Gotham - season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Jason_V]

The Fish Mooney scenes are the weakest part of the show, just isn't doing anything for me.

Agreed. That's the one part of the show I just don't care for. I keep wondering why Jada signed on for this role in particular.

That being said, the series is being very inclusive and open minded in regards to sexual orientation. First there's Barbara and Montoya and then Mooney's question to the singers. In particular, I really liked Jim's response to Barbara...it wasn't that she was in a same sex relationship. That part he didn't seem to blink an eye about.

 

[McPaul]

For obvious reasons, I get squeamish with anything eye related, which made some of this unwatchable for me but still a great ep!

 

[Sean Bryan]

I'm surprised Fish didn't have those 2 female singers do a sing-off battle, oh wait, that was "The Voice"...

 

[Matt Hough]

Very enjoyable episode tonight. The clash of the two gangs (with Fish doing her own thing) is interesting, and I'm loving the way Bruce Wayne is maturing. Looks like his childhood is basically over. Sad but appropriate for the character.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Two things stood out to me from tonight's episode:1) It looks like the show won't entirely shy away from the more science fiction-y villains in Batman's rogues gallery. According to the professor, the militarized version of Viper is called Venom. Which, of course, is the green stuff going through the tubes in Bane's neck.2) I might have underestimated what Jada Pinkett Smith is doing with the Fish Mooney character. I thought her scenery chewing was a misread of the tone of the show. But when she's not entertaining cops or all of the mobs, she pretty much drops the show. And then, while she's coaching the singer girl with the lethal streak, we see her calibrate the girl's performance quite prescisely. Fish Mooney, it seems, is a performance even for Fish Mooney.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

Solid episode, Mooney is still the least interesting part of the show but will see how it goes as the season progresses. I figured the "Viper" drug was a form of "Venom" when we saw the guitarist gain increased strength. There was enough loose ends for Bane to appear down the road. I liked how the Waynetech employee lied to Bruce and then showed up at the end when Gordon was searching the warehouse. I think my favourite part was when Alfred sat down with Bruce to search through the files. The show gets better each week.

 

[Sean Bryan]

"What's altruism?"

 

[Patrick Sun]

FYi: Morena Baccarin is joining the cast...

 

[Sam Favate]

FYi: Morena Baccarin is joining the cast...

Yup, as

Spoiler

Leslie Thompkins.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I kinda hated that the show went all sci-fi with its magic bone eating, super strength making inhalant. And I'm usually the guy that loves everything sci-fi, but I think one of the things I really like about Batman (or perhaps, a certain kind of interpretation of Batman) is that it's somewhat realistic (or at least not totally fantastic) and a response to real-world situations. That's kinda also a big part of the reason I don't really like when Batman does crossovers with other superheroes. I'm not going to stop watching the show or anything but this felt more suited for "Fringe" (a show I loved) than "Batman"

 

[todd s]

Sorry, josh I just cannot agree with you. I hate these variations of Batman or other heroes who try to avoid "superpowers" as to remain grounded in reality. Why? These are COMIC BOOK characters. If you want to people with gadgets grounded in reality...watch James Bond.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Sorry, josh I just cannot agree with you. I hate these variations of Batman or other heroes who try to avoid "superpowers" as to remain grounded in reality. Why? These are COMIC BOOK characters. If you want to people with gadgets grounded in reality...watch James Bond.

Fair enough, we can agree to disagree, and I certainly don't wait to rain on anyone's parade. I'm all well and fine with supernatural stuff with most of the comic book heroes, but the gritty, almost plausible style of Christopher Nolan's films are the Batman variation I enjoy the most.

 

[Jason_V]

I've been curious what this entire conversation revolved around this week, so I watched this week's Gotham tonight. The Viper/Venom storyline reminded me the mirakuru from Arrow last season. I don't remember the same complaints being levied against that show for essentially the same thing.

