His wrongful killing of a young prisoner of war ultimately led him to come to terms with his human fallibility and to subscribe to a philosophy of undying loyalty to the law as “what separates us from the animals”. After being incapacitated when saving Jim from an assassin’s knife, Barnes reveals some of his motivations, which stem from a memory of his time in combat that haunted him for years. Gordon’s continued insubordination has at least provided a moment of greater depth for Barnes, who until now has been a rather frustratingly stock character, the straight-edged, hard-ass captain hell-bent on strictly upholding the letter of the law. Either of these options would be far more interesting than the tedious monotony of Gordon’s repeated crises of faith that never seem to really propel the increasingly unlikeable character to the new depths they should. How many times must he repeat the cycle before he finally snaps and either goes for full-scale vigilante justice, in true Batman style, or goes off the deep end, turning his interminable righteous anger into a misguided and perhaps even villainous vengeance. Jim has taken his penchant for making stupid decisions and still finding a way to come out on top too far, resulting in the destruction of possible evidence against Galavan (James Frain), a severe injury for Captain Barnes, and the death of yet another “Red Shirt” Strike Force member. Moreover, we’re still waiting to see how things with Lee (Morena Baccarin) resolve, but she seems to be getting as fed up as the viewers are with him. The redundancy of Jim’s story is growing old, especially as his self-destructive tendencies are yet again hurting the people around him who inevitably get caught in the crossfire. That story has already been told, though, many times he has, in fact, crossed “the line” multiple times. The only potentially unifying thread in this week’s web of diverse storylines appears to be the theme of Jim Gordon’s impending breaking point, his readiness and perhaps even willingness to cross the line. “A Bitter Pill to Swallow” unfortunately represents a return to form - a disparate, meandering story - unlike more recent episodes’ clear focus on a single unifying plot. Sure, Parks’s death should motivate Jim with still more of that righteous anger at losing yet another rookie, but the same convention has been used multiple times in past weeks, so why should this one be any different? It doesn’t reveal anything new about Flamingo, whom we already knew was a brutal killer and a cannibal.
#Swamp attack episode 9 series
Her bloody, zombie-attack-style death is perhaps the most notable example of the pervasive violence of the episode, and indeed, of Gotham as a series yet, unlike in previous episodes, it doesn’t seem to have quite as much of a narrative purpose. Parks meets her end at the hands - or teeth, rather - of the new baddie introduced this week, Eduardo Flamingo (Raúl Castillo), a ruthless assassin known for eating his victims. Any Strike Force newbie who gets a name and even a modicum of attention is pretty much doomed at this point. A bond between Gordon and Parks (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) is somewhat hastily formed, as Gordon coaches the newbie through the combat that ensues, supposedly intended to give more emotional impact to her ultimate, and completely unsurprising death. After this first assassin’s failure, the “Lady” (Michelle Gomez, fresh from playing “The Mistress” on Doctor Who) in charge issues a free-for-all, and an onslaught of hired killers descend on Gordon and the team investigating Galavan’s (James Frain) apartment for evidence of his crimes, including Captain Barnes (Michael Chiklis) and yet another fresh-faced Strike Force member. The small-talking piano tuner (Jon Skarloff) turns out to be possibly the most conspicuous hitman ever, but this actually adds to his off-kilter elevator brawl, which juxtaposes skewed angles of the men’s brutal fistfight in a cramped, dingy elevator with the cheery lobby music outside the ornate doors. There are certainly some fun experiments with the visual richness of Gotham City and her underbelly, including a fun opening scene that leads a vengeful Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) to a lavish underground casino where she commissions a hitman to kill Detective Gordon (Ben McKenzie), but “A Bitter Pill to Swallow” ends up being somewhat difficult to swallow itself.
Assassins, cannibals, and all-out brawls intersperse the particularly violent ninth episode of Gotham’s second season, but the grab-bag of characters, settings, and visuals feels somewhat scattered and haphazard.
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