"Gotham is rife with crime. Who better than a criminal to clean it up?" Penguin says to Butch about his candidacy for mayor.
Not sure how that logic works, Penguin. Normally I'd be thrilled with the political satire that "Gotham" is making of this year's presidential race, but I'm so tired of this year's election. (Says the person who checks FiveThirtyEight's election forecast every five seconds.)
What bothers me isn't the heavy-handed commentary "Mad City: Look Into My Eyes" serves. It's how startlingly accurately they portray the state of American politics.
Penguin, fed up with the "incompetent" establishment, rallies a coalition of vocal supporters to challenge the current mayor's seat. Penguin represents the brash candidate with a seedy past whose name I will not utter on this blog. On the other side is Mayor James: the seasoned, albeit corrupt, candidate. You fill in the blanks.
Ordinarily, an unhinged person like Penguin shouldn't be anywhere near a political office. But Gotham is fed up with the status quo, and if he hides his psychotic outbursts, he just might have the chance to take office. That's what makes this episode so terrifying.
"You're an unstable lunatic, Penguin. The people will see right through you." Don't be so sure about that, Mayor James. In the restaurant where he meets Penguin, Mayor James finds his bodyguards are outnumbered by his opponent's loyal gun-toting supporters, ready for a shoot-out. Yikes.
Maybe there will be a third-party candidate who comes in and saves the day. Nah, not if they want it to be an accurate portrayal of U.S. elections.
Political ambitions aside, "Mad City: Look Into My Eyes" dredges into the misery that is Jim Gordon's love life — and life in general — while introducing a new villain into the mix.
Jim has his problems, sure, and probably the worst is the women he attracts. First there was Babs, who went stabby. That's all the time I'm going to spend on her in this post.
Then there was Lee, who left him to escape his drama and got engaged to Mario, Carmine Falcone's son. So much for avoiding drama. Carmine can say he kept his precious son away from the life of crime all he wants, but I still don't trust him.
Neither does Jim, and he doesn't even know Mario's background. "If you ever were to hurt her, I'd have to hunt you down and kill you," he says gravely, finishing it off with a pat on his shoulder and a sinister smile.
Now there's Valerie Vale. After spending a night with Jim, she makes fun of his worn-down apartment (again), gives him a hard pass to his offer to take her to breakfast, and leaves him abruptly.
"That was fun," she says matter-of-factly. "See you around." Let's hope not. But we know Jim is a glutton for punishment, so she'll probably make good on that offer.
Gotham's newest villain, the Mad Hatter, uses Jim's heartache to his advantage. "You've seen so much pain and tragedy, Mr. Gordon. I hope it hasn't left you too alone," he says after he hires Jim to find his sister Alice. Weird thing to say to a client, but Jim shrugs it off because he's just been handed a big wad of cash.
When Jim finds Alice and discovers she wants nothing to do with her brother, he goes back to Mad Hatter and starts asking questions. The Mad Hatter then hypnotizes Jim into walking to the ledge of the building, planting suicidal thoughts in his brain: "Deep down, you want to die, Jim. You want to end this miserable, empty, loveless life, don't you?" Damn, that got dark quick.
Out of nowhere, Alice comes to Jim's rescue and fires shots at the Mad Hatter. When Jim comes to, he rewards her by arresting her. Because, of course, TV logic.
I have a hard time believing the Mad Hatter is really bringing out his victim's inner desires. Does that audience member, whose house the Mad Hatter took over, really want to murder his wife then kill himself? Doubtful.
Instead he uses a ticking watch and bewitching rhymes to lull his victims into a trance. From there, he can make them do anything. He's like Fish Mooney, but his power doesn't slowly kill him. On that note, we're still not sure if it's a power or something special about his watch.
What else does the Mad Hatter have in store for Gotham, other than robbing from the rich and convincing people to kill themselves? (Some hobbies this guy has.) And while it's obvious he's "evil," what did he do to make his sister turn against him?