On the heels of the lukewarm response to the pilot, episode two of Gotham titled "Selina Kyle" shows some promises but still has it's pilot's missteps. The episode revolves young homeless kids being drugged and kidnapped by an interesting duo played exceptionally well by Lily Taylor and Frank Whaley. I'm very happy to see the outcome of the episode. These two need to come back in a later episode. Selina Kyle aka Cat is the only one that gets away from the twosome with one teen being lead on a chase that ends him being thrown through a restaurant's front window. Gordon and Bullock are brought in because an old homeless man was murdered during the attempted kidnapping.
Gordon, still trying to be the law and order cop scolds an officer for not securing the crime scene. What follows is a small back and forth that give the writes credit to their subtlety. They hint at the corruption of the Gotham Police Department. Oswald shows up later limping down a road leading into Gotham look for a ride. I get that they want to give him his evolution into the sadistic villain he becomes but the creators really aren't airing on the side of patience. He's picked up by a two college kids, who joke with him until one of them crosses that 'penguin' line. He is brutally stabbed by Oswald. The other is taking hostage which of course fails miserably to Oswald's not so delight.
The rest of the episode follows Gordon and Bullock trying to track down the child kidnappers. With them encountering Fish Mooney, who steals just about every scene she is in. There is also a short but brutally shootout between the kidnappers, Gordon/Bullock that leads to a janitor henchmen being shot then falling down a well. The show is bookend by Bruce acting out in the opening to Alfred's dismay and having another end interaction with Gordon. The end scene felt a little less tacked on than in the pilot. It also showed Bruce's side for orphaned children which will become very prominent in his future.
I'm entertained by this show but it's just so scattered. It really has an identity crisis. Because there is so much going on it doesn't know where or what it wants to be. The first episode seemed far more dramatic. This episode airs on the side of camp. It doesn't get to the Adam West camp level but it sure could have. I know it's hard to take the Batman world seriously (Christopher Nolan did get that right). I think the show needs to find solid footing instead of sliding around in the muck. When it is actual serious it feel genuine and when it's action heavy I'm sucked in. But there are those campy moments that just stop the show in it's tracks.
I still have my fan boy issues. There's no need for an Edward Nygma cameo. Yes, the show is about villains but establish one or two and have others work in the shadows. The scene with him was painful. It seems like they keep drilling into the viewers heads that the GCP is corrupt. Changing the cannon for the show is fine. But when featuring one of the most prominent characters in the show's character changing moment I get upset. Selina Kyle was there in episode one when The Waynes' were murdered. That was the big cliffhanger of this episode. She tell Gordon she knows who killed them. Isn't there a way for to connect these characters without just dropping a big plot hole bomb like that? Two things that do come out of this episode on the positive side is the show's glaring love of comic book brutality and violence. When someone is shot it's vicious. The attack in the car by Oswald is something out of a horror movie. The blood just doesn't come out it sprays. It's one of those knock back moments when I said to myself "whoa, did they just get away with?". Even Kyle gets in on the mix, scratching a henchmen's eyes out before Lily Taylor's character shoots him point blank in the head. The show takes no prisoners for violence. Thank you to The Blacklist for that.
Jada Pinkett Smith where have you been hiding? The shining light of the entire series so far. She has some excellent character moments in this episode. The drinks scene with her and Carmine Falcone shows a range from her I haven't seen in a long time. If the writers keep giving her scenery to chew I can see a groundswell popping up for her to get some kind of award nomination.
I enjoy this show just being such a fan of source material and the films I take fan boy issues. But it wasn't a bad episode. Overall putting everything together it worked to entertain me. I know it was the episode of the night I was talking about the most with friends. That's a positive. I just would love to see this show get on it's stride and fly. It took Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. half a season to do that. With FOX's reputation Gotham doesn't have that long to get the ball rolling. Next week's episode did give me hope that they are slowly getting the kinks out.
Gordon, still trying to be the law and order cop scolds an officer for not securing the crime scene. What follows is a small back and forth that give the writes credit to their subtlety. They hint at the corruption of the Gotham Police Department. Oswald shows up later limping down a road leading into Gotham look for a ride. I get that they want to give him his evolution into the sadistic villain he becomes but the creators really aren't airing on the side of patience. He's picked up by a two college kids, who joke with him until one of them crosses that 'penguin' line. He is brutally stabbed by Oswald. The other is taking hostage which of course fails miserably to Oswald's not so delight.
The rest of the episode follows Gordon and Bullock trying to track down the child kidnappers. With them encountering Fish Mooney, who steals just about every scene she is in. There is also a short but brutally shootout between the kidnappers, Gordon/Bullock that leads to a janitor henchmen being shot then falling down a well. The show is bookend by Bruce acting out in the opening to Alfred's dismay and having another end interaction with Gordon. The end scene felt a little less tacked on than in the pilot. It also showed Bruce's side for orphaned children which will become very prominent in his future.
I'm entertained by this show but it's just so scattered. It really has an identity crisis. Because there is so much going on it doesn't know where or what it wants to be. The first episode seemed far more dramatic. This episode airs on the side of camp. It doesn't get to the Adam West camp level but it sure could have. I know it's hard to take the Batman world seriously (Christopher Nolan did get that right). I think the show needs to find solid footing instead of sliding around in the muck. When it is actual serious it feel genuine and when it's action heavy I'm sucked in. But there are those campy moments that just stop the show in it's tracks.
I still have my fan boy issues. There's no need for an Edward Nygma cameo. Yes, the show is about villains but establish one or two and have others work in the shadows. The scene with him was painful. It seems like they keep drilling into the viewers heads that the GCP is corrupt. Changing the cannon for the show is fine. But when featuring one of the most prominent characters in the show's character changing moment I get upset. Selina Kyle was there in episode one when The Waynes' were murdered. That was the big cliffhanger of this episode. She tell Gordon she knows who killed them. Isn't there a way for to connect these characters without just dropping a big plot hole bomb like that? Two things that do come out of this episode on the positive side is the show's glaring love of comic book brutality and violence. When someone is shot it's vicious. The attack in the car by Oswald is something out of a horror movie. The blood just doesn't come out it sprays. It's one of those knock back moments when I said to myself "whoa, did they just get away with?". Even Kyle gets in on the mix, scratching a henchmen's eyes out before Lily Taylor's character shoots him point blank in the head. The show takes no prisoners for violence. Thank you to The Blacklist for that.
Jada Pinkett Smith where have you been hiding? The shining light of the entire series so far. She has some excellent character moments in this episode. The drinks scene with her and Carmine Falcone shows a range from her I haven't seen in a long time. If the writers keep giving her scenery to chew I can see a groundswell popping up for her to get some kind of award nomination.
I enjoy this show just being such a fan of source material and the films I take fan boy issues. But it wasn't a bad episode. Overall putting everything together it worked to entertain me. I know it was the episode of the night I was talking about the most with friends. That's a positive. I just would love to see this show get on it's stride and fly. It took Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. half a season to do that. With FOX's reputation Gotham doesn't have that long to get the ball rolling. Next week's episode did give me hope that they are slowly getting the kinks out.