Gotham Knights television series

[DarKush]

I still think this is a bad idea, but the pilot episode was okay, and basically in keeping with The CW standards, and some of the lesser Arrowverse offerings.

It seems like it's a grab bag of Batman lore here, and I wish it had been more firmly established that this was a kind of Batman Beyond/Dark Knight Returns setting with an older Bruce than the one portrayed here. Then it could just be explained away why Grayson, Todd, Drake, and Damian aren't on the series. Of course, the kids not knowing who Robin is (that very un-Robin-like outfit didn't help there), and Carrie telling Turner that Robin was more of a nickname Bruce gave her-makes me assume that there hasn't been a Robin before, or one in a long time.

Misha Collins is effective here, but I do wish they had established that he was reformed or something. You got the Mutant Gang, and an unmarred Dent, it's almost Dark Knight Returns.

I thought the Joker's Daughter's actress was having a lot of fun and the Rows also were okay, though it is hard to square that anyone would think they could get the drop on Batman. The Court of Owls being involved does help sell it, but still it's a stretch. The glimpse of the Talon at the end was the best costuming so far, because the Robin suit was unimpressive and the Bat-mask looked really bad. I also liked the actresses playing Stephanie and Carrie, while Turner was okay. I'm not used to a Bruce ward being so behind the eight ball, but with him being the surrogate character, the audience learns as he does.

I just don't see how this series is set up to go multiple seasons, not that I think it will. The storyline feels more like a Batwoman Season 4 arc than a series that can stand on its own.

 

[Christopher]

Okay... so... the Court of Owls is this vast conspiracy that's somehow managed to remain completely invisible and unknown to the public for hundreds of years... yet their tactic for disposing of cops who fail them is to decapitate them with a sword and send their severed heads to the police in the most flamboyant and attention-grabbing way possible, also providing them with forensic evidence of the type of blade used to kill them and the exceptional skill and strength that would be required to decapitate them with it, well beyond the capabilities of the group of teenage punks they're trying to frame for the killings. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Otherwise, a decent episode, effectively establishing why the characters choose to stay together despite their conflicting goals and agendas. The climax was pretty effective, and it was so, so refreshing to see a car set on fire and not blowing up in a way that a car set on fire would be all but completely incapable of doing in real life, with the threat to Duela being smoke inhalation rather than the risk of explosion. Looks like somebody in the TV business actually paid attention to Mythbusters for a change. Either that or they just couldn't afford the pyrotechnics.

I bet the secret about Turner is that he has some connection to the Owls, like maybe his birth parents are alive and are leaders of the Court. Or maybe he's actually Joe Chill's son.

 

[BK613]

I'm gonna go with the son of J & HQ, because you know, CW drama.

 

[Greg Cox]

Is it just me or is the crooked mayor a dead ringer for Giuliani?

 

[The Realist]

I continue to really enjoy this show. Despite all the negative reaction to the trailers, I find it quite entertaining. The young cast is very game. Plus it's a nice way to decompress after the heaviness of recent episodes of Superman & Lois.

 

[EnderAKH]

Is it just me or is the crooked mayor a dead ringer for Giuliani?

I remember how surprised I was in 1989's Batman when they cast a dead ringer for Ed Koch as Gotham's mayor.

 

[Christopher]

Not bad. They found ways to give all the cast a reason to be involved, though it was maybe a bit labored in some cases, and it helped flesh out their characters effectively.

It did bug me that the episode treated "the Mutant Leader" as if it were a proper supervillain code name like the Penguin or the Riddler, even having a news anchor refer to it that way, instead of just a placeholder description for a character in The Dark Knight Returns who was never given another name.

Also, "uridium oxidate?" Uridium is an imaginary element, either the name of a 1980s Commodore 64 computer game or the name of the Star Trek element that the Cardassians forced Bajoran slaves to process on Terok Nor/Deep Space 9.

 

[Christopher]

A fairly good one this week, with a lot of plot advancement. Turner finds out that Cressida is with the Owls, we learn the origin of the Talon, Veronica Cartwright gets to play a creepy old lady, etc. And Cullen bonds with Stephanie over their respective abusive parents while Harper still thinks she's Miss Privilege. Also, Batman's sidekick and Joker's Daughter make an interesting team-up.

And it seems that Harvey Dent has a split personality and his evil half is with the Court... or maybe just took advantage of the Mutants' bomb to eliminate his rival for the mayorship. Although he did check the owl coin out of evidence, which does suggest a Court connection. I figured they'd bring in the Two-Face angle eventually, but I thought we'd get more time with Heroic Harvey before that happened.

Also, when they said the Talon's knives were coated with a psychoactive drug, I remembered that Cullen had cut a slice of cake with one, so I expected the drug to affect him. Weird that there was apparently no intended connection. Maybe that particular knife didn't have the drug?

