TV Review: GOTHAM: Season 3, Episode 8: Blood Rush [Fox]

Gotham Blood Rush Review

Fox‘s Gotham: Season 3, Episode 8: Blood Rush opens with Captain Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chiklis) attempting to be a normal citizen of Gotham by grocery shopping. But when he spots a man enter a non-descript van covered in blood his ‘good cop’ mentality kicks into play.his ‘good cop’ mentality kicks into play.

Unfortunately for Barnes, the drip of Alice Tetch’s (Naian Gonzalez Norvind) blood has messed with his mind. When he comes across the van man putting dismembered body parts in acid something in him snaps. The slightly annoying, overzealous good cop mentality Barnes has been touting since late in season two dissolves into pure rage. This reaction to Alice’s blood pushes Barnes to do something that is out of character for him: kill a criminal.

With the return of James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) to the GCPD, who seems disturbingly happy to be back in the chaos, it appears to be  a definite shift of the two characters. It spells it out pretty well when Barnes goes to visit Jervis Tetch (Benedict Samuel) in hopes of finding a cure for his condition. Tetch sums up what it is store for Barnes when he says his sister’s blood, “makes the darkest parts of a person sing”.

It was nice knowing you, Barnes.

In a briefest of moments, Barnes almost does the most un-Gotham-est thing you can do: he considers turning himself in for murder during Lee Thompkins’ (Morena Baccarin) engagement party. But when the latest criminal he arrested walks free the dark parts of Barnes emerge in full force.

Barnes is just the latest example of how no one in Gotham stays good, ever.

When finally breaks from his “normal” reality we get a deeper glimpse into Barnes deeper psyche.

Meanwhile, our blissfully unaware Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) has come to the “startling” revelation. His new love Isabella (Chelsea Spack) is a spitting image of his dead girlfriend, Kristen Kringle.

This moment forces Nygma to doubt he can love Isabella without killing her. He confesses his fears to Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) and asks him to break up with Isabella for him. Cobblepot is downright giddy at Nygma’s request. As a future Batman villain, it is a little surprising Nygma never picks up on this.

When Cobblepot delivers the “joyous” news to Isabella his attempt to gloat in victory is demolished when Isabella refuses to give up on Nygma. She also unexpectedly calls Cobblepot out on his love for Nygma.

In a creepy twist, that makes you think Isabella isn’t just a simple librarian, she dresses up as Kristen Kringle in a bizarre attempt to convince him he won’t hurt her. Nygma has the appropriate reaction of, ‘Oh my God, what are you doing?’

It was slightly disturbing that Isabella places Nygma’s hand around her throat in order to prove he won’t hurt her. But the gamble pays off and whatever desires Nygma appear to have been quenched by Isabella.

If there’s anything television has taught us in this century is that love can make you do some crazy things. In the case of Cobblepot, it means he’ll kill to get it. When Cobblepot orders his goons to cut Isabella’s breaks we never actually see Isabella’s car smack into the oncoming train.

However, Isabella’s death seems unlikely. If anything, Cobblespot has himself a new enemy. His position as mayor has made his current position in Gotham almost too cozy, by Gotham standards.

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