As the show gets better, I find that it struggles with ways to make its lesser-developed characters, who feel more like ankle weights than anything, compelling or necessary to the plot at hand. Barbara Kean served as damsel in distress last week, but was given absolutely nothing to do in this episode. She is the most criminally underdeveloped character on the show, so much so that when she literally walks out on Jim, I felt kind of glad that we probably wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.
Since we have absolutely no stock in their relationship, I wonder if it would have been better for Gotham to introduce Barbara at some point after the series had started. Instead, we skip over how she and Gordon met, and focus instead on the boring stage of their relationship. Barbara presumably does something all day, but the only time we ever see her is when she’s at home moping about him and his job.
Barbara isn’t the only character who’s given the short shrift, as Selina Kyle makes another surprise and completely unnecessary appearance. We see her briefly at some point in the episode stealing furs, and then catch up with her later at the police station, where she’s been asking about Jim Gordon. I know that the writers are simply reintroducing her to tease us about what she’ll be up to next week (which is fine, since this was a rather busy episode as is), but, like Barbara, I think it would have been smarter to introduce the future Catwoman somewhere down the line, instead of at the beginning of the series. Now it just feels like we’re stuck with her.
Overall, I did enjoy “The Mask,” and am happy to see that Gotham is still improving. There are some minor character hiccups and police procedural tropes that feel tired and familiar, but I still find the show entertaining, and am intrigued with the various threads of character study that lie beneath the less interesting week-to-week storylines.
Tell us, what did you think of the show’s latest episode? Impressed, or underwhelmed? Sound off below!