In Batman Begins, the Scarecrow's plot is to use a drug to make everyone see things that aren't there and effectively wipe out the city. The same thing essentially happened in Batman (1989) when the drug was put into makeup. And lest we forget Catwoman where makeup was used as the bad guy plot. And The Dark Knight Rises and Bane (not to mention Batman & Robin). So yeah...I'm more more than okay with Viper/Venom/whatever you wanna call it.

I'm still not loving the portrayal of Alfred here, though he's not longer the obnoxious jerk I wanted to strangle from the pilot. The moment when Bruce gives him an "order" made me laugh. It was funny on one hand but also showed their evolving relationship, along with what I perceive to be a change in the characters from the writers. Most of the the things that grate on my about the show wee kept in the background this week, including Barbara and Montoya and the eternal Harvey/Jim antagonism.

One last thing: I'm always impressed with the movement of the actress who plays Selena. She's got the whole cat thing down to a science and slid right off of the car in the opening scene like nobody's business.

 

[MattBradley]

The Penguin is my favorite part of the show and I'm really hoping they bring the Iceberg Casino into play in this series. I'm also guessing that Bulloch put blanks in the gun that Gordon used in the dock scene. The character is shady but still good. I think that would be crossing a line.

 

[Sam Favate]

A great episode tonight. Great character moments and a compelling story too. The ending was nice and intense.

 

[Matt Hough]

The scenes with Oswald and his mother gave me the CREEPS! Nice little mystery with The Goat. Edward Nygma is another character with much room for expansion.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I agree with you both, probably the best episode yet. It's fascinating watching the show experiment with these iconic characters as it figures out what works. I think this is the episode where Harvey finally clicked into place, a true anti-hero. Loved his dynamic with Dan Hedaya as his former partner.Curious as to what little miss Selina Kyle stole from Bruce Wayne's study. Camren Bicondova is almost giving a silent movie performance on this show. She didn't make a noise in her one scene this week, but she conveyed a great deal. Her fascination with Bruce Wayne fascinates me. Still amazed that a 15-year-old manages to capture elements of the character that have eluded all of the adult actresses that have preceded her in the role.Tonight's episode was written by Ben Edlund, creator of The Tick. As such, there was some pretty subversive humor in this episode. The final grace note of the Penguin bursting into Gotham PD to interrupt Gordon's booking for his murder was one such example. I laughed out loud at it, even amidst all of the intensity.And it's tough on "The Flash" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." that they have to follow this one on the following night. The cinematography and production design are works of art, which only emphasizes how conventionally shot the other two shows are. More incredibly, "Gotham" takes us to evocative and unconventional new locations every week, while the other shows are more or less limited to a handful of standing sets.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

I liked this episode a lot up until the very end. It just felt forced that Cobblepot would show up at Police Headquarters at that moment but it still left a good cliffhanger. Can't wait to see how it plays out. A lot of good stuff this week, especially Bullock and the Goat mystery.

 

[Matt Hough]

Whoa! That was one dark episode tonight with all of the shootings and deaths (and the surprise revelation at the end). I wanted to kick Barbara to the curb after her blunder no matter how well intentioned.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It was a very revealing episode, though. It felt right to me that Gordon could be pushed only so far, and then no further. Ben McKenzie brought a calm steeliness to the character that rang very true to who Gordon is from all of his past iterations. There's a reason this one honest cop survives to become police commissioner. If you don't believe he can go toe to toe with these people, that you don't believe he can end up as who he has to end up as.The final scene was revealing indeed. We see just how compromised Fish Mooney's position has become, and how thoroughly the Penguin has laid the groundwork for his ascent. Robin Lord Taylor is phenomenal at finding just the right balance the character's pathetic qualities and his cunning and savagery. At this point, I'd say he's the best live action interpretation of the character yet.One of the things that I've always found fascinating about the Batman mythology is the codependency between Batman and his rogues gallery; the Batman exists to stop them, but they only exist to challenge him. The Joker would not be the Joker without a Batman to square off against.The prudent thing would be to kill Jim Gordon, but the Penguin won't do it. Whether out of gratitude for Jim sparing his life or something else, that strange sort of codependency is developing between Gordon and the Penguin.