Gotham Episode Review: "Harvey Dent"

Guest stars include Al Sapienza and Leslie Odom, Jr.

This episode had a lot of things going on at once and, normally, I would complain about that (it’s usually better to keep things simple). However, in this particular case, it really worked.

First of all, I love D’Agosto’s portrayal of the future Two-Face, Harvey Dent. When the show first introduced him, I thought he seemed to be a little too normal for the role and was actually temporarily put off by his boy scout-like personality. Then, out of the blue, he snapped a bit and made some pretty sinister comments to his prime suspect, Dick Lovecraft (Sapienza), before snapping back into his previously charming personality and I realized there was real potential for him in the future.

I also thought the writers’ decision to have Kyle live with Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) was an interesting one. I’m still not sure what exactly will happen between the two of them (he obviously has a crush on her but I doubt it is mutual) but I like how she manages to bring out a completely different aspect of his otherwise overly serious personality. It’ll also be interesting to see if there are aspects of this early relationship that will show up when he becomes Batman and she becomes Catwoman.

I thought the story with the bomb maker (Odem, Jr) was cut a little short in this episode and kind of lacked something in general as far as suspense goes, especially when it became clear, early on, that he was being forced to make bombs against his will. Once the episode revealed why he was freed from prison and who he was going to target, it was pretty obvious who was pulling the strings. In fact, I think the very abrupt storyline with Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) figuring out Liza’s (Mackenzie Leah) motives was much more intriguing and can only wonder how he’ll use that information to his advantage.

My only real complaint about this episode, however, had to be the scene at the very end with Barbara and Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) naked in bed with their lips locked together. While, admittedly hot, it did seem a bit like a desperate attempt for ratings, especially since there were plenty of milder ways to show they were back together (something I’m sure will be a major factor in later episodes).

As I said, there were a lot of things going on at once. But, even though the part about the bomber was cut a little shorter than it probably should have been, the overall episode managed to be easy to follow and set up quite a few potential storylines for future episodes. As I result, I did like this one.

My Grade: B