In “The Scarecrow”, Gotham returns to a multi-story episode. This move is a detriment to the show’s quality.
Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock continue to track down Gerald Crane (Julian Sands), who is harvesting adrenal glands to inoculate himself and his son, Jonathan (Charlie Tahan), from fear. Meanwhile, Gordon’s relationship with Dr. Leslie Thompkins is put to the test when she becomes the GCPD’s new medical examiner. Bruce Wayne sprains his ankle while going on hike he traditionally took with his father. Fish Mooney wakes up in an underground prison. Falcone negotiates with Maroni to keep The Penguin alive, while Cobblepot is busy preparing to re-open the club.
The main issue with his episode is that not one of the stories featured in “The Scarecrow” is strong enough to carry the episode. Each story is lackluster, but not outright terrible. The issue is not that the stories are boring; the problem is that they lack enough intrigue to deserve the focus of the episode.
The plot line following Gerald Crane is particularly disappointing. Crane’s story was doomed by questionable writing and sub-par acting from Tahan. There was a large amount of build up for the episodes dealing with the Cranes. Yet, neither episode did the character of the Scarecrow justice.
A bright spot of the episode is when Oswald Cobblepot and Edward Nygma meet. Their conversation is a delight to watch. Nygma is friendly, offering up a riddle for the Penguin, who is not pleased to be bothered by someone he believes to be far beneath him. Their banter is easily the highlight of a disappointing episode.
[wp-review]
