More Trouble in the Gritty City

Gotham is besieged with never ending nemeses!

B.D. Wong – Hugo Strange

Perfectly poised, his acting is excellent in execution, and eccentricity is the definition of B.D. Wong as Hugo Strange.
What are his motives? Why is he performing such peculiar experiments? Where does his expertise come from? How is response to the grotesque and disturbing symptoms, results, and reactions from patients (or victims) so anesthetized?
Rose-colored glasses, is that how he sees his menacing malice?
Well, I must credit a very inquisitive inquiry: “How can you trust a guy with that kind of facial hair?” (Greg Alba, 2019). A conspicuous chin strap cannot be trusted!
I love the unsettling ambiguity of his plans while the gears spin in his twisted mind.
(Hugo “Strange”, Pinewood, crafting new personas out of his subjects)

Mr. Freeze is metaphorically attempting to stop time, isolate moments, and ultimately take this synthetic pause to undo the damage to his wife.

How far can his chemically controlled powers go? Why does his wife make him human but no one else can? Will he stop once she’s cured? Was fate always in the balance and set in stone? Is his soul cold to the core?
Great conflicting powers of fire and ice, showing how both are equally destructive.

His introspection echoes an infamous quote:

“I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er” (Macbeth 3.4.136-138).

He cannot escape all of the damaging sins he’s committed, recognizing the permanent impact of his choices.

Theo Galavan

“Strong as an ox, fast as a fox, mad as a hatter” – Theo summons Azrael?? Can’t be anything good…
Oh, Azrael, this is a persona that appears so anachronistic, yet incredibly menacing.
It begs the question, how would heroes defeat their enemies if they still battled via medieval methods? Archaic yes, weaker toward technology, however, still terrorizing.

Penguin

Can his mental state be saved?
Dr. Strange tests his limits and explores the deeper recesses of how far Oswald can go.
Rescued by Elijah Van Dahl – Oswald becomes profoundly self-reflective in order to decide who he wants to be.
Understanding the weight of his past, it’s interesting to watch as he will ultimately transform into full-on Penguin.
Tragic anti-heroes tend to lose so much into to gain their ill-fated powerful positions. We shall see.
Where else would you place Paul Reubens except in the eccentric but deeply compassionate role of Penguin’s father? He’s more than iconic Pee-Wee, his loving soul won’t allow for anything less! (After meeting him in person, I can attest to his kindness and gentle demeanor, a wonderfully pleasant man.)
Spiked hair, heightened senses, don’t underestimate Penguin’s depth of malevolence when morally wronged.
Shakespeare strikes again, a delicious delight of Titus Andronicus, and it’s twist of terror. However, this is not a dinner I’d like to attend.
Macabre maniac as he relishes in his barbaric behavior. I bet that room is starting to surge with a pungent putrescence, yuck!
In the wake of such savagery, Penguin ascends to a higher level of, firepower.

Other characters

Lori Petty! Tank girl revival!
Matches, burnt by his own past, his tragedy is traumatic and palpable.
Crippled by conscious, matches chose to strike the appropriate consequence.
Midsummer’s Night Dream “Puck” arrived to represent fanciful and vulnerable visions of hope that he so cherishes. A fresh taste of optimism in a sea of doom.
Puck is perhaps a metaphorical manifestation of this quote: “Innocence cannot flower underground, it must be stamped out” – Prisoner, The Dark Knight Rises
Bringing Lucius Fox’s brilliant mind into the mix will certainly brain power behind the Wayne task force.
Karen Jennings is unsuspecting but also unpredictable. Clawing beneath the surface, vicious venom in her veins, yet Karen is a human that’s hurting deeply from betrayal.
Firefly is emblazoned with hate filled energy.
Her character is a burning ember of broken memory reminding Selina how many things she has lost.

Gordon

Cast down time and again, but presented with obstacles that are destined to shape his spirit. Downtrodden by damaging dilemmas, Gordon will shed the weaknesses within himself to build a layer of impermeable armor. As these elements of character die, his core is reshaped and reborn.
Love the barrage of beatdowns done by our fearless fighter Jim Gordon. Alas, his old flame never seems to let go, and her purpose is perpetually camouflaged by feelings of romance and tenuous grasp of sanity.
He never fails to re-emerge as the Phoenix that Gotham needs.
Harvey as the partner in crime fighting, becomes the beacon of direction when all hope seemed lost. He’s fantastic.

Edward Nygma

Warring within himself is his fatal flaw. Maybe it’s not such a enigmatic how to take down this villain: prey on his pride.
Foolish nearsightedness will take Nygma down, at least a peg.
He won’t go down without a formidable foe to outsmart his maniacal mind.
At every turn, his puzzling plots never cease to amuse. His aims and goals eventually slide into focus, and when they do, it’s dark and disturbing.
Yet, he typically gets lost in his own maze of mystery. What will become of Ed Nygma??

Finale, final thoughts:

Taken out of the pages of Resident Evil: a race against time, rickety elevator with creaky accordion door, blaring facility alarms and seemingly no escape.
Many loose ends to tie up, plenty threads to play with next season.
Chameleon Jim vs the real deal, caricature yes, but a necessary cog in the works.
The question is, what will trigger Gordon’s return and how will Fish make a splash?
From the grave, Fish washes ashore into the diabolical hands of Hugo Strange.
Mind control? Perhaps Mooney toy with whomever she touches.
This was a great marrying of Shakespearean tragedy, drama and touch of comedy. The writers behind this knew which plays, characters and thematic elements to choose and did it masterfully.
The only way to find out how all of this will come together is to hit play on Season 3!