Ensign Lestat's TV Log, 28/05/15
Gotham
Yes, I actually watched and made it through the entire first season of 'Gotham'. and not only that, but I enjoyed most of it as well.
'Gotham' is set in the eponymous DC comics city pre-Batman. Initial trailers were quite exciting, but with every following trailer, more and more characters from the comics were revealed, and that worried me, and everyone else too.
'Gotham' is the story of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and his early years in the GCPD. He's got it rough; he's not entirely sure of his partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) and he's plagued by corruption inside the department as well as outside, with warring mob factions.
We are introduced to him through the death of the Waynes, as he consoles the young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz). This gets him involved with Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) and her bumbling (or so we think) crony Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), Add to that his some time ally Kat (Camren Bicondova) and the awkward ministrations of GCPD forensic Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), and the man has a right juggling act on his hands.
Most articles I've read have mocked or openly despised 'Gotham'. I don't understand the unbidden hate for it. Granted, it tries its best to be clever, interweaving the politics of the mob into its weekly crime dramas, but none of it comes of as remotely intelligent or intelligible. I will perhaps never understand Fish's plan for her prodigy, nor Cobblepot's see-sawing loyalties. I can't quite figure out how evil the Wayne Enterprises is supposed to be, because the season hardly pulled the thread that it so gladly left dangling from time to time.
It annoys me that Nygma's origin story has to do with love and loss (we need to get original here people, the Joker's most famous origin story is also about love, can we move on from this?). The Frankenstein sub-plot was so wholly disturbing that had 'Gotham' not gone on a 2-week hiatus right after the episode aired, I most likely would never have returned to the show.
To top it all, one of the final villains we meet is the Ogre (Milo Ventimiglia), and he kidnaps, tortures (and worse is implied, though not shown) to Jim's ex-girlfriend Barbara Kean (Erin Richards). I'm not sure what it is about Milo that makes him take on these unsavoury roles, but there's obviously something to it, as he is disturbingly horrifying.
And Barbara herself is a huge thorn in everyone's side. She's the second LGBT character in the DC entertainment universe (funny how Marvel hasn't had the guts to include any LGBT characters in their MCU, not even in their TV shows - no, that one scene in Agent Carter doesn't count), but her unique attributes end there. Her character has no life outside of Jim's (though we're told of it often), and has absolutely no use other to get threatened/kidnapped whenever the need arises. She's a damsel in distress, but distressing more often than not.
In short, the show has a lot of issues, or at least, its first season did. It's problematic. It can be a little dumb sometimes. Yes, the writing is poor, and there's too many characters out of sync with the Batman chronology. But, you know what? I still enjoyed the show. I looked forward to it. I wanted to know more about Fish's plans and Cobblepot's deviousness. I wanted to see Jim get the better of the corrupt and delight at the introduction of yet another comic book character. It was fun. Not great. But it made me come back to it, purely for the enjoyment of it.
I think this is one show that will end up doing better in season 2, simply because it will (hopefully) gauge what went right and what went wrong in the first season, and rectify the same.
The show scores on the diversity stakes, but only just (another show does much better on that scale, which I will get to eventually). I love that the GCPD captain is a capable woman of colour (Zabryna Guevara), and that the main antagonist is also a woman of colour. I'm no fan of Jada, but I think she was the biggest reason I kept coming back to the show. She was compelling. Not all of Fish's moves made sense, but, man, did I want to see her being boss! I don't know how she felt about the role, but she owned it.
Between her and Oswald, this show should have been a winner. Taylor's Oswald is devious and an excellent rendition of the character. He's still around, so I'd love to see just what more he can get up to. Last I checked, Jim still owes him a few debts.
Ben McKenzie is the last person I would have cast in the show, for no other reason than I completely forgot about him (and never knew his name either). He was the guy who popped up in trailers during ad breaks for CSI. Didn't know who he was. So, his casting was a complete surprise to me. He is his own Jim Gordon. He doesn't take on the mannerisms or affectations of Gary Oldman (the best Jim Gordon EVER), but he gives his Gordon its own nuance. 'Gotham''s Jim is quiet, but determined. He can be pushed to a corner, but beware the consequences once you do. His soulful eyes belie a tough life. He's a convincing romantic lead, while also holding his ground around so many powerful figures. I really like his Jim Gordon, and one can only hope his character continues to grow.
One of the revelations of the show was young Mazouz. It can't be easy playing Bruce Wayne, but he's really good in allowing Bruce to wallow in his angst, anger and sorrow. He's a determined Bruce, but a weary and wary one.
I know most people didn't care for Nygma, because he's terribly 'on the nose' (as put by one article somewhere). But he was the unlikely comic relief, and sometimes just a relief from the attempted dark and grittiness of the show. Tonally the show isn't off, but it's not always right either. But, Nygma is still fun to watch, because you're rolling your eyes at what he's going to do next, and you can still enjoy it.
We certainly could do with more diversity in the show. And a token LGBT character isn't good enough (I'm not sure if she's still on the show, actually). More representation, and more female boss characters, please. They need to tighten up the writing, with a clear season plot and episodic crime arcs. I love the endless stream of canon bads turning up, so they can continue that. Do this right, and we could be in for one hell of a ride.
