Gotham

Sep 23, 2014 13:59

Well, it's not good, but neither was Arrow at first or Birds of Prey ever, and I watched those.*

I don't like that they've made James Gordon and Barbara wealthy. Batman is already about a rich man taking the law into his own hands to fight the evil lower classes. I appreciate that they're using the Batman: Year One origin story that justifies the existence of vigilantes by making the police department corrupt, but making the shining beacon of hope in the police department be the rich guy is a serious misstep. Our only complication between old money = good, working class or poor = bad are Montoya and Allen and a young Selina Kyle. I have hopes that the show will not continue to portray Montoya and Allen's quest for justice as an obstacle to the improvement of Gotham. *headdesk*

Acrobatic street thief Selina is the first character who appears on screen, and the part of this episode that interested me the most. I hope we will see a lot more of her in coming episodes. I also hope for more Alfred, as he has always been my favorite Bat character. From the one or two lines he had, this one's a Michael Caine-inspired version, which is not my favorite, but acceptable. They may stay away from him because inclusion of him implies more inclusion of the child actor playing Bruce, and child actors are not a great thing to base your TV show around.

Because this show is back story and some of the familiar characters are very young, it's not clear which characters will reoccur. Ivy is Bruce's contemporary. Selina seems to be slightly older. Renee, Cris, Riddler, and Penguin are contemporaries of Gordon, who is still a young man. It looks like Penguin will be a recurring villain. I liked him, and his Batman Returns-like origin in this episode is a nice touch that reassures me that despite Gotham's many grim'n'gritty and Nolan-esque aspirations, they're willing to draw from other Batman traditions and go cartoonier at times.

Gordon's fiancée Barbara is another Year One touch, but unlike in Year One there's no reason to suspect it being an attempt to write out Batgirl, as she would not have been conceived yet. This elder Barbara seems to be an ex-girlfriend of Renee Montoya's, which would be a nice bit of representation if it doesn't turn out to be misdirection.

The only actor I recognize is Donal Logue as Harvey, who I'm having trouble not seeing as Hank from Terriers. Everyone seems to be okay (child actors notwithstanding). It's the writers who have to improve.

*I have seen all Batman-related live action to date. At one point I had a goal of watching all DC live action, and if it were just movies, serials, and unsuccessful pilots it would be reasonable, but there are eight DC TV series left ranging from 22 to 100 episodes each, and that's too much TV.

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