Crime comes in all forms in Gotham.
What They Say:
Dr. Leslie Thompkins is taken captive when she finds a devious land developer’s evil plans.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While it gets less attention than it used to, I enjoy the kind of scheming that goes on in Gotham when it comes to the corporate side. There’s a lot of areas to exploit here in the old crime sense, with the docks for example, and you can get some manipulative villains at work. Batman tends to get known for the colorful villains he faces but the years have had a lot of more subtle opponents in this realm as well, which also often lets Wayne Enterprises get involved. And more Bruce Wayne time is always a good thing for me since you get to explore more of that persona that he wears when not in the Batman outfit. Focus on Crime Alley as we do here? I’m definitely on board.
This episode focuses on Dagget who is intent on taking over much of Crime Alley for new business concerns. The place used to be a place of wealth and family back in the day but mirrors New York City from the sixties into the seventies in this regard. Daggett’s unable to achieve this legally because there is history to this place even if it is a slum now and that has him hiring Nitro, an explosives expert to make it look like a pipe exploded and destroyed the whole block. It’s not exactly a great plan but it’s also not an unexpected plan. Daggett fits the mold of the thug type of developer that just has to lean hard on someone a little and he always gets what he wants. And has gotten away with it for a long time, hence sending in hired goons to intimidate people to leave their homes in Crime Alley.
It does take things a bit to come together here but the show is more about some of the other elements that inhabit it than Daggett’s plan. It’s the use of Dr. Leslie Thompkins that stands out the most as she was one that helped young Bruce deal with the death of his parents in this place all those years ago. Thompkins has been a character I’ve liked for a long time and they did a good job with her here, even if she’s basically waiting to be rescued by Batman which in turn brings him closer to Daggett’s real mission in trying to remove Batman from his plans. It plays out well in that there a lot of obstacles to getting there – and even a brief nod to the live-action films with the Batmobile that still makes me laugh, but the episode as a whole shows the things that Batman gets into and that there can be compelling “slice of life” episodes for the character and villains that aren’t garishly put together.
In Summary:
It won’t be high up on many lists or even remembered by a lot of fans because of the relatively low stakes and combine that with it being another story focusing on where Bruce’s parents were killed, but Appointment in Crime Alley has some good stuff going for it. The Batmobile is well used, Batman has to deal with some problems that don’t factor into other episodes a lot, and as brief as it is we get some good time with Thompkins that was welcome. Daggett’s a scummy guy and plays that developer role well and the political/social aspects of Crime Alley are nicely touched upon, something that would be glazed over in general.
Grade: B
