Gotham - Season 1

[Morpheus 02]

I would consider the instant eye-repair a jumping the shark moment.....but since Fish is on an island, she might very well have to jump over a shark in order to escape.

And would a police commissioner's endorsement of union candidate really work? It'd be like the CEO of a company endorsing a candidate in a union race -- either unlikely or have the opposite effect.

Wasn't this supposed to be a more "grounded" view of Batman's world pre-Batman?

well, i guess it's like Stargate Universe or Star Trek Voyager -- great premise that the creative staff coulndnt sustain.

Oh, and I agree with Christopher-- BIG waste Jeffrey Comb. I would have liked him to PRETEND to be the "office manager", and actually be more dangerous than he looks.


OK, now this actually is a way for Penguin to "justify" his murder - he stopped a proven killer. What's his body count, now?

 

[Christopher]

I would consider the instant eye-repair a jumping the shark moment.....but since Fish is on an island, she might very well have to jump over a shark in order to escape.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out she called herself "Fish" because she was a preternaturally good swimmer. That's about the level of story logic I've come to expect from this show.

And would a police commissioner's endorsement of union candidate really work? It'd be like the CEO of a company endorsing a candidate in a union race -- either unlikely or have the opposite effect.

Good point. But forget it, Jake, it's Gotham-town.

Wasn't this supposed to be a more "grounded" view of Batman's world pre-Batman?

That's what we expected, and what seemed like the logical reason for doing a show about the Gotham PD without costumed heroes or villains. Clearly we were wrong. This is the campiest live-action take on Batman since Joel Schumacher, and it's the dumbest comics-based show on the air right now. But it's so crazy that it's fascinating to watch anyway.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

This show is very convoluted, with a lot of interconnecting threads, stand-alone stories, serious drama, over-the top characters, gloriously cliche characters complete with hard-boiled cop dialogue, and real moments of quirky writing and some fine acting.

This show is glorious. A satire of serialized story-telling and the public's very fascination for what live-action comic books can be.. maybe it should be taken as a strange satire where the absurdity must be embraced.

I love it.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I would consider the instant eye-repair a jumping the shark moment.....but since Fish is on an island, she might very well have to jump over a shark in order to escape.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out she called herself "Fish" because she was a preternaturally good swimmer. That's about the level of story logic I've come to expect from this show.

And would a police commissioner's endorsement of union candidate really work? It'd be like the CEO of a company endorsing a candidate in a union race -- either unlikely or have the opposite effect.

Good point. But forget it, Jake, it's Gotham-town.

Wasn't this supposed to be a more "grounded" view of Batman's world pre-Batman?

That's what we expected, and what seemed like the logical reason for doing a show about the Gotham PD without costumed heroes or villains. Clearly we were wrong. This is the campiest live-action take on Batman since Joel Schumacher, and it's the dumbest comics-based show on the air right now. But it's so crazy that it's fascinating to watch anyway.

I completely buy that the only thing that can save Gotham City is a man who dresses like a bat. The place was insane from the beginning and the only way to fight that is to be insane yourself. That's why Gordon alone can't save it, he's too normal.

 

[CorporalClegg]

But he's got leverage.

He's rattling the cages.

 

[Greg Cox]

Honestly, the one thing I'm having trouble buying is that Jim Gordon will still be in the GCPD (or even alive) by the time Bruce grows up to be Batman. The man seems to have a death wish and a martyr complex the size of Wayne Towers, not to mention a total lack of subtlety. Pretty much every episode has somebody warning him to back down, take it slow, play it smart, not commit career suicide, and so on, but does he ever listen to them? Of course not. His approach to everything is to bulldoze over every obstacle in his path, and take on the Mayor, the Commissioner, mobsters, and corrupt cops and judges all at once.

Gutsy, yes, but it's hard to imagine how his "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" approach to fighting corruption can go on for another fifteen years or so without him getting killed or fired at some point.

 

[Captain Craig]

^^^
I've had that thought and someone elsewhere at another board suggested that perhaps the show at some point, S3 finale?, jumps 6/7yrs ahead. If Bruce is 12/13 then he'd be 15/16 and jump ahead to an early 20 something Bruce/Selina/Ivy. Other main actors could stay the same, even Harvey probably, but recast those three.

nuBSG did a year jump ahead in one season(3?)
Alias did a two year jump at the end of S2

There's surely more and the suggestion of that large a jump isn't one I know off hand but why not?

 

[Awesome Possum]

I like the kids playing Bruce and Cat. But they could probably do a time skip if they have a growth spurt over the break between seasons. I think that Walking Dead has to do a short time skip every season since the kid who plays Carl is growing up and looks different between the breaks in filming.

