Gotham Review: Pretty Hate Machine (Season 3 Episode 20)

This season of Gotham has been a bit of a mixed bag, but for it’s penultimate episode I’m very happy to see it get back into the swing of things, just in time for the season finale.

Gotham Season 3 Episode 20 “Pretty Hate Machine” foregoes theatrics and showboating and increases the stakes once again so that we’re actually terrified for our main characters.

Season 3 Episode 19 “All Will Be Judged” shows Lee hitting rock bottom after the death of her husband Mario. She blames herself for his death, and her solution is to inject herself with Alice Tetch’s blood. The results are terrifying.

On this episode, Lee buries Jim in a coffin and leaves him with his own vial of Alice Tetch’s blood, so he can either inject himself or run out of air. Of course, she waltzes into the GCPD to taunt them too.

First, let’s review: remember how The Executioner was supposed to kill Jim on Catherine’s orders? Well, Lee just got farther than anyone – with an ax for an arm – has this season.

Not only is she more effective for the “let’s kill Jim Gordon” plot, but the way she teases the GCPD is really subdued. She’s not over the top with riddles, she’s not swinging an axe, she’s presenting the problem and watching Harvey and the detectives try to make sense of it.

These are the kinds of villains I like to see, and they are the ones I am most riveted by.

Of course, I am also worried that they won’t figure out a way to reverse the virus, so I am hoping the Shaman has something up his sleeve other than murdering the ruling court.

Speaking of the Shaman, this episode is the last we’ll see of him, but he’s left a lot of questions in his wake. Like, why Shaman had to lock away Bruce’s memory of his parents’ murder? And, why use Alice Tetch’s virus?

Most importantly, this story weaves together the two plots really well. One plot is dependent on the other, and they both drive each other forward. Even though the virus bomb plot and the Lee-kidnaps-and-buries-Jim plot start out as two separate entities, the events of one precipitate the events of the other, until Jim finds himself at Union Station when the virus bomb is released.

So let’s recap, even though this episode is propelling us into the finale, we have: two main characters infected with an incurable virus, a virus bomb has gone off in Union Station where lots of people stand to be infected, and a “brainwashed” Bruce Wayne. That’s not including: Captain Barnes being on the loose, and Fish Mooney’s reappearance.

So, how are they going to fix this?

Stray Thoughts:

• If I am ever in trouble, I hope that Alfred is the one who interrogates the guy who can tell the police where I am. I really like his scenes with Hugo Strange.
• Fish Mooney is back! Fish Mooney is back! Fish Mooney is back! And she just saved Penguin! Do you think I’ve said “Fish Mooney is back!” enough times to convey my excitement?

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

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Gotham airs Mondays at 8/7c on Fox.

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