Like, that end credits theme is so my shit? But then I think every show and movie would be improved with 90s R&B playing it out so shrug
So can we just let Danny Cannon and John Stephens take care of the rest of the season? Please? Pretty please? Oh, who am I kidding.
Anyways, great start! While I have some reservations about Crane and the fear gas being the new season-wide macguffin after the Tetch Virus (a plot device that became redundant after two episodes), that's my only major hangup. This is probably the most engaged I've felt during an episode since The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, and a lot of that has to do with the overall return to basing the plot around organized crime, the framework that defined season 1 (and still makes it my favorite). The Penguin licenses provide not only ample opportunity for Bruce to get his foot in the door early on, but also a reignition of the criminals' power dynamics. Time will tell if they become a bit overcomplicated and, like the aforementioned Tetch Virus, become too tightly entangled in the plot that they become an overreliance, but it's undoubtedly an intriguing idea. Here's hoping the emphasis placed on the morally grey GCPD precinct also allows for a return to season 1's theatrical police procedural elements.
Bruce himself donning the hood felt a lot less forced than I had thought it might be, and his transition to straight-up taking down multiple goons feels totally natural with the progression he made in season 3. What I really enjoy though is Mazouz successfully adapting to this new level of maturity without any awkwardness from his age, and honestly, if he ends up donning the cowl by the end of the season, I wouldn't be surprised in the least, and frankly, would invite the prospect. Both he and Bruce have come a long way and are only getting better.
Gordon and Penguin's revamped rivalry is equally interesting (another echo from season 1, in addition to Gordon once again being the lone wolf as far as clean cops go), though with Penguin's new post, personally I think it would've been more appropriate to have him exit the episode looking more dominant, but this will probably be developed on next week.
Cannon's direction also kept things stylistically entertaining throughout, providing some great, menacing performances as well as some memorable, often quite funny line reads across the board, not to mention the series' now-trademark lighting and cinematography being as dynamic and colourful as ever.
I doubt this'll all last long before we begin descending into tone-killing, aimless, fantastical sci-fi bullshit once again, but right now, this season has started on the highest note it possibly could after the hot garbage that was the previous.
I mean, I've made it this far, so might as well keep up with it. But for the entirety of the third season I was constantly on the verge of dropping it, and more-or-less continued out of a mix of bile fascination and habit.
Ivy being aged up was the first time I felt truly irked by how utterly desperate it's been getting to fast-forward to the more ostensibly Batman-ish material, when in reality the most likable aspect of the show was its initial desire to exist in its own little world and approach all these characters from more subversive angles. Also, the transition from a procedural about gang warefare and a corrupt precinct with a theatrical twist to DUDE FREEZE RAYS, NUCLEAR BOMBS AND SUPERPOWERED BLOOD VIRUSES LMAO could not have been more jarring; like, I get that they sort of tried to segue from more realistic crime scenarios to all the zany shit by using Galavan's cult as an intermediary of sorts, but it still feels like too short a space of time to gradually build towards it. This is in addition to the myriad of other writing mishaps that I could probably spend all day on, but it's best just to amount it to all of the writers having majorly limited contact with each other and a general feeling of writing-on-the-fly (I can't be the only one who thinks something like the Tetch Virus reads as a one-off for like two episodes or something, not a plot device you build an entire season around and comes completely out of nowhere)
I'd be more optimistic about Bruce going full-on caped crusader as adding a different spin to things, but then this is a show that's been throwing different spins and twists every other ten minutes in the hopes that it'll distract people from how aimless it all is, so I doubt much will change in that regard.
God I miss forensic scientist Ed
