The Scarecrow (Gotham)

"The Scarecrow" is the fifteenth episode of the television series Gotham. It premiered on FOX on February 9, 2015 and was written by Ken Woodruff, and directed by Nick Copus. In this episode, Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Bullock (Donal Logue) continue following Dr. Crane's killing spree.

The episode was watched by 5.63 million viewers and received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the ending as scary but felt the subplots were weak.

Plot

Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) has been captured and is locked up in a rowdy prison-like area. Meanwhile, Dr. Crane (Julian Sands) continues experimenting with his fear toxin. This time he proves it on himself to see his greatest fear: his wife being killed in a fire. Falcone (John Doman) decides to put an end to Cobblepot's (Robin Lord Taylor) debt to Maroni (David Zayas). He reunites with him and Maroni ends his truce, as long as he gets placed a judge in his pocket. Cobblepot also has to decorate the nightclub after poor service in the days before.

After receiving information from Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Bullock (Donal Logue) realize Crane created the toxin after his wife's death, hoping that using it on the people, it would make them overcome their fears. Bruce (David Mazouz) goes to a hunting trip although his plans are not as planned for the difficulties of the forest. He's then joined by Alfred (Sean Pertwee). Cobblepot is visited later by Maroni, who tells him that when Falcone dies, Cobblepot will die too.

In a cabin in the woods, Dr. Crane injects his son Jonathan (Charlie Tahan) with a high level of the toxin, causing him to have a breakdown. Gordon and Bullock locate him and upon a threat, Bullock kills him and take Jonathan to a hospital. In the prison, Mooney takes over a man named Mace as leader, promising to protect the prisoners, who are harvested of their organs for sale. In the hospital, Gordon is notified by the doctor that because of the high levels of toxins, Jonathan (while he will live) may never overcome his fear. The episode ends as Jonathan is tormented by scarecrows.

Reception

Viewers

The episode was watched by 5.63 million viewers, with a 1.8 rating among 18-49 adults.^[1] With Live+7 DVR viewing factored in, the episode had an overall rating of 8.39 million viewers, and a 3.0 in the 18–49 demographic.^[2]

Critical reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	64%[3]
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	6.0[3]
IGN	7.0[4]
The A.V Club	C[5]
"GamesRadar"	[6]
Paste Magazine	6.5[7]
TV Fanatic	[8]
New York Magazine	[9]

"The Scarecrow" received generally positive reviews. The episode received a rating of 64% with an average score of 6.0 out of 10 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus stating: "What should have been an exciting examination into the origins of an infamous villain becomes a tedious and polluted rendering of legendary Batman folklore in 'The Scarecrow'."^[3]

Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.0 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "'The Scarecrow' gave us a freaky bit of Jonathan Crane backstory and a good Bruce/Alfred bonding moment, but the rest either didn't make sense, was boring, or worked to undo and deflate previous set ups."^[4]

The A.V. Club's Kyle Fowle gave the episode a "C" grade and wrote, "Week in and week out, I've been saying that the reason Gotham fails so miserably from one episode to the next is because it never commits to a specific tone or genre, and has a haphazard approach to character development. While I think that still holds true, the critique may need a little modification at this point. For awhile, Gotham was failing to walk a fine line between being a cartoonish comedy about pre-Batman Gotham, and a police procedural with some gritty, but also fun elements. One episode would see Bullock and Gordon doing the buddy-cop schtick, and the next would see Gordon dealing with his own personal issues or going toe-to-toe with the corruption within the GCPD. With 'The Scarecrow,' the show seems to have more fully committed to its procedural stylings. The wild tonal shifts are still present, but it seems as if the show may have decided what it wants to be."^[5]

References