Gotham - Season 1

Now that was an unintentionally funny intro with the guy tied to a balloon. I can imagine frustrated fans tuning out after that.

And Professor Pyg. Yay.

 

Yeah, that red-lines how much I'm willing to take/bend as far as the "camp"/"funny"/"comic book physics" is concerned.

Alfred and Lil Bruce fencing is making up for it as is the awesome little Cat(girl) actress.

 

I'm guessing that the name "lieutenant Cranston" is an homage to Bryan Cranston having played Jim Gordon in Batman: Year One.

 

Or to Lamont Cranston, one of The Shadow's many identities.

 

Whoa! I didn't expect Oswald to reveal himself to Jim at the end like that. Intriguing. I liked the balloons. It's the Batman universe. Villains are larger than life. It's not Law and Order.

Selina rules.

 

Yeah, I just don't think the series has quite earned the leeway yet to get away with such "comic book physics." I'll grant them a measure of over-the-top but at the same time the series seems to want to be a touch grounded, noir, and sinister showing this foundation of corruption and everyone having ulterior motives.

But our last two "Villains of the Week" have been some what over-the-top in their M.O.s. At least this week the villain in his personal behavior, mannerisms and such was a bit grounded but the balloon thing was a LOT to accept so soon.

 

Fair enough, but I enjoy this cast so much that I can't help but adore it. Even the Barbara actress was good this week.

Robin Taylor, though, he wows me every single week. He's almost sympathetic. Almost. Killing a cook for his shoes cedes the moral highground. Watching his ascent is going to be mesmerizing.

 

"Lamont" and "Cranston" were both used in tonight's episode, so I think it's the latter.

When Lamont was disguised as the hot dog vendor, that costume was a definite homage to the Shadow.

Bruce being influenced by the Balloonman at a young age was a nice tip-of-the-hat to the actual pulp character of the Shadow, since his stories "inspired" Bob Kane and Bill Finger so much during Batman's formative years.

Anyone catch any other Shadow Easter eggs in the episode?

 

Yeah, Penguin continues to progress in an intriguing way.

 

Penguin's arc is the main storyline as I see it. Everything else falls under that umbrella story--the war between Mooney and Falcone, the police corruption, Jim's struggle to stay on the side of the angels...it all fits. Gotta wonder if Jim will try to elicit his help. Jim doesn't know Oswald's a petty little murderer. It could wreak havoc on his life if he misplaces his trust.

 

Opposite Ben McKenzie as Batman!

The physics weren't that exaggerated. Maybe just off by a factor of three or four -- it might've taken several weather balloons to lift a full-grown man. I wouldn't call it cartoony, just the normal level of exaggeration for action TV.

What I had a harder time believing was that the balloons would stay above Gotham until the burst. The winds at high altitude would probably carry them hundreds of miles away before they burst.

Balloons aside, I actually found this a lot less campy than last week's, because this time the acting was more dialed back and the dialogue less simplistic and blatant (although there's still way too much "Boy, this corrupt city sure is corrupt, isn't it?" dialogue). It was also the first time Alfred has been at all likeable.

And in that last scene with Bruce, with the reporter asking who would protect Gotham now, I was really relieved that a bat didn't choose that moment to fly through the window. That would've just been too much.

I just noticed that Barbara's apartment includes a large clock window. I wonder if that's an homage to Oracle's clock tower from Birds of Prey.

And I liked it that Barbara trusted Jim and knew he was innocent. Trust is so rare in a show like this. We learned a good deal more about Barbara and Renee too. Montoya is pretty true to her comics version, and I like that. I just hope it isn't much longer before she comes around and realizes Jim's on the side of the angels. I'd rather see her as an ally than an antagonist. Gordon needs more people on his side, and Bullock has a looooonnnnnggggg way to go to get there.

 

Or a few dozen, remember one of the earliest episodes of Mythbusters?

 

they used regular party balloons which don't hold that much hence the sheer number of balloons needed.

from google is seems 1 litre of hellium is enough to lift 1.1Kgs so you'd need about 100 litres to lift the average person and you'd need a 22 foot balloon to do that.

 

Good point. I thought of that vaguely, but I didn't think it through. That was just one guy in a lawn chair, wasn't it? And it took 16 balloons.

 

Now we know why the Batwing has that balloon capture device in the 89 movie.

 

That was a cruel trick. I got all excited thinking they were doing Professor Pyg :sobs: