Gotham: Episode 105 - "Viper"

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    inferiorego

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    Edited By inferiorego  Staff
    Credit: Jessica Miglio/FOX
    Credit: Jessica Miglio/FOX

    Warning: Spoilers for the whole episode in the opening section

    After a quick recap of the previous episodes, this week opens up on Bruce Wayne's wall of crime he's creating, connecting criminals, so he can solve his parent's murder. He wants to understand how Gotham works, crime syndicate wise and how it connects to the rest of the city.

    Maroni wants to rob Falcone's casino. It seems it's going to be problematic.

    A man on the street plays guitar for change. Another man sees him and approaches him. He drops the Viper serum in his guitar case. The guitarist studies it, breaks it open and inhales the drug. He stands up and convulses. He walks into a corner store and grabs some milk. He drinks from the carton. The man behind the counter says he has to pay and swings at him with a bat. The guitarist grabs the bat and breaks it in half.

    Gordon and Bullock grab a bite to eat. Selina keeps an eye on them. Gordon spots her stealing a man's wallet and chases after her. She gets away quick. Gordon hears an alarm from the corner store. It's trashed. They find the clerk and he explains what happened, including stealing the ATM, by himself, without a car.

    Fish Mooney talks to her new singer. She asks why she is there. The singer says she's Fish's secret weapon. Fish plays a song on a jukebox and the singer sings along.

    Back at the station, the Captain can't figure out how the man running away with an ATM is impossible. They find the empty vile which contained the drug.

    Falcone meets with Fish and some others at an abandoned warehouse. Nikolai goes toe to toe with Fish. Falcone breaks it up and says they're family.

    Gordon and Bullock question people on the street to find the ATM thief. They find him and milk cartons. He's hurting and needs more of the serum. He describes the man that gave him the serum. The cops try to arrest them but he tosses them away. He picks up and ATM and is about to throw it at him, but the weight crushes him.

    The serum man is on the street handing it out to everyone.

    Alfred tells Bruce that he has to attend a luncheon with board members. Bruce has questions for them. Bruce has questions about how his parents handled business and in what manner. Alfred looks at everything and tells him he did some fantastic detective work. Bruce sees a news story about the drug, Viper.

    Back at the station, people coming down from the drug are being arrested and going crazy. Nygma watches over it. He then explains it to Gordon, Bullock, and the Captain. Bullock says it should run its course and all the scumbags will die. A woman who was brought in dies right in front of them.

    Maroni continues talking to a man about taking the casino. Oswald walks up and says he knows a janitor who runs the boiler room that could get them in. Maroni says the name Penguin is good for him. Penguin tells Maroni his real name he used to work for Fish Mooney. Maroni slams his head on the table.

    A woman from Wellzyne, which creates chemicals, visits Gordon and Bullock. Gordon says they're looking for an employee with a messed up ear and she knows who he is: Stan Patalski. She says he became disgruntled and he tried to cut off his ear in a disagreement. He was fired. He disappeared afterwards.

    Maroni's buddy visits Gordon and says he has to come with him because he has Oswald. Gordon agrees. He gets into a car and a bag is put over his head. Gordon is unmasked with Maroni sitting in front of him, eating. Oswald is beaten. Maroni offers him a drink. Gordon asks for water. Maroni demands Gordon tells him Oswald's story, and if he doesn't, they will both die. Gordon tells his story to Maroni. Maroni is pleased and Penguin is released.

    Fish continues to train her new secret weapon.

    Gordon gets back to the station and there's a ton of stuff from Wellzyne. Gordon discovers a picture of Stan with what looks like a professor. They head to the university. The professor tells the officers that Stan developed pharmaceutical weapons for the military, Viper. The second batch, which the side effects were fixed, was called Venom. The professor helped Stan plan all of this. The professor takes Viper and beats on Bullock. Gordon shoots him twice. Stan still has plans and Gordon figures out they're going to the charity event.

    Alfred and Bruce get to the charity event. Stan is there and has a keg of viper.

    Bruce talks to someone at the event and he wonders were the board members are. He tells a woman there are irregularities that need to be discussed. He wants to speak with the board. Outside, Stan is preparing to pump Viper into the room. Stan declares on a tv that he developed the drug for Wayne Enterprises. The Viper drug gets pumped into the room.

    Gordon finds Stan outside and tells him to turn it off or he'll shoot. Stan won't do it. Gordon shoots the canister and it explodes in Stan's face. Stan says he's leaving and tells them to look in warehouse 39. He then jumps off of the roof.

    Gordon and Bullock get to the warehouse. At one point, there was a lab there. However, there's nothing in there that points to anything. The woman Bruce was talking to at the party at is talking on the phone to someone outside the warehouse. She knows something.