Gotham
'Gotham' is set in the eponymous DC comics city pre-Batman. Initial trailers were quite exciting, but with every following trailer, more and more characters from the comics were revealed, and that worried me, and everyone else too.
'Gotham' is the story of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and his early years in the GCPD. He's got it rough; he's not entirely sure of his partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) and he's plagued by corruption inside the department as well as outside, with warring mob factions.
We are introduced to him through the death of the Waynes, as he consoles the young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz). This gets him involved with Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) and her bumbling (or so we think) crony Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), Add to that his some time ally Kat (Camren Bicondova) and the awkward ministrations of GCPD forensic Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), and the man has a right juggling act on his hands.
Most articles I've read have mocked or openly despised 'Gotham'. I don't understand the unbidden hate for it. Granted, it tries its best to be clever, interweaving the politics of the mob into its weekly crime dramas, but none of it comes of as remotely intelligent or intelligible. I will perhaps never understand Fish's plan for her prodigy, nor Cobblepot's see-sawing loyalties. I can't quite figure out how evil the Wayne Enterprises is supposed to be, because the season hardly pulled the thread that it so gladly left dangling from time to time.
It annoys me that Nygma's origin story has to do with love and loss (we need to get original here people, the Joker's most famous origin story is also about love, can we move on from this?). The Frankenstein sub-plot was so wholly disturbing that had 'Gotham' not gone on a 2-week hiatus right after the episode aired, I most likely would never have returned to the show.
To top it all, one of the final villains we meet is the Ogre (Milo Ventimiglia), and he kidnaps, tortures (and worse is implied, though not shown) to Jim's ex-girlfriend Barbara Kean (Erin Richards). I'm not sure what it is about Milo that makes him take on these unsavoury roles, but there's obviously something to it, as he is disturbingly horrifying.
And Barbara herself is a huge thorn in everyone's side. She's the second LGBT character in the DC entertainment universe (funny how Marvel hasn't had the guts to include any LGBT characters in their MCU, not even in their TV shows - no, that one scene in Agent Carter doesn't count), but her unique attributes end there. Her character has no life outside of Jim's (though we're told of it often), and has absolutely no use other to get threatened/kidnapped whenever the need arises. She's a damsel in distress, but distressing more often than not.
In short, the show has a lot of issues, or at least, its first season did. It's problematic. It can be a little dumb sometimes. Yes, the writing is poor, and there's too many characters out of sync with the Batman chronology. But, you know what? I still enjoyed the show. I looked forward to it. I wanted to know more about Fish's plans and Cobblepot's deviousness. I wanted to see Jim get the better of the corrupt and delight at the introduction of yet another comic book character. It was fun. Not great. But it made me come back to it, purely for the enjoyment of it.
I think this is one show that will end up doing better in season 2, simply because it will (hopefully) gauge what went right and what went wrong in the first season, and rectify the same.
The show scores on the diversity stakes, but only just (another show does much better on that scale, which I will get to eventually). I love that the GCPD captain is a capable woman of colour (Zabryna Guevara), and that the main antagonist is also a woman of colour. I'm no fan of Jada, but I think she was the biggest reason I kept coming back to the show. She was compelling. Not all of Fish's moves made sense, but, man, did I want to see her being boss! I don't know how she felt about the role, but she owned it.
Between her and Oswald, this show should have been a winner. Taylor's Oswald is devious and an excellent rendition of the character. He's still around, so I'd love to see just what more he can get up to. Last I checked, Jim still owes him a few debts.
Ben McKenzie is the last person I would have cast in the show, for no other reason than I completely forgot about him (and never knew his name either). He was the guy who popped up in trailers during ad breaks for CSI. Didn't know who he was. So, his casting was a complete surprise to me. He is his own Jim Gordon. He doesn't take on the mannerisms or affectations of Gary Oldman (the best Jim Gordon EVER), but he gives his Gordon its own nuance. 'Gotham''s Jim is quiet, but determined. He can be pushed to a corner, but beware the consequences once you do. His soulful eyes belie a tough life. He's a convincing romantic lead, while also holding his ground around so many powerful figures. I really like his Jim Gordon, and one can only hope his character continues to grow.
One of the revelations of the show was young Mazouz. It can't be easy playing Bruce Wayne, but he's really good in allowing Bruce to wallow in his angst, anger and sorrow. He's a determined Bruce, but a weary and wary one.
I know most people didn't care for Nygma, because he's terribly 'on the nose' (as put by one article somewhere). But he was the unlikely comic relief, and sometimes just a relief from the attempted dark and grittiness of the show. Tonally the show isn't off, but it's not always right either. But, Nygma is still fun to watch, because you're rolling your eyes at what he's going to do next, and you can still enjoy it.
We certainly could do with more diversity in the show. And a token LGBT character isn't good enough (I'm not sure if she's still on the show, actually). More representation, and more female boss characters, please. They need to tighten up the writing, with a clear season plot and episodic crime arcs. I love the endless stream of canon bads turning up, so they can continue that. Do this right, and we could be in for one hell of a ride.
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