was a great choice to go with storywise as it really emphasized that his face is no longer his and has spread to Gotham. In a very meta moment Dwight has Lee recap to him everything that has happened since he's been dead. This scene was probably the best of the episode as Cameron's Monaghan's performance was straight out of the comics. He did a great job at capturing both the speech and movement one would expect from the Joker based on the comics. Gordon and Bullock talk to Dwight who has seized a new station to broadcast his message of the "Awakening," as he put it. Gordon and Bullock along with the GCPD easily storm the new station via an air vent and capture Dwight. Meanwhile in the aftermath Jerome manages to kidnap Dwight and reclaim his face in an evidence bag. In the final scenes Jerome manages to broadcast a manage to his followers before blowing up Dwight in a power plant across the river.

Bruce catches Selina's foot
Credit: Fox

Cole meets with Bruce and we find out that Selina's mother Maria caused Cole to lose income by not completing a job. They later discuss how to proceed as Selina doesn't think it's a good idea to keep paying the hush money as Cole will keep asking for more. Selina follows her mother back to Cole's motel room and finds out it was all a grift. She tells her to never come back and that she is done with her. Selina then confronts Bruce and asks if he knew. Bruce responds that he wasn't sure, but he suspected that she was their for ulterior motives. Bruce also tried to explain to Selina that he did it to try and spare her feelings. Selina tried fighting Bruce, but he managed to duck and block every shot she threw at him. This scene was done exceptionally well as even though they are both young teenagers it really captured their relationship. David Mazouz also did a great job at portraying Bruce's stoic nature even in a moment with his most loved ones.

Penguin seeks revenge
Credit: Fox

In the third storyline Oswald is awoken by Barbara who advises him of the disarray his criminal empire is currently in. Upon her advise he goes to a meeting with the Crime Family's where no one shows up. Penguin suspects Barbara is playing him only to receive a call from one of the heads who claims to has Nygma captured. We then learn that Barbara and Tabitha had put Tommy Bones up to it and then killed him. Later on we see the Crime Families under Penguin's control gather at Barbara's bar only to be massacred by Tabitha. Towards the end of the episode Penguin gets a call from Nygma with a location to try and rescue him, but we all know it's a trap.

 

Leonard Marciano is a Contributor to ComiConverse. Follow him on Twitter: @LeonardTLM

Gotham: Smile Like You Mean It

  • 5
This episode really delivered with the return of Jerome. Paying homage to every Joker imaginable from the movies, video games, cartoons, and comics was like watching a best of hit. This episode also did a great job in showing the progress Bruce has made as he has an encounter with Jerome in a circus no less!
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