    Bruce is working on all his crime stuff and Alfred sits down to help.

    Penguin sits in a car with Maroni and a couple friends. Penguin is worried. Maroni tells him if his boys don't make it, neither does he. The casino heist went off without a hitch.

    Fish and Nikolai are getting busy. She tells him that if Falcone knew they were working together, they'd be cooked.

    Falcone is feeding the pigeons and sees Fish's secret weapon walking around and humming. Cue the meet-cute. Falcone is flustered by her. They sit down together and listen to some music.

    Credit: Jessica Miglio/FOX
    Credit: Jessica Miglio/FOX

    Mild spoiler-free review zone.

    As much as I despise the series focusing so much on Bruce Wayne, seeing him start to become the detective he'll eventually become is pretty cool. He's a character who is forced to grow up to fast and you can see that he wants to become the man of the house as well as get rid of the corruption inside of Gotham City. There's a bit more Bruce here than in other episodes, but it works pretty well, and while there's a few times it feels a tad forced, it's still good stuff.

    Selina Kyle's "cameo" felt utterly pointless and was only here to remind the viewer that she still exists. Again, if the character isn't offering anything to the story or show, they don't have to appear.

    When Bullock and Gordon were questioning people on the street about who the mysterious guitarist was, there was this "cops questioning folks" music. I call it that because feels so out of place and too wacky for the show. The show has a dark tone and there's little to no humor in it, so this 20 seconds of whatever that was music really broke me out of the show.

    I am also having some troubles with Fish Mooney's story. I understand where she is taking us and her plans, but she seems like a character without a leg to stand on. She's backstabbing everyone, and while I enjoy Jada Smith's over-the-top portrayal, lots of fans have spoken up and said otherwise. Overall, she's very middle-of-the-road for me.

    The overall story was great. We got to see the early makings of Venom, which would become Bane's drug of choice. Hopefully, they're not going to Bane route with this but it is nice to have familiar concepts presented here so more adept fans have something to point at and say "I know what that is!" This episode offers viewers an interesting detective story in which there are larger things at play. Because of everything that happened here, Bruce knows there's something wrong with how Wayne Enterprises is running and that is what elevates this from a good episode to a great episode.

    Once again, I find myself completely engaged with every scene Robin Lord Taylor and David Zayas are in. Zayas' version of Maroni is very different from what I imagined, much like how Taylor's Penguin is different, but both these actors have made these characters their own. Together, these scenes gives viewers a peek into the gritty underbelly of crime in Gotham from two very different perspectives: a man working his way up the ladder and a man so close to the top, he can taste it.

    Gotham is an extremely surprising show. This was very close to a 5 out of 5 for me, but there were a few small things that really bugged me about this episode. While the show does come off as "villain of the week," each week adds more and more to the story, and the Penguin story line makes sure this show doesn't feel incredibly tedious and redundant. Surprisingly, I'm wowed by Gotham as it has become a detective show for people who aren't too fond of detective shows, as it adds a tinge of fantasy to each episode.

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    CaptainHoopla

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    #1  Edited By CaptainHoopla

    I don't dislike this show, but still can't help but feel that I'd like it more if Bruce, Alfred, & Selina weren't in it at all.

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    eamon542000

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    What's altruism?!!?!

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    TheBlackHood

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    I absolutely loved the episode. I actually found the stuff with little Bruce to be some of the most interesting portion of a really interesting episode. The show is doing a great job of mixing the introduction of new concepts with an overarching story. I tend to prefer shows that have multiple concurrent storylines and Gotham is doing great balancing several.

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    the_stegman

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    #4 the_stegman  Moderator

    I really like Bruce and the actor that plays him, but I hate Selina, SHE feels like she's pointless and just...there.

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    strangetales

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    Lold when I realized Selina was only in that one scene. I was expecting her to show up later. Great episode though.

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    Surza7

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    man that one guy at the beginning who was up on viper was pretty awesome!

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    Fenderxx

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    I totally agree with the reveiw, except flip Peguin and Fish Mooney, lol. I think thats the thing with over the top charaters,, they either hit for you or they dont . Really enjoying the show tho!

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    darkbeam

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    Fish mooney is my favorite character in the show. Really liking her character.

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    CatBoy

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    @darkbeam: totally agree, I love that Fish Mooney feels almost like a modern-day Eartha Kitt. I'm hoping that at some point she takes young Selina Kyle under her wing and helps form her in to who she becomes as Catwoman. Especially in the direction Selina is going in comics currently as the new Kingpin of Gotham.

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    Romthelegionaire

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    I like that Gordon now has to worry about Maroni, Falcone, and Penguin. This should lead to some interesting developments in the future.

