Gotham ‘By Fire’ Review

Gotham is getting brutal. Serious things are happening and I was not expecting this show to take a turn for dark and demented, but boy was I wrong. There is a huge dedication to character development, and I can tell already that this long game is going to pay off in the end. The writers are masterfully molding different intertwining storylines that are a pure joy to watch.

Where to even begin? I guess we'll start with Bridgit Pike (Michelle Veintimilla), or the first ever female Firefly. I can't tell you how ridiculously awesome/heartbreaking this character is. A physically and mentally abused street rat who is forced into crime by her brothers, who are working for Penguin. She wields a fireproof suit, a flamethrower, and a flare for vigilante justice. In a planned fire, she accidentally kills one of the members of the strike force. She now has Gotham PD all over.  I enjoy that Bridgit is a childhood friend of Selina Kyle's. It plays in for a nice dynamic as they rob underground degenerates for money to help Bridgit to escape her abusive brothers. Sticking true to the Firefly origin story, in a failed escape plan from the police, she becomes engulfed in flames and is presumed dead. It isn't until the end of the episode that we discover that she is in fact, alive. Well, sort of. Her suit has been burned on to her skin and she is now essentially fireproof and being held underground in a Wayne Industries building for further testing. The creation of this character is significant because she shares similar tendencies to her predecessor, Garfield Lynns. They both had an abusive childhood which led to their lash out of pyromania. However, classically Lynns was a visual effects specialist working on movies in Gotham.

In meeting Bridgit we discover a humane side to Selina Kyle. Selina bends over backwards (haha) to help Bridgit. The two rob a sex ring operation by using Selina's knack for breaking and entering and Bridgit's flamethrower. When Bridgit kills a cop, Selina calls in a favor from James Gordon forcing him to promise that once captured, Bridgit would be fine. However, when this falls through we can almost be certain Selina won't be doing favors for Gordon any time soon.

Bruce and Alfred are still in a training. During a boxing match Alfred clocks Bruce in the face and he gets right back up to go at it again. Bruce is invited to dinner with the Galavan's and Silver. He's completely smitten and it is fifty shades of dangerous.

Penguin is losing his ever-loving mind. Don't judge him though, you would too if your mother was being held hostage and all of your money was taken. He decides to send his henchmen to infiltrate the Galavan's inner ranks so they can find his mother. After discovering that the Galavan's were once a prominent family in the city who were forced to change their name, it becomes clear that their end goal is to take back what is theirs. The only way to do that is by crumbling the Wayne empire, including killing Bruce. In the process of their defeat in previous decades, a cursed knife was used to chop off the arm of the Galavan's ancestor…. And we got to see it. It was brutal. Way more brutal than I was expecting. Taking a page from history in attempt to convince Theo that Penguin has let Butch go, the waddled cuts of his lackeys hand with a meat cleaver. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? People are being set on fire and their hands are getting cut off left and right.  Theo sees through this charade pretty fast, and decides to reverse brainwash Butch. Huntress and Barbara also decide to put a steel mallet on his stump. I call that a good use of a bad situation.  He then returns to Penguin and plays the two way street. Ladies and gentleman, we have a double agent.

Edward Nygma decides it's appropriate to tell Ms. Kringle that he killed her ex cop boyfriend immediately post colitis. Talk about timing, Ed. She naturally freaks out and tries to run. Nygma put his hands around her throat begging her to stay and promising that he'll never hurt her…. As he mutters the words she falls to the floor dead. I kind of adore that there is no more attachment to Edwards mind and body, it's a lucid and graceful descent into his future and it is a blast to watch.

Okay so here's what we know.

-There is a blood war going on between Penguin and Theo Galavan and it's about to get ugly.

-Theo is using his ward, Silver St. Cloud to lure Bruce into a trap.

-Wayne industries has a testing facility where there are future villains ripe for the picking.

-The little heart Selina Kyle had is now shattered and she's going to return to being a selfish street cat.

-Nygma is about two steps away from going full-blown Riddler.

-We haven't seen the last of Firefly.

And as extension: Ms. Kringle, we will miss you. Or more so we'll miss Nygma's obsession with you. Rest in peace.