This issue is clearly a transition issue, though Seeley does his best to keep it moving. Synder and Tynion bring resolution to three of the ongoing sub-plots: Barbara and her team gather enough evidence to show that Commissioner Gordon was framed; Bard, Batman, and Croc save Jade from the ten-eyed dude; and Gordon gets an assist from a former Gotham crime-boss in...doing something.
In the first two cases, the "resolutions" don't actually get to the root causes of the problems. Someone murders Falsario before he can talk, making it clear that we still don't really know who (or what) framed Gordon; Falsario was just the vehicle for the crime. Moreover, the ten-eyed dude seemed vaguely connected to the events occurring under Arkham, but nothing that happens here clarifies that connection. I get that Snyder and Tynion can't exactly wrap up these stories with 32 issues left in the series, but I still find myself anxious to take some issues off the table.
Unfortunately, the resolution of the Gordon story isn't just disappointing; it's bad. Gordon does his "Die Hard" routine, saving a cop before the inmates can kill him. The inmates almost get the upper hand on Gordon, but Leo his cell mate -- revealing himself to be a former crime-boss named the Lion -- saves his life. Leo's apparently motivated by his desire not to see Gordon's daughter live the rest of her life without a father like his daughter had to do. I can't tell if we're supposed to buy that load of baloney or not, but I guess we'll see. My main issue is that I'm not 100% sure why Gordon and Leo taking down this group of criminals suddenly sets up the liberation of Blackgate. Harvey said that he was waiting for Gordon to be successful in his mission before sending in the troops, but I thought that Gordon had a lot more on his plate than just saving the cops. I could be wrong, but the jump from Leo saving Gordon to the S.W.A.T. teams re-establishing control of the prison left me feeling like I missed a few pages. Although I know the team is anxious to introduce to Spoiler, as they do here, I definitely felt like they could've waited until next issue and done a better job bringing the Blackgate story to a close, particularly given the dramatic potential that it had.
** (two of five stars)
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