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    darkbeam

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    EnSabahNurX

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    @catboy said:

    @darkbeam: totally agree, I love that Fish Mooney feels almost like a modern-day Eartha Kitt. I'm hoping that at some point she takes young Selina Kyle under her wing and helps form her in to who she becomes as Catwoman. Especially in the direction Selina is going in comics currently as the new Kingpin of Gotham.

    Yea I've definitely been getting an Eartha Kitt vibe from Jada's performance and I'm not hating it. Also that Selina idea you just put in my head better happen or I'm going to be a little upset because it would at least make her relevant to the actual show instead of just appearing randomly.

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    UltimateSMfan

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    Jonny_Anonymous

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    I really like Bruce and the actor that plays him, but I hate Selina, SHE feels like she's pointless and just...there.

    Yeah I hate children and especially child characters in movies and TV (Just die already Carl!) and I'd rather Bruce Wayne wasn't in this show at all but the kid that plays him does such a good job I have a hard time caring anymore.

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    viin

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    Im thinking I might be done with this show..it seems to have gotten a little dry. I didnt have much interest to begin with though I am a Batman fan. I would rather have Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle only show up in random episodes when needed and the villains seem to be very boring. If this show had come out before Arrow I probably would of taken to it better. I do like Jada Smith's character and performance though.

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    Numbuh1Nerd

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    This episode was really pretty dumb. The Bruce Wayne half of the episode was really the only bit of it that could hold my attention. The special effects when that girl's bones crumbled in the Police Department (btw, why is there containment cell in the same room as every officer and the building's exit??) were horrendously bad. For a show without humor, it sure does make me laugh.

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    WarDishy_

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    Good episode! I was a little surprised by how much I liked it. Not perfect by any means, with some stuff that bugged me, but good. I'm still very invested in the Penguin storyline, which I'm enjoying a lot, and seeing Bruce in this episode was great. David Mazouz is doing a great job as Bruce and he deserves a lot of credit, because child actors can be awful sometimes and his part could have gone so, so wrong but he nails it every week.

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    Jonny_Anonymous

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    This episode was really pretty dumb. The Bruce Wayne half of the episode was really the only bit of it that could hold my attention. The special effects when that girl's bones crumbled in the Police Department (btw, why is there containment cell in the same room as every officer and the building's exit??) were horrendously bad. For a show without humor, it sure does make me laugh.

    Because that's how the police station was set up in the Dark Knight

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    NightFang3

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    Bullock gets beaten in almost every episode.

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    patrat18

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    @the_stegman said:

    I really like Bruce and the actor that plays him, but I hate Selina, SHE feels like she's pointless and just...there.

    Yeah I hate children and especially child characters in movies and TV (Just die already Carl!) and I'd rather Bruce Wayne wasn't in this show at all but the kid that plays him does such a good job I have a hard time caring anymore.

    I think he's terrible. Maybe it's the way they portray young Bruce.

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    Lunarstorm

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    Sachmoo

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    I am finally enjoying the Bruce scenes. Although a bit campy (he is figuring out stuff instantly with just a bit of research that nobody else apparently can) they actually have him being relevant to the story. I think my favorite part of the episode is when the Wayne ent. was praising his parents for builiding a mulit-billion dollar company, and he brushed that off and kept questioning her. Rather than the show verbally telling us, 'hey look at this batman quality' by having him say, "I'm conquering my fear", they allowed us to see it for ourselves.

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    JV

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    I was so-so on the Pilot, but the show is gaining traction. I found myself this week more engaged in the plot and characters. I guess I am in the minority with liking the portrayal of young Bruce and the development of his character. I think it would be less interesting to see a boy doing detective work, if I already did not know who he becomes.

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    rahulmishra

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    This show keeps getting better

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    lmothander

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    Anyone else thinking "skank" during the ATM scene?

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    Eeshaan1685

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    @the_stegman said:

    I really like Bruce and the actor that plays him, but I hate Selina, SHE feels like she's pointless and just...there.

    Yeah I hate children and especially child characters in movies and TV (Just die already Carl!) and I'd rather Bruce Wayne wasn't in this show at all but the kid that plays him does such a good job I have a hard time caring anymore.

    I think you need help.

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    Harryvine

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    I'm nominating this week's bad guy as a Joker candidate. He basically was preaching that life was a joke right before he "killed himself". He was on the drug before he jumped and then that green gas sprayed him in the face which could be used as the final piece for his transformation. Just saying...

    What's Altruism?!?!?!

    Really liking Detective Bautista from Dexter as Maroni. Hopefully he isn't the schmuck his previous character turned out to be.