 

[JD]

I have to agree that the show is definitely getting crazier and more comic booky as it goes along, but I love it. The bit with Jeffrey Combs was just so insane. Honestly at this point Ivy could star controling plants, a shapeshifting Clayface, and Killer Croc could show up and it wouldn't bother me.
I did enjoy the Gordon story and the stuff with Bruce, but the whole Fish/Dollmaker storyline is just so disconnected from everything else that I have to wonder why it's here right now. I'm hoping this all somehow leads into Fish showing back up in Gotham with all these new allies. I was really hoping when they pulled back, it would turn out she was still in Gotham.
I do find it kind of interesting that we actually have Jim starting to play dirty now. I was kind of disappointed Fish just got a new eye, I was hoping she was going to get some kind of badass eye patch or something.
I am very curious to see what Penguin's favor from Gordon will be.
Lets just hope that Meredith doesn't find out what Oswald's nickname is.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

This show is very convoluted, with a lot of interconnecting threads, stand-alone stories, serious drama, over-the top characters, gloriously cliche characters complete with hard-boiled cop dialogue, and real moments of quirky writing and some fine acting.

This show is glorious. A satire of serialized story-telling and the public's very fascination for what live-action comic books can be.. maybe it should be taken as a strange satire where the absurdity must be embraced.

I love it.

The show does surprisingly embrace the comic book elements. On the surface, it's easy to imagine that the police procedural trappings and lack of Batman would make for a show that might downplay such elements.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The only reason that they would do a time jump is if one of the kids, or a few of the kids fuck up in real life.

Remember those two ladies from Lost who got kicked off the show because they got really drunk, and fucked up the city after work.

I suppose they could have told the kids walking in that it was a one year deal because they always knew that it was going to be a one year deal.

Hmmm?

If they did jump ahead 5 years, they could still use the season one kids for flashback episodes, but would that work? Having a flashback every episode, surely that would get tiresome?

 

[JD]

The only reason that they would do a time jump is if one of the kids, or a few of the kids fuck up in real life.

Remember those two ladies from Lost who got kicked off the show because they got really drunk, and fucked up the city after work.

I suppose they could have told the kids walking in that it was a one year deal because they always knew that it was going to be a one year deal.

Hmmm?

If they did jump ahead 5 years, they could still use the season one kids for flashback episodes, but would that work? Having a flashback every episode, surely that would get tiresome?

Arrow does flashbacks every episode and it's worked for them for 3 seasons.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I doubt that a time jump is in the works here, but Vikings did a four-year one last season.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The only reason that they would do a time jump is if one of the kids, or a few of the kids fuck up in real life.

Remember those two ladies from Lost who got kicked off the show because they got really drunk, and fucked up the city after work.

I suppose they could have told the kids walking in that it was a one year deal because they always knew that it was going to be a one year deal.

Hmmm?

If they did jump ahead 5 years, they could still use the season one kids for flashback episodes, but would that work? Having a flashback every episode, surely that would get tiresome?

Arrow does flashbacks every episode and it's worked for them for 3 seasons.

I hate using smilies, but thought that it might be necessary in case someone thought to say Arrow or Lost to try and get me on all fours.

 

[Taylirious]

The show is a lot of fun. Love Penguin, Nygma, Bruce, Alfred, Gordon & Bullock. I like Fish too but her story is kinda wonky now.

.

 

[Servo]

Fuck Basketball. That is all.

 

[TheSeeker]

We need more Alfred, and less Fish.

 

[CorporalClegg]

We need more Alfred, and less Fish.

Agreed.

I find it baffling that a series that's whole point of being is channeling the Batman universe spends half of its time focus on a character not of the Batman universe.

And while it's okay for the writers to bring their own original characters, given how much time is devoted to her, you'd think she was the main character of the show, not Gordon.

 

[TheSeeker]

And her story doesn't even fit in with the rest of the show at all now. It's like they're just trying to come up with something to keep Jada Pinkett Smith busy.

 

[Christopher]

I find it baffling that a series that's whole point of being is channeling the Batman universe spends half of its time focus on a character not of the Batman universe.

As opposed to, say, a Marvel Universe show focusing on a team of SHIELD agents who were never seen in the comics? Or a Star Wars show about the Rebellion that devotes its entire first season to characters who weren't in the movies?

There's nothing new about an adaptation creating its own original characters to supplement those from the source. The Superman radio series in the '40s invented several: Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Inspector Henderson. Jimmy in particular was created as an audience identification figure for young listeners, so he was heavily featured -- even more so than Lois Lane, who came from the original comics. The radio show also created its own original villains rather than using any from the comics.

After all, it's not the purpose of an adaptation to limit itself to what the source material already did. That would be utterly pointless. The only value in expanding a property into a new medium is the opportunity to add something new to it.

Creating Fish Mooney made sense for a lot of reasons. For one thing, it made sense that at this time, when Batman wasn't around yet and the main cop and criminal characters were still in their formative years, there would've been other adversaries. It would be silly to focus exclusively on gangsters who are still around in Batman's present, because that would mean there was no hope of the cops ever defeating them. Fish is a villain that Gordon can potentially bring down himself without stepping on Batman's cape, so to speak. By the same token, she's a figure in the mob wars whose survival is not guaranteed, and as a blank slate, she has the freedom to act and catalyze events in ways characters like Falcone and Maroni might not be able to do. Plus, of course, there's the fact that she's not a white man. That alone is reason enough to add her to the mix of criminal characters, so that they aren't all just a bunch of Italian mobster stereotypes.