6 takeaways from Gotham’s A Dead Man Feels No Cold

Gotham is setting us up for an interesting turn of events. It doesn’t look like anybody will be safe from the villains of Gotham or those they consider allies. Here are my takeaways from this episode:

Therapy is mental torture and vice versa. Penguin enduring Dr. Strange’s rehabilitation was hard to watch. It makes you wonder what Dr. Strange’s real purpose is with his unorthodox treatments. During a game of inmate duck, duck, goose, Penguin acknowledge his bird preference, “I’m not a goose, I’m a penguin.” Gordon should have thought twice before refusing to help Penguin get out of Arkham, because now Penguin’s not going to keep quiet how he covered for Gordon.

Bruce’s inner Batman is about to come out. When Lee comes over to counsel him, Bruce says he believes people can be two things at once and that there’s another Bruce inside him. Alfred finds a lead on the man who killed Bruce’s parents, and Bruce wants to kill him, but Alfred won’t let Bruce have that on his conscious. Later Bruce asks Selina to acquire a gun for him, but she questions his ability to actually be able to follow through on his plan. If Selina and Alfred keep casting doubt on Bruce, the two people he trusts the most, it’s going to make Bruce even more determined take care of his parents’ killer.

Dr. Strange and Ms. Peabody should be on a watch list. Clearly Ms. Peabody is willing to do Strange business, but I would wager she is capable of issuing her own form of “treatment.” I know the inmates at Arkham Asylum are far from innocent, but does Strange and Peabody’s punishment (i.e. treatment) fit the crime?

During her brief stay at Arkham, Nora rooms with Barbara Keen, who’s in a deep sleep. Lee must channel her anger seeing the woman and focus on helping her patient. Before Freeze and Gordon barge in, Nora and Lee have a moment about love making them blind to the faults of their men. Nora saw her husband going down a dangerous path, but she didn’t do anything to stop it. But she has her chance to redeem herself when Freeze takes her back to their home to induce her cryogenic state. She switches the cartilages, knowing she will die. She is ready but Freeze is not ready to let her go. When he realizes she gone, he freezes himself.

Gordon and company are under the impression that Mr. Freeze is out of the picture, being told he died at Arkham. But Strange kept him alive, needing his experience with cryogenics. Victor wanted to die with Nora, to be with her. Strange tells him to embrace this opportunity – “Death is not an ending. Death is a new beginning.” Let’s see how long it takes for them to figure out Dr. Strange is the new big, bad in Gotham. (I’m also hoping Dr. Strange is secretly saved Nora too because I wanted Kristen Hager to have more appearances on the show.)

Final observations and memorable quotes

The regenerated Mr. Freeze in Arkham looks like he would fit in with the undead on the CW’s iZombie.

Harvey Bullock once again provides some comic relief: While on a stake out at the “Loony bin,” he says “We could freeze to death waiting, which would be ironic.”

“I’ll free my boot up his frozen ass.” Careful Captain Barnes, I don’t think that’s proper protocol.