Caped Crusades Review for Gotham Episode ‘The Balloonman’
It’s Tuesday, which means it is time to review another episode of the Batman prequel series Gotham! Last night’s episode was titled ‘The Balloonman’ and it was interesting to say the least. Once again I must caution my readers that this review will contain spoilers for the episode, please keep that in mind if you have not already seen the episode.
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‘The Balloonman’ focuses on Gotham’s first vigilante, a man that the media have dubbed ‘Balloonman’ because he kills his victims by handcuffing them to a weather balloon. And here is where I have my first major issue with this series. I believe he was meant to be Gotham’s answer to Professor Pyg, as in his first scene he is wearing a pig mask much like he professor’s, though if it was him I would have expected to see his minion Mister Toad as well. Admittedly my issues with this character have nothing to do with whether or not he was Professor Pyg, but with his method of murder. According to the FAQ section on the StratoStar weather balloon website stratostar.net, a single weather balloon can lift about 12 pounds.
"In the United States, regulations permit flights carrying up to 12 lbs (5.4 kg) total payload, not including the weight of the balloon itself. This weight must be divided into separate payload packages no more than 6 lb (2.7 kg) in weight. Since payload can experience violent turbulence in the jet stream, StratoStar has designed lightweight, rugged payload packages that resist damage and ensure the safe return of any equipment used in a flight."
I know it is possible to use weather balloons to lift a full grown man into the air, in fact in 1982 Larry Walters, also known as Lawn Chair Larry, attached 42 weather balloons to a lawn chair and took flight, but it was extremely dangerous and earned him a mention in the Darwin Awards as an At-Risk Survivor. Please do not try this at home as it is illegal and could get you killed.
As weather balloons can only lift 12 pounds you would need a cluster of ten balloons in order to lift a man of 120 pounds, making it impractical as a means of murder, and also making the balloonman attacks on Gotham extremely ridiculous and far fetched. I was also sorely disappointed in the way Gotham chose to let its viewers know that the victims would be dropping back out of the sky. The Balloonman bought his weather balloons from a man who stole them from his work, who was then interrogated by Bullock and Gordon, who apparently don’t understand how gravity works, as the thief has to explain to them that the bodies will be returning to earth after the balloons reach a high enough altitude and pop.
What’s worse is that when Bullock and Gordon finally corner the vigilante, Bullock hand cuffs the perp to the final balloon and it starts to take off. In reaction, Gordon grabs the mans legs and the balloon starts to left them both until he begs Bullock to shoot the balloon. I take issue with this scene as it is impossible for a single weather balloon to even lift one man let alone two!
I thought the character development and other aspects of the story were quite good, but this nonsense with the balloons was jarring and made it hard to enjoy the episode as I had the first two. My recommendation to the creative team of Gotham is that they stay within the realm of physics and research whether stunts like this one are possible before including them in the show.
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