 

[Greg Cox]

Things are moving along briskly. I like that they didn't drag out the revelation about who and what the Talon is.

And that was Veronica Cartwright? I completely missed that!

". . . a two-faced politician . . . ." Hah!

 

[Christopher]

". . . a two-faced politician . . . ." Hah!

Low-hanging fruit.

 

[The Realist]

And that was Veronica Cartwright? I completely missed that!

I thought she seemed familiar throughout her scenes, but I didn't identify her (or remember to look her up afterward). Pretty cool.

Low-hanging fruit.

Yeah. I have a high tolerance for such things, but my eyes took it upon themselves to do a little roll on that one.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah. I have a high tolerance for such things, but my eyes took it upon themselves to do a little roll on that one.

My response was, "*sigh* Yeah, they went there."


By the way, I appreciate it that they explained that the Talon was only able to kill Bruce because Cressida had poisoned him to dull his reactions. But that still doesn't explain why everyone in the pilot was so convinced that a group of petty teenage thieves could kill the guy who turned out to be Batman.

Then again, I'm wondering just how old Batman was. The Joker was in Arkham long enough ago for his daughter to be a teenager, and Bruce apparently adopted Turner ten years ago.

Turner, Harper, Cullen -- odd that so many of the lead characters have first names that are usually last names. Particularly odd given that Turner was created for this show, and they chose to call him "Turner Hayes."

Also, if he was Bruce's adopted son and heir rather than just his Youthful Ward, why isn't he Turner Wayne?

 

[Greg Cox]

Dr. Chase Meridian? Is this the first time that character has been referenced since BATMAN FOREVER, way back in 1995?

 

[Christopher]

Dr. Chase Meridian? Is this the first time that character has been referenced since BATMAN FOREVER, way back in 1995?

Apparently she's a comics character as of 2014: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Chase_Meridian_(Prime_Earth)

In looking up the character names from Gotham Knights, I've been surprised to find how faithful it is to the modern comics storylines and characters, aside from creating its main character out of whole cloth.

Although it just occurred to me to wonder if this is like "Skye" from Agents of SHIELD -- maybe it will turn out that "Turner Hayes" is an alias for a canonical comics character. Maybe once Titans ends its run and the name is no longer being used elsewhere, we'll discover that Turner's real name is Dick Grayson.

 

[Christopher]

They're back this week. A weird one -- apparently Joe Chill murdered the Waynes 50 years ago, which means Batman was 58 when he died at the start of this series. Well, I guess if Michael Keaton can still be Batman at 71, anything's possible. Still, Misha Collins is 48, and I would've expected Bruce and Harvey to be closer age cohorts.

Also, Joe Chill (Doug Bradley, Pinhead from the Hellraiser series) turns out to be innocent, framed by the Court of Owls as their patsy. This episode underlines Oscar Morgan's limitations as an actor, since when Turner said he believed Chill, I thought "Wow, that's such a fake delivery that Turner must be lying." But it turned out Turner actually did believe him, so if that was the closest Morgan could come to playing sincerity, I guess he was cast for his looks.

Speaking of casting problems, we met Stephanie's father Arthur Brown, who in the comics is the villain Cluemaster, but is a game show host here (so far). They cast Ethan Embry (Johnny Thunder on Stargirl), who I felt was credible as a supervillain but too creepy to be a credible game show host.

 

[Greg Cox]

Yeah, Cluemaster seemed like he ought to be hosting a dark new off-Broadway revival of CABARET, not a popular tv quiz show.

 

[Christopher]

You know what would've been a wild casting choice, and possibly a brilliant one? Alton Brown as Arthur Brown.

 

[Christopher]

Incidentally, I continue to be amazed at how bad the Court of Owls is at being a secret conspiracy. If you want to keep your criminal organization hidden, committing attempted murder directly in front of the district attorney has got to be at the top of the list of things you should not do.

Also, did the Talon re-sheathe his sword without wiping the blood off first? I'm pretty sure that's a major sword-maintenance fail.

 

[Greg Cox]

Incidentally, I continue to be amazed at how bad the Court of Owls is at being a secret conspiracy. If you want to keep your criminal organization hidden, committing attempted murder directly in front of the district attorney has got to be at the top of the list of things you should not do.

Also, did the Talon re-sheathe his sword without wiping the blood off first? I'm pretty sure that's a major sword-maintenance fail.

I'm kinda baffled how the Court's ageless super-assassin doesn't succeed in killing his target -- unless March was supposed to survive for some arcane reason?

 

[Christopher]

I'm kinda baffled how the Court's ageless super-assassin doesn't succeed in killing his target -- unless March was supposed to survive for some arcane reason?

Yeah, that too. Although I guess maybe Carrie's mother is just that good a surgeon?