    Absolutely LOVED Bruce this episode. I sighed when the show opened with him but the way it ended proved that they know which direction to take young Bruce. His conversation with the Wayne employee was priceless. "You're really rich and special. Isn't that rich and special?" "Yeah great, so where are these crooks who run my parents company? I have some questions." It also shows that Bruce genuinely cares about other people. He showed concern as to why the guy was attacking the fund raiser not just, "oh man one day I'm gonna kick everyone's ass who tries to stomp Gotham".

    Fish is great and I'm happy that they introduced the weapon one week and are already using her the next. The weapon is sexy and I'd completely fall for whatever she asked me to do.

    Looks like Gordon owes Maroni a favor....I think we all know how that goes.

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    Techherofan

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    Man Harvey needs to take self defense class man can't get a break.As for the episode itself loved it a solid 4 out of 5.Bruce character arc definitely felt like a Batman in training moment.Penguin arc was funny and shows how hungry for power he really is.And Viper being the prototype for venom was an interesting twist.

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    Denam_Pavel

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    I do not get the reviewer's hate of Bruce Wayne. Why not go after Selina Kyle, entire pointless in this episode. Or Harvey, the homicide detective that has proven time and again that the idea of investigating crime is a strange alien concept too that he is still gradually getting to know.

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    amazing_webhead

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    The more and more obvious it gets that Bruce Wayne will become Batman, the less and less obvious it gets that Eddie Nigma will become the Riddler. Anyone else notice that?

    Well, we were right. Viper was just a prototype Venom. Gotham's reckoning is on its way.

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    Manwhohaseverything

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    I disagree with what some are saying about the Selina Kyle scene. It wasn't pointless. You can't treat a TV series like a movie. Each episode is not a whole storyline in and of itself. The fact she didn't show up again in this episode doesn't mean that scene won't come back to play in the future. It also re-emphasized how different Gordon and Bulloch are. Gordon wanted to catch her, and Bulloch wanted to finish lunch. I know their differences have been emphasized before but these are major character traits, we should see something displaying that every episode.

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    TheComedian_

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    This episode was not that good.

    I really don't like these one episode sub-plots like viper or the Balloonman and whatnot. I really do like the whole Penguin/Maroni/Fish/Falcone plot. They need to stick to that rather than these silly one episode stories. Or at least make these one episode stories tie into the main plot more.

    I don't like the whole Bruce and Alfred thing either. I really don't like Alfred in this show and I just feel like Bruce isn't all that necessary.

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    TheComedian_

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    @numbuh1nerd said:

    This episode was really pretty dumb. The Bruce Wayne half of the episode was really the only bit of it that could hold my attention. The special effects when that girl's bones crumbled in the Police Department (btw, why is there containment cell in the same room as every officer and the building's exit??) were horrendously bad. For a show without humor, it sure does make me laugh.

    Because that's how the police station was set up in the Dark Knight

    Y'know, the layout of the building always reminded me of the police stations in the Arkham games.

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    Jonny_Anonymous

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    #35  Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

    @jonny_anonymous said:

    @numbuh1nerd said:

    This episode was really pretty dumb. The Bruce Wayne half of the episode was really the only bit of it that could hold my attention. The special effects when that girl's bones crumbled in the Police Department (btw, why is there containment cell in the same room as every officer and the building's exit??) were horrendously bad. For a show without humor, it sure does make me laugh.

    Because that's how the police station was set up in the Dark Knight

    Y'know, the layout of the building always reminded me of the police stations in the Arkham games.

    They probably all set it up the same way

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    ThomasElliot

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    Gotham is the only current comic-based show that I dislike. I gave it a chance. 4 chances. It sucks. I quit.

    Here's to hoping Constantine is actually decent.

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    ThomasElliot

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    #37  Edited By ThomasElliot

    @numbuh1nerd said:

    This episode was really pretty dumb. The Bruce Wayne half of the episode was really the only bit of it that could hold my attention. The special effects when that girl's bones crumbled in the Police Department (btw, why is there containment cell in the same room as every officer and the building's exit??) were horrendously bad. For a show without humor, it sure does make me laugh.

    What I enjoy is how there is a drug that kills people within several hours and the police throw them in detention to eventually die rather than take all those affected to a hospital in the hopes to actually save them.

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    Wilbertus

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    So many people complain about Bruce being in the series, but honestly I think I'd given up if he wasn't. It's really the most interesting storyline to me since it's a period of his life that we rarely get to see and I think this series shows it very well. Even this portrayal of Alfred is starting to grow on me. And let's be honest here, without the Batman-connection this show would be nothing more than a mediocre detective series.

    I thought the Venom thing was pretty cool, although I felt it would have been better without dropping the 'venom' name, but then again when I first heard of a crazed biomedical researcher who produced a bone-disforming drug I thought of Doctor Death as written by Scott Snyder. While this show is still a week by week hit or miss case for me, this is the second week in a row that I found it greatly entertaining and genuinely interesting.

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