The Blind Fortune Teller.

"Your prime suspects are a clown and an acrobat?" - Captain Essen
"Ain't this one a doozy?" - Harvey

Holy preteen psycho, Batman!

I know I’ve been on the fence with Gotham for a while now. I love it, I hate it, I worship the characters, I rail on the writing. It’s a real teeter-totter for me. And this week we teetered back into the kind of episode that blows me away and makes me question why I ever criticize this show. Was it perfect? No. But the introduction of Jerome (who is almost definitely the Joker) was just so freaking amazing. It overshadowed any of the sillier aspects by far. 

Jim

B+Our favorite detective starts off the night with some crack police work, breaking up a clown fight and then setting a snake loose. This particular snake is apparently part border collie, because it quickly finds its master, Lyla, dead in a covered wagon. “Quick, Lassie! Find Timmy next!”

Jim then embarks on a slightly ridiculous quest to find the killer, which leads him straight to Lyla’s son, Jerome.

Jerome

A+

"Don't come yell at me to do the dishes if you've been BANGING a CLOWN in the NEXT ROOM. Ya know?" - Jerome

Someone charge the defibrillator, I think my heart just stopped. Jerome’s sadistically murderous personality switch was a sight to behold, and I’m still recovering. If this kid isn’t the Joker, then I go on strike. Personally, I was getting more of a Jack Nicholson Joker vibe off of him than a Heath Ledger Joker vibe, and DAMN it worked for him. Give me more!

Penguin

CAt this point, I kind of hope Oswald’s mother gets bumped off as part of his origin story, just so I don’t have to put up with her creepiness anymore. For the most part, Penguin’s nightclub adventures were fifty shades of boring, but the reemergence of robo-Butch could be a nice twist. 

Leslie

A

“Sorry the date went sour.” - Jim  
“Are you kidding? Best date ever! Who gets to see a circus brawl?” - Leslie

I can’t stress enough how much I like Leslie. She’s fun, she’s opinionated, she’s adventurous, and she’s a little pushy. For the most part, she seems kind of perfect, for the audience and for Jim. Which leads me to one really scary conclusion: Leslie might die this season. I sincerely hope not, and comic-canon apparently has her living a great long life, but that’s no guarantee. I just can’t imagine why she would be built up so high if not because the writers are setting her up for a fantastic fall. I hope I’m wrong because Leslie is the freshest thing to come out of this show all year. Prayer circle time, guys.

Fish

BFish gave the Braveheart speech of her life, and I really hope it paid off. Hell, I was almost lining up to stand behind her in that standoff, and I don't even particularly like this subplot. The sewer shenanigans still don’t have any kind of context or explanation, but I’m optimistic that next week’s Dollmaker name drop will shed some light on the subject. And if Fish does in fact make it out of there, she’ll have an army of devoutly loyal thugs at her back. That is how you take over Gotham.

Bruce

A

"My youth is not relevant. Except that if I were a man... I would be sure that Wayne Enterprises was run honestly." - Bruce

Drop the mic, Bruce.

I want to live in a world where a tiny tot like Bruce Wayne can walk into a board meeting and make 14 grown executives collectively shit their pants. Then again, if the kid that owned my company firmly announced that he was going to be taking legal action against all corporate criminal activity, I would probably need a minute to process, too.

Barbara

B-Wow, she spends three episodes off-screen and suddenly Barbara is a totally different person. Sure, she’s still a boozy, insecure mess, who shows more cleavage than brain cells, but at least now she’s entertaining. In a sort of pathetic way. For example, if I relied on 12-year-old girls for fashion advice and then showed up to my ex’s workplace looking like a high-class call girl, I might want to take a step back and reevaluate my life. Not Barbara, though. Something tells me she’ll push on through to the next idiot move. Wait and see.

The Blind Fortune Teller

A-

Overall, this episode was super silly. Acrobats fighting with clowns, blind fortune tellers relaying totally bogus messages from the beyond, and an actual "You are the father" moment. If not for the introduction of the Joker, this whole thing might have been a mess. But introduced he was, and Jerome killed it from start to finish. I'm not sure how I feel about the Joker's origin story starting off raised in the circus life, but I suppose it fits. Especially when you factor in that these people apparently have no regard for the law. They were going to handle the murder as an in-house issue until Jim found the body. Not a great way to teach your kids to respect the laws that govern polite society. 

We're winding down towards the season finale, believe it or not, with only five episodes left to go! And still SO many dangling plot lines! Let me know which ones you want answers to in comments or tweet me at @lindsayjoane. 

Extra Credit

• Wait, wait, wait… flying Grayson's? As in Dick Grayson? ROBIN, WHEREFORE ART THOU?
• That promo for next week looks intense.
• Can you imagine how embarrassed Jim would have been if he’d broken up the clown fight and it had all been part of the act? These are the kinds of things I think about.

Demerits

• Poor Butch. Turned into a dancing monkey. Hopefully Fish comes and rescues you soon.
• Hellfire Club? Was I just not supposed to recognize that name drop?