Gotham Season 5: 5 Ups & 1 Down From ‘13 Stitches’

4. The Direction

Ben McKenzie has directed the odd episode of Gotham before, but this instalment is without a doubt his greatest to date. In fact, it's the best-directed episode of the season thus far.

From the offset, the direction in 13 Stitches is impressive. The lengthy one-shot of Jim Gordon running from Eduardo and Nygma adds a sense of urgency to the moment, as it aids in putting viewers in the scene with the GCPD captain as he turns all of those corners, hoping to find security - something that wouldn't have been possible had the scene been filmed from multiple angles.

McKenzie also did a fine job with the confrontations that occurred throughout the episode - specifically Gordon and Eduardo's face-off. The actor employed some great angles to intensify the conflict between these two men - angles that we don't often see in the Fox series. Wide shots (like the one shown above) were used, as were overhead shots, both of which show the sheer scale of devastation that Eduardo's boss, Walker, caused when she blew up Haven - a fact that only adds to the drama of the impending fight between the two guys.

Alfred being kidnapped by Jeremiah is another standout moment from a directing point of view, as we witness the scene unfold from a perspective that would've been similar to that of the butler's himself, which once again puts us in the scenario for ourselves.