Gotham season 1 episodes 14 & 15 The Scarecrow arc

FEAR ITSELF

To the people who actually read my television reviews, I bet you wondered where my review for last week's episode of Gotham was. Well when I found out that 14 and 15 were two parts of a singular storyline for the main crime, I decided to save myself the trouble and combine both episodes into one review. When I first heard they were going to do the Scarecrow, i felt as if I should just drop the series. They have brought in all these references to the Batman villains, yet they shouldn't be coming around until 15 years from now when the caped crusader first shows up. That being said, this new origin of the Scarecrow I prefer over most of the other villains that the show had thrown at us.  Maybe its because we never actually seen an origin story to him in any media other than the comics. So was there a reason to FEAR this arc?Yes, I hate myself for that joke, but LETS FIND OUT!

Lets start out with commenting on the villain, Dr. GERALD Crane. See thats where it threw me on its first loop. I was expecting it to be Jonathan as the comics had always made him out to be. When I saw his father starting this line of fear based crime, this creepy character became a little more intriguing to me. The reason Dr.Crane is murdering the people is to take their adrenal gland, or "Fear Gland", at the point of the victim being most afraid. Once he harvests the gland, he intends to take the hormones and make it into a chemical that can make him see his worst fear so he could cure himself of it. This is actually quite a believable way for the fear toxin to exist. I try to think of an explanation of what goes into the fear toxin, and besides the flower in Batman Begins, I don't think there has ver been a straight forward explanation behind it. The only thing that makes this better is the fact that the ACTUAL future Scarecrow is in these episodes and it gives the actual reason behind his fear obsession. Overall, I liked this villain, chalking him down as one of the "That was good" villains like Penguin and the Spirit of the Goat.

Alright now with the praise out of the way towards our villain, lets continue onto the other stories of the week. Dr.Thompkins has begun working as GCPD's Medical examiner, which apparently to Gordon is a cardinal sin to his professionalism. Despite my gropes at how dumb that thought is, I do like the relationship between Gordon and Thompkins a WHOLE lot better than him with Barbara. They have more chemistry, and she is so much more likable and competent than Barbara. When I see them, I don't see Commissioner James Gordon or Dr. Leslie Thompkins. I see a regular couple in the work place, even if that work place is in the craziest comic city of all time.

Unfortunately where I praise Gordon and Thompkins, and the villain stories of the weeks...the rest kind of fell flat. It was tense when the truth came out to Maroni about Penguin in the beginning, but it was tied up so quickly in this week's episode it felt pointless. Fish escaped Gotham, but I realized maybe it was not for the best. I was watching her scenes and they just didn't feel right. She is a mobster, she needs to be in the city going against Falcone and Maroni. Her time in this ring of captive people seems like a different show entirely.

FINAL VERDICT
This story arc was better than most episodes of Gotham and I am okay with it. They not only remade the Scarecrow, but also made it so that his processes were also made clearer. Gordon's relationship with Thompkins is welcomed even if not in most continuity, as they feel more real than he did when he was with Barbara. Unfortunately the arc was dragged through the unnecessary plotlines of Penguin and Fish's predicaments. I hope they can get focus on the crime side as we continue on.

Oh and that demonic scarecrow shall haunt my dreams for a while.

ITS LIKE SLENDERMAN AND SWAMPTHING  HAD A BABY! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

That was my review of the Scarecrow story arc! What did you think? Did you quiver with fear? Leave a comment and i'll see you all next time!