Gotham Review: Five Standout Moments From A Legion Of Horribles
Warning: spoilers ahead for A Legion Of Horribles
Oh man do I have a hard job this week, I have to choose just five moments from this episode that stood out the most and with an episode this packed with important scenes it’s going to be difficult to pick but I will do my best for you guys. A Legion Of Horribles is the second to last episode of the season and quite a lot happens in this episode as we gear up for the season finale next week.
Next: #1:....The Court Of Owls Is Revealed?
Standout Moment No. 1: The Court Of Owls Is Revealed?
Right before the opening credits, just after Bruce finds Gordon at the G.C.P.D. to tell him that Strange has Selina Kyle, we see an unidentified woman with white hair watching Harvey Bullock’s statement to the press about Azrael’s death. We never see her face as she picks up her phone and calls an unknown person to tell them that Strange is losing control and that they must gather the court. This is in all likely hood the Court of Owls, they are not named as such outright but she calls them ‘the court’ and she has what looks very much like a Court of Owls mask sitting next to her telephone.
For those of you who may not know, the Court of Owls is a very secret underground group that has existed since the founding of Gotham as a city. They work in shadow and rule the city without anyone outside of their organization being any the wiser. Batman has run afoul of them in recent comic book history and if you want to know more about them I recommend you read the graphic novels Court of Owls and City of Owls. This moment is important because it means that the creators of Gotham are establishing very early in Bruce’s life that the Court secretly rules Gotham, which would help continuity later down the line when he must deal with them as Batman.
Next: #2:....The Introduction Of Clayface
Standout Moment No. 2: The Introduction Of Clayface
Just after the opening credits we see Hugo Strange reviving another of his dead test subjects. The man in question is one Bassil Karlo, the first person to use the name Clayface. We see a hint right away that Strange has turned Bassil into Clayface as the newly resurrected man pulls on the skin of his face (see the photo above). Much later in the episode when Strange has Gordon and the others held captive we get definitive proof that he is in fact Clayface when Strange uses a gadget most likely of his own invention to change Karlo face to match James Gordon’s.
Clayface is quite the iconic Batman villain and his introduction on Gotham is just as important a moment as that of any other Batman villain on the show, like Mr. Freeze or Harvey Dent who will one day be the villain Two Face. This is also I believe the first time we have ever seen Clayface portrayed in anything live action, much as this is the first time anyone has taken on the roll of Harvey Bullock, making it even more important in some ways than the other villains on the show who have been portrayed in live action before. I find myself curious to see how long it takes before Clayface no longer needs the help of Strange’s device to take on another’s appearance. It is possible that Karlo will always need it but that the second Clayface will learn to change without it.
Next: #3:....Strange Resurrects Fish Mooney
Standout Moment No. 3: Strange Resurrects Fish Mooney
Among the other bodies Hugo Strange has gotten his hands on, like Theo Galavan and probably Jerome Valeska as well, is the body of Fish Mooney. I have been hoping from the moment she died that they would be bringing her back on the show so I was very excited for this episode. Strange has been altering the DNA of his test subjects, splicing in genetic material of various creatures to see what might result when he brings them back to life and with Fish not only did he splice her genes with cuttlefish DNA but he also increased the voltage to her cortex to 200% to speed up her resurrection time. Strange later suspects that this increase could have been the reason that Fish alone came back to life with all her memories and personality intact, though he says it could also have been the cuttlefish DNA or some chemical in the foul river her body was fished out of. I absolutely love Fish’s reawakening because when Strange tries to give her the new persona as a goddess of war known as Andraste she tells him no she is Fish Mooney and when he asks her to repeat herself she says ” I said my name is Fish Mooney, bitch, and you had better tell me what the hell is going on.” I think I was just as excited by this as Strange himself was, I have really enjoyed every moment of Fish Mooney on Gotham!
This scene stood out to me as an important moment because for one thing I love Fish Mooney and am very excited to see her return as I’m sure are many fans of the show and also because Fish is Strange’s first true success when it comes to bringing someone back from the dead. The whole point of his experiments, which have been ordered by what I think is the court of owls, is to truly resurrect someone with all their memories and personality intact. This is bad news for our heroes since it means that instead of the court shutting Strange down they will be pushing him to go further and replicate his success with Fish. It’s also bad news for our heroes because the badass that is Fish Mooney now has strange new powers to compel people to do her bidding and Fish is no upstanding citizen of Gotham.
Next: #4:....Bruce, Lucius And Gordon Go To Rescue Selina
Standout Moment No. 4: Bruce, Lucius And Gordon Go To Rescue Selina
Bruce and company meet at Wayne Manor to brainstorm a plan for rescuing Selina Kyle from the secret facility they suspect is hidden under Arkham Asylum. Lucius, being a scientist comes up with the idea of locating the entrance to Indian Hill with his miniature Geiger counter, suspecting that Strange must be using radioactive isotopes to alter cell structure in his dead test subjects that he reanimates. He and Bruce go to Arkham asking for a tour of the facility as one of the biggest contributors to Arkham’s funding and Gordon is hidden in the trunk of Fox’s car to get through the gate. Once inside Gordon uses his old Arkham guard uniform and badge to get inside while Bruce has a talk with Strange and Fox tours the asylum with Mrs. Peabody.
This is actually two scenes separated by other content in the episode but as it is all part of the same story line I felt like it made the most sense to talk about both the planning and the execution of the plan in one slide. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that Strange is prepared for them and swiftly captures all three of his visitors with little fuss, Hugo was likely expecting them to try something like this as some point and I bet he even has some knowledge of Bruce’s relationship with Selina and suspected that the boy and Gordon would want to rescue her. This moment is important because it sets our characters up for Clayface taking on Gordon’s appearance and for our final standout moment when Nygma has Bruce and Lucius trapped and facing what should be certain death.
Next: #1:....Bruce And Lucius In The First Riddler Death Trap
Standout Moment No. 5: Bruce And Lucius In The First Riddler Death Trap
When Professor Strange snatches up Gordon and company he gives Edward Nygma a chance to prove his usefulness to Strange and tasks him with extracting information from Bruce and Lucius as Strange needs to know exactly how much they know about Indian Hill, his experiments there and his involvement in the Wayne murders. I’m guessing that locking them in what seems to be Arkham’s gas chamber for executions and giving them five minutes to reveal all or they die was Nygma’s idea and not Strange’s as Strange likely would have done something a little less dramatic to get information out of Bruce. This scene is very reminiscent of many a comic book scenario where the Riddler has Batman in some crazy complicated trap of his own making designed to test Batman’s wits or kill him. Our Caped Crusades editor and I suspect that Bruce will either find some secret way out of the room he and Lucius are locked in or more likely stump Nygma with a riddle and trick the man into letting them out without killing them.
This moment therefore stood out to us as important as it is the first time that Bruce has had to face a very familiar scenario in which one of Batman’s villains has him in a complicated death trap and he must make a very daring and convoluted escape! I’m sure that I am not the only Batman fan watching this show who gets excited every time we see young David Mazouz’s Bruce Wayne showing signs of the iconic hero he is destined to become!
Okay folks there is only one episode left this season so you know it’s going to be big! You’ll want to follow us on Twitter so you can live tweet the season finale with us next week! And then be ready for my final episode review of the season later that week!