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Gotham S2 |OT| Dawn of Altruism - Mondays 8/7c

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
The way this is going he might not end up with any Barbara. They're doing their own thing. For all we know Leslie Tompkins is who ends up being Barbara Gordon's (Batgirl/Oracle) mother. Named after someone else though and not this current Barbara.

Still calling that Gordon and the Red Head (wonder if is the same actress from S1) end up together, with disastrous effects on Gordon's relationship with Bullock.
 

Hyunkel6

Member
Best episode of the series? Season 2 starts off with a bang! I hope they can keep it up for the entire season.

The Flash and Gotham are going to be my favorite shows this fall.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
This show has overtaken Arrow easily in my book. I hope people watch and we keep getting more. As stated, the Joker kid was amazing!
 

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
just saw the first episode. not bad!

waiting for the second episode before i catch up with the rest of the thread :p
 

Mariolee

Member
Whoa things are moving...fast. Did not expect her to die so quickly. Does that mean Gordon is commissioner now? Season is pretty bleak.

My only complaint is still Barbara. I honestly feel like she's not a threat and I'm not sure if it's the writing or the actress or both because whenever she's on screen I'm more annoyed than terrified or even interested.
 

Chariot

Member
Still not a fan of Jerome. The show is like... trying too hard. Maybe that's the red herring, but I don't like the focus. Or maybe I am just missing the Mafia business. Liked the assault on the GCPD though, that was shockingly throughout.
 
Still not a fan of Jerome. The show is like... trying too hard. Maybe that's the red herring, but I don't like the focus. Or maybe I am just missing the Mafia business. Liked the assault on the GCPD though, that was shockingly throughout.

Of course it s a red herring. They say as much in every single press release.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I really enjoyed this episode. I wasn't the biggest fan of the S2 premiere, but this episode signaled that the show is indeed finding its footing. Gotham is probably a little more campy than I would have liked, but it does have a unique tone. I think it might be the first Batman property that I've seen that fully embraces every aspect of the character and its world, campy & cartoonish AND frighteningly dark and dirty.

Surprised Essen is gone, I really liked her, even in Season 1.

One noticeable difference from Season 1 is they didn't attempt to give every single character in the sandbox a storyline. Season 1 would have given us the Maniax plot, plus Nygma, plus Penguin, plus Fish, plus Selina, plus Bruce & Alfred. I'm glad the show is learning a sense of focus, apparently.
 

Sölf

Member
That episode was aweomse. And I am also in love with Jerome, his acting is superb! I am still not sure if he will be the Joker later on. We still have the Red Hood kid. Then again, I can live with him being Gordon's Joker.
 

Skux

Member
That Alfred/Lucius scene was fucking dynamite. THIS is the Gotham I've been waiting for.

And holy shit, Penguin wasn't even in this episode and I didn't notice.

Loved the circus-style music for the Maniax.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
So, speaking as someone who quite enjoyed most of the first season of this show, but ended up giving up on it towards the last three or four episodes of Season One...would you guys say it's worth getting back into? I gave up around the storyline where Fish Mooney is trapped on the Island of plastic surgeons/ Selina throws a dude to his death in cold blood on account of feeling that the bad writing, lazy plotting and the over-eager shoehorning of major villains had overtaken the show's more entertaining aspects (more specifically, Gordon and Bullock going out and fighting crimes and the overall general craziness of the Gotham City). In essence, does anyone feel the writing has improved at least marginally or should I keep staying away?
 

Chariot

Member
So, speaking as someone who quite enjoyed most of the first season of this show, but ended up giving up on it towards the last three or four episodes of Season One...would you guys say it's worth getting back into? I gave up around the storyline where Fish Mooney is trapped on the Island of plastic surgeons/ Selina throws a dude to his death in cold blood on account of feeling that the bad writing, lazy plotting and the over-eager shoehorning of major villains had overtaken the show's more entertaining aspects (more specifically, Gordon and Bullock going out and fighting crimes and the overall general craziness of the Gotham City). In essence, does anyone feel the writing has improved at least marginally or should I keep staying away?
So far: no gang war, no Fish, no real Selina and Barbara got mildly interesting. If you like Jerome, you're in for a treat. Crazy criminals do crazy things right now, with a bigger plot hovering above it. But it was only two episodes, the focus can shift of course.
 

Skux

Member
So, speaking as someone who quite enjoyed most of the first season of this show, but ended up giving up on it towards the last three or four episodes of Season One...would you guys say it's worth getting back into?

Get back into it! The tail end of S1 was padding because they never planned the season to go that long - the extra episodes were ordered midway through S1.

Also, it's a massive improvement across the board. They've nailed the comic-book-crime-drama tone and there's just so much more cohesion in the characters and their contribution to the story. The writers have taken in all the feedback and are delivering the Gotham that we deserve. Barbara is far more interesting, plot arcs are moving quicker, and characters have had some great moments so far.

