Gotham has steamrolled its way to the midseason finale with a fantastic compliment of twists and turns. All the characters are finally coming into their own, and we are getting a more definitive picture as to what will shape these characters in the years to come. With torrid pace, did the midseason episode, “Worse Than A Crime,†keep stride with the rest of the season? The simplest answer is both yes and no.
Gotham has given us consistently solid episodes throughout the first half of season two. They were able to meld a nice amount of exposition and action to keep the hits coming episode after episode, but “Worse Than A Crime,†felt a little uneven. Although, that’s not to say it reverted back to the iffy first half of season one. Â
The main plotline in the episode is that of Galavan finally getting to kill “The Son of Gotham,†Bruce Wayne. While Bruce is in his cell, Galavan tests the loyalty of Silver St. Cloud by challenging her to make Bruce Wayne fall in love with her again. She puts on a sparkly dress and attempts to flirt, but Bruce shuts her down time and time again. I’m glad Bruce didn’t just go along with it and that Selina and Alfred are finally getting it into his head that Silver St. Cloud is just using him to get Wayne Enterprises for Galavan. At one point, she says that she can’t let him die, and the duo attempts to escape going through a stairwell that is never guarded. Lo and behold, Galavan and his men are standing right there. This is obviously a setup; one would imagine anyway. But, of all things that Silver has done, Bruce forgives her.
Bruce’s forgiveness before he is about to be put on the chopping block shows that stark difference between the Dumas and the Waynes. Bruce understands that it isn’t entirely Silver’s fault and that, in a way, she is being brainwashed to do these things by Galavan. Bruce is certainly knowledgeable beyond his years. Bruce does eventually say that he loves Silver and kisses her goodbye. I enjoyed these scenes, but I felt that they dragged on a bit too much.
The ragtag group that is on its way to stop Theo Galavan is none other than Jim, Harvey,  Cobblepot, Nygma, Selina and their various henchmen. The group is quite random and clearly don’t have a plan. Lucius Fox brings this up time and time again, which is quite the hilarious scene. But, Galavan is not the only one that the group, namely Jim, has to contend with.
Jim has always struggled to keep his work life and his life with Lee together. His ridiculous hours have pulled him away from Lee more often than not, and her pushing him toward not killing Flamingo and then Flamingo killing the rookie cop has taken its toll on the relationship. But, just before he goes after Galavan, she tells him to do what he has to do. It’s such a pivotal moment, just as it was when he let Flamingo live.
The Captain is the other person standing between Jim and getting justice for what Galavan has done. The Captain has put out a warrant for Jim’s arrest, claiming that he has been working with Cobblepot all along, while he isn’t exactly wrong on that stance. Â
After the group breaks in, with some help from Selina, they all take part in a satisfying fight scene. Of everything this show does day in and day out, you have to give it to their tense fight scenes. From hand-to-hand combat to the shootouts, the camera work is great, and the action is spot on for the underbelly of Gotham. Through the battle, they do save Bruce, but Galavan, Tabitha and Silver escape. They are in Galavan’s penthouse, and they are going to base jump out to escape. But there are only two parachutes. Of course, Galavan says that SIlver has to stay, and he and Tabitha are leaving. It turns out that being such a jerk to everyone is finally catching up with Galavan. After degrading her, Tabitha has had enough of Galavan’s mouth and pistol whips him out cold. She pushed Silver out the window (with her parachute) and follows behind. Finally, the showdown with Jim and Galavan is here!
We finally get to see if Jim will be able to pull the trigger, or will his altruistic side break through? Galavan taunts him by saying that he loves that Jim will always follow the rules. Galavan’s taunts lead Jim to pull his gun on him. The captain shows up and is about to spoil Jim’s decision, but Penguin comes in and knocks out The Captain. The duo then proceed to kidnap Galavan and take them by the water where Jim faked Penguin’s death way back when. There will be no faking today, however. Jim lets Penguin beat the pulp out out of Galavan and then shoots him. To top it off, Penguin shoves an umbrella in his mouth.
We then see people wheeling Galavan into Indian Hills. We get our first name drop of Professor Strange when Ms. Peabody mentions what they are doing there. The final scene shows someone running away from a man, whom is shortly revealed to be Mr. Freeze! This was heavily foreshadowed in the end title screen of the past couple episodes.