Gotham Review: New Day Rising (Season 3 Episode 4)

Everyone who may be discouraged by current events about what two males may talk about, please look to Gotham.

Actually, “New Day Rising,” Season 3 Episode 4, may still discourage you in regards to current events. This episode was a struggle to get through, not because of the pacing or the writing, I quite enjoyed most of the individual scenes, but because Penguin’s mayoral election run hits a not-so-pleasant chord.

After a weekend saturated with Presidential debate coverage and just one day after the second Presidential debate, it was a little sickening to see Cobblepot win a position of power in Gotham.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a plot I would enjoy. If this storyline even happened a year or so down the road, I would have relished in the irony of it. Less than a month away from making a decision about the next four years of our country as a whole, seeing a mayoral candidate win in this fashion is kind of sickening.

I tried to make myself dissociate with this episode. I tried to put aside the similarities to a certain political campaign, but it’s impossible to when Cobblepot’s slogan is: “Make Gotham safe again.”

The fact that Cobblepot wants to make Gotham safe is an odd choice of words when you consider his past and what he is capable of. Of course, his platform is also based on keeping Gotham safe from the Indian Hill escapees.

So it’s really hard not to draw some parallels between this plot and the current United States elections.

Imagine what could happen if Gotham was in possession of nukes.

Does Gotham have nukes? I am kind of afraid to find out.

I am just glad the mayoral election comes to a conclusion in this episode. I would much rather watch Cobblepot in office than trying to claw his way into power.

On the lighter side, we get a lot more Harvey in this episode. More importantly, we got a lot more of Harvey and Jim.

Tying up the plotline of Jervis Tetch and his poison-blood sister Alice, Harvey is determined to save Jim from the “post-hypnotic” suggestion that he should commit suicide.

Harvey and Jim have some great moments together in this episode and I can’t help but smile whenever they are together.

In a moment with their boss, Chief and Harvey sum up my feelings about them perfectly.

CHIEF: You were following some misguided notion about friendship. James Gordon is going to get you killed one day. You get that?

HARVEY: Maybe, but until that day I will never turn my back on him.

It’s a true statement. Throughout everything that has gone wrong, Harvey is the one person that Jim can count on. He’s constantly backing him up and keeping him in the loop. Harvey also provides a bit of levity without being the class clown.

Moments like these between Jim and Harvey, that show two men acting civil are inspiring to see and I wish that they would just do a sitcom or a buddy cop movie. Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue have such a great chemistry together and I can’t wait to see more of them.

And I really hope the Chief’s prediction about Gordon getting him killed doesn’t come true.

Stray Thoughts

• Regarding Five, I am so glad he didn’t hurt Selena. The ending of “Look Into My Eyes” was so ominous I was really hoping she wouldn’t get hurt.
• However, then Five got picked up by the mystery woman, so we now know that the intention of his creation couldn’t have been good. This again, feels like a plot that we may have seen before, but I am curious to see the intentions behind it. (But really, did anyone think that he was going to get away that easily? You bet whoever told strange to create a Bruce Wayne replica was watching.)
• Has no one even considered upping the security at the GCPD? Isn’t this the third time in three seasons that headquarters has been compromised? Taxes in Gotham must really high. What does Penguin plan to do about that now that he’s mayor?
• Lee and Jim need to have a serious talk. She’s back in Gotham now, and they’re going to have to live in the same city and work in the same place. This can’t go on forever.

What did you think of this episode of Gotham? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Gotham airs Mondays at 8/7c on Fox.

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