‘Gotham’ season 2, episode 13 review: The life and love of Victor and Nora Fries

Given the way in which “Gotham” promoted the second half of the season with constant mentions of Victor Fries, it was probably fair to assume that he was going to be this enormous part of the narrative.

However, we then saw the character “die” after having the walls close in around him at the end of Monday night’s new episode. This came following an emotional arc, one that began when Jim Gordon made the move at Barnes’ suggestion to send Nora Fries to Arkham. There was tension between Jim and Lee Thompkins over some of his decisions and his dishonesty, and he hated the fact that she continued to care for Nora after the move. Yet, she did, but in the end Victor’s attempts to put his wife on ice and save her did not exactly work out. Then, he gave himself an ending that had a certain Romeo & Juliet feel to it. Such a romantic.

Of course, the twist here is that he was not actually dead at all. Instead, Hugo Strange was basically able to pretend that his death happened, and now wants to use him for his own research. The big twist here is mostly that in giving Victor the insane body temperature as famous in many comics, the show is starting to get a little more supernatural … which we’re certainly fine with given that the Batman universe always has this. A great ending to this story.

Meanwhile, we’re learning more about Bruce Wayne’s attempts to go after Matches Malone a.k.a. the person responsible for his parents’ death. He blatantly lied to Alfred about whether or not he intended to kill him if he was to find him, and Selina Kyle returned for some plotting. This storyline hadn’t matched the other when it comes to intensity, but as a whole we’re still reasonably satisfied with the direction of the show two episodes into the second part of the season. Grade: B+.

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