Except, in all those examples, the other characters were just cogs. Fish has been her own machine since the pilot. And she continues to move farther and farther away from the main narrative. But that's not at all how the show works. It takes every possible opportunity to remind the viewer it's Batman. The plot structure looks like this: Batman stuff Batman stuff Fish Batman stuff Fish Fish Batman stuff etc.
Not Jimmy Olsen, not in the radio series. Like I said, he was created specifically to be the character that the young boys of the show's target audience would identify with the most. Jimmy was quite often the main character that the story followed, the catalyst of the plot. He was the one bravely going undercover in a gang of delinquents or violent racists, or getting whisked away to the Moon by an eccentric inventor, or partnering with a colorful cowboy and becoming an honorary member of an Indian tribe, with Superman following afterward to back him up or rescue him. If you've seen the Adventures of Superman TV episode "The Haunted Lighthouse," which was adapted from a radio plot, you'll remember that Jimmy has more screen time in it than Clark/Superman by a sizeable margin. Well, on this show it's hard to tell -- I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell Barbara is still doing as part of the show -- but in Fish's case, I'm not convinced of that. The Dollmaker was first referenced way back in the second episode of the series. He was seeded very early, and now he's emerged at last. That suggests to me that he's going to become a central figure in the final four episodes, and Fish's arc is going to come back around to Gotham with a vengeance (perhaps literally). Non sequitur. That's not in conflict with what I'm saying. Yes, obviously, it's about seeding the background of the Batman mythos. But it can't be exclusively about that 100 percent of the time. There should be elements that aren't part of Batman's future career alongside those that are. That's only sensible for a show set in his childhood. Some antagonists will stick around while others fall by the wayside. And it makes sense to start out with a new antagonist like Fish and only gradually bring in the more familiar ones. If anything, their mistake is relying too heavily on familiar characters right off the bat. There should be more antagonists like Fish.
I have to cry foul on Fish having a perfectly good eye in the very next freakin' episode. Way to completely undercut that shocking moment. Sigh. Also, what was the point of turning Jeffrey Combs into a girl? Not only was it horribly fake looking, why spend the time and the money to do that? He's using up precious organs for this?
I think it was just to show how twisted Dolmacher is. I don't mind Fish being in the show, my only issue with her is that right now her story is very disconnected from everything else. Pretty much everything else in the show ties into all of the stuff with Falcone and/or Maroni, but then Fish is off doing her own thing.
I think the idea is that Dulmacher is a mad doctor who wants to experiment with ways of altering human anatomy, just because he can. I suppose his black-market organ-transplanting business is how he funds his experiments.
Since this is a Batman precursor show, I guess the question could be, are there any villains in the Batman rogues gallery that Dulmacher could be responsible for creating with his experiments?
He's going to feel like an ass once he sees what that broken particle accelerator did to all those randoms in Central City. http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Dollmaker
Well, the Dollmaker (under a different name, Barton Mathis) is himself one of Batman's rogues in the New 52 continuity. As for other rogues, it's hard to say. Maybe Clayface could be created by some experiment with advanced body modification, something involving nanotechnology. Let's see, Amygdala's already been seen in the show as a creation of the Electrocutioner's experiments. Maybe Killer Croc could be retconned as some sort of experiment in cross-species transplantation rather than (essentially) a mutant. There's Hush (Tommy Elliot), whose schtick involves extensive plastic surgery (to make himself look like Bruce Wayne) and is usually shown covered in bandages. But we've already seen Tommy as the school bully that Bruce beat up with Alfred's encouragement.
^In the comics, Boss Maroni (or Moroni, in the original story) was the one who threw acid into Harvey's face, scarring him and turning him into Two-Face. Since Maroni is a semi-regular character here, they may go the same route. Although there's been no interaction between Dent and Maroni so far in the show.
It looks like Jada Pinkett Smith will probably not be returning for season two of Gotham. Link I for one am relieved. I have become very tired of the character and her story.
I kind of had the feeling she was only in for one season and that like what's already happened Penguin would assume her position in the mob's hierarchy.
What I'm wondering is why we've seen no trace of Fish's hair for the past several episodes. It's been completely hidden inside one turban or another. I wonder, is there an in-story reason for that, or a real-world reason?
I think in real life she prefers to wear wraps. This may just be her exerting more control over how the character is portrayed.
Carol is the nosey landlord in a new sitcom, where she looks at least 30 years younger than she does on Gotham. Weird.