The show is far more serialised so no more non-comic villains of the week (good riddance, Balloon Man). But they're just as wacky and Jerome is absolutely killing it. From what I've read, this season is going to tackle the
Court of Owls
arc from the Batman comics and the pieces are falling into place in these opening episodes.

Season 1 was like "meh, I'll watch it when I have some free time" viewing for me. But now these first two episodes of Season 2 have made it "damn I'm actually really looking forward to this".
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
So far: no gang war, no Fish, no real Selina and Barbara got mildly interesting. If you like Jerome, you're in for a treat. Crazy criminals do crazy things right now, with a bigger plot hovering above it. But it was only two episodes, the focus can shift of course.

No Fish is a huge boon for me, but I was never exactly a fan of that Jerome kid either. That circus episode was pretty much my most hated episode. Even if was misdirection, introducing the kid as the Joker by having him sitting in an interrogation room, ranting about "whores" every five seconds and laughing maniacally to me was just the show demonstrating it's inability to introduce the villain characters without subtlety or nuance. It just seemed unimaginative to me to have the guy acting EXACTLY like the Joker before he even becomes the Joker. But if the fans have grown to like the character, maybe that's a good sign.

Get back into it! The tail end of S1 was padding because they never planned the season to go that long - the extra episodes were ordered midway through S1.

Also, it's a massive improvement across the board. They've nailed the tone and there's just so much more cohesion in the characters and their contribution to the story. The writers have taken in all the feedback and are delivering the Gotham that we deserve (huehue).

The show is far more serialised so no more wacky non-comic villains of the week. From what I've read, this season is going to tackle the
Court of Owls
arc from the Batman comics and the pieces are falling into place in these opening episodes.

Season 1 was like "meh, I'll watch it when I have some free time" viewing for me. But now these first two episodes of Season 2 have made it "damn I'm actually really looking forward to this".

3835268-0037354290-happy.gif


All of this is exactly what I wanted to here! Guess it's back to Gotham for me then!
 

Chariot

Member
No Fish is a huge boon for me, but I was never exactly a fan of that Jerome kid either. That circus episode was pretty much my most hated episode. Even if was misdirection, introducing the kid as the Joker by having him sitting in an interrogation room, ranting about "whores" every five seconds and laughing maniacally to me was just the show demonstrating it's inability to introduce the villain characters without subtlety or nuance. It just seemed unimaginative to me to have the guy acting EXACTLY like the Joker before he even becomes the Joker. But if the fans have grown to like the character, maybe that's a good sign.
I had the same opinion as you and still don't like him. The show really tries too hard to present him as a joker. He is only missing a T-Shirt with JOKER on it, JOKER neon signs showing to him, a Joker card and "damaged" on the forehead.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
I had the same opinion as you and still don't like him. The show really tries too hard to present him as a joker. He is only missing a T-Shirt with JOKER on it, JOKER neon signs showing to him, a Joker card and "damaged" on the forehead.

Yeah, exactly. Instead of writing him as Joker right out of the gate, why not write him as this weedy, pathetic little "Killing Jokesque" stand-up who's trying to break into comedy for the first time by landing himself a performance slot at the Iceberg Lounge? Maybe he ends up getting strong armed by Penguin's men before the character sinks deeper and deeper into debt...forcing him to join Gotham's Underworld in an attempt to do right by his family as he gradually begins losing his mind? Could be kind of cool!

joker-stand-up-gotham-the-joker-revealed-in-new-stills-from-the-pilot-jpeg-97098.jpg


Just, you know chart SOME sort of narrative progression for the character instead of having his first appear as Mini-Joker right out of the gate. Isn't the interesting thing about Joker's origin the pervading idea that the guy WASN'T always a deranged, homicidal madman? That's the one thing I dislike the most about the show: it pours so much narrative potential down the drain!

Still, what Skux said about how the show has progressed gives me hope. This may not be the kind of show I deserve, but it's the kind of show I need.
 

Skux

Member
Regardless of his status as the "Joker" or not, the show needed a "Joker" character like Jerome. Performances like that make Gotham unique from all the other dime-a-dozen, dead serious crime dramas out there. It gets people buzzing online about the show, and making lists and comparisons with Ledger and Nicholson and Hamill, and getting their friends to see "what all the fuss is about".

He's probably the best thing to happen to the show. I mean, we had the fucking Balloon Man and the Spirit of the Goat.
 

Oddduck

Member
Regardless of his status as the "Joker" or not, the show needed a "Joker" character like Jerome. Performances like that make Gotham unique from all the other dime-a-dozen, dead serious crime dramas out there. It gets people buzzing online about the show, and making lists and comparisons with Ledger and Nicholson and Hamill, and getting their friends to see "what all the fuss is about".

He's probably the best thing to happen to the show. I mean, we had the fucking Balloon Man and the Spirit of the Goat.

I agree that the Goat killer itself, as a villain, was pretty silly but...

For what it's worth, I liked the "Spirit of the Goat" episode because it was the first episode to really flesh out Bullock's character into something more than just a corrupt cop. That episode, in my opinion, was a big turning point for the character development of Bullock. Just my two cents. :p
 

LionPride

Banned
I think most of the issues people have with this show's characters is the fact that they aren't like in the comics. For some reason we feel this need to want everything to be the same. I don't care about seeing young Selina and Bruce have some type of relationship or Jerome maybe being the Joker. It is a show that doesn't have any connection to anything and can do whatever it wants. There is no reason why every character must be the same
 

Chariot

Member
You should watch current Doctor Who for the best Joker on television right now, just as Person of Interest is the best Batman show right now.


This evil Mary Poppins got the mix of insanity, a touch of evil and actual brilliance down to the notch without going too over the top by having a mandatory evil laugh every ten minutes.

--

I think most of the issues people have with this show's characters is the fact that they aren't like in the comics. For some reason we feel this need to want everything to be the same. I don't care about seeing young Selina and Bruce have some type of relationship or Jerome maybe being the Joker. It is a show that doesn't have any connection to anything and can do whatever it wants. There is no reason why every character must be the same
I am not saying that everything has to be the same (also: the same as what, there are like a dozens different versions in the comics alone). He is just over the top to appeal to people who want to see the Joker and I don't like it. Easy as pie.
 

Oddduck

Member
I really enjoyed this episode. I wasn't the biggest fan of the S2 premiere, but this episode signaled that the show is indeed finding its footing. Gotham is probably a little more campy than I would have liked, but it does have a unique tone. I think it might be the first Batman property that I've seen that fully embraces every aspect of the character and its world, campy & cartoonish AND frighteningly dark and dirty.

I love Christopher Nolan's movies, but there are many stories and villains that don't work well with a super serious, realistic tone. Personally, I'm glad that Gotham has this wacky, campy, dark sense of humor, because it helps separate it from being another generic cop show. The thing I find most appealing about Gotham is that it feels like a live-action cartoon from the production design to the costumes.
 

Effect

Member
I think most of the issues people have with this show's characters is the fact that they aren't like in the comics. For some reason we feel this need to want everything to be the same. I don't care about seeing young Selina and Bruce have some type of relationship or Jerome maybe being the Joker. It is a show that doesn't have any connection to anything and can do whatever it wants. There is no reason why every character must be the same

I think this is a big part of why some people dislike or perhaps hate the show. This isn't true for everyone of course but I think for a good number of people it is. I find a lot of comic fans have trouble accepting that non-comic adaptions are adaptions of the source material and not just direct recreations. Which is weird because comics themselves have always had the elements of alternative dimensions, universes, and timelines. They of all people should be used to and accepting that a live action movie or tv show could be it's own thing and characters will behave differently from how they are in the comics, etc. Yet many have this strong refusal when it does happen. Especially when it comes to the more popular characters who have actually had the most number of different interpretations.

Looking at a lot of comments in various places over the last season I also think a number of people simply just wanted a different show. The more Gotham isn't the show they wanted or pictured in their head the more they dislike Gotham for not being something it never set out to be or even promised to be or pretended to be. I think people either have to accept that it's going to be it's own thing and should be judged (positively or negatively) on it's own merits or just ignore it and move on.
 
For some reason, it feels like this Maniax arc is going to end really soon. Especially with the amount of Maniax getting killed in these two episodes. Like, I'm expecting Jerome to be taken down next episode, which as long as he isn't killed, I'm alright with.

Hopefully the Galavan's get more to do. Namely Tabitha.
 

Sanjuro

Member
I'm very curious what the production values for what this show is? While the quality can be a mixed bag, looks better than most of the other shows in this genre.
 

Sölf

Member
For some reason, it feels like this Maniax arc is going to end really soon. Especially with the amount of Maniax getting killed in these two episodes. Like, I'm expecting Jerome to be taken down next episode, which as long as he isn't killed, I'm alright with.

Hopefully the Galavan's get more to do. Namely Tabitha.

Yeah, I also think this. I think Jerome's story will be resolved (for now) in the next episode, leaving Barbara out there and Galavan. Not sure about the big guy, he could either also go down next episode or be some sort of bodyguard for Barbara.
 

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
I'm very curious what the production values for what this show is? While the quality can be a mixed bag, looks better than most of the other shows in this genre.

Filming in NYC will do that for you.

Guess this is how they opened up a spot for
Chiklis
. Poor Essen :/
 

Altairre

Member
I'm very curious what the production values for what this show is? While the quality can be a mixed bag, looks better than most of the other shows in this genre.

So should fans of the genre give it a look?
I'm sorry, that phrase is ruined for me.
 

Penguin

Member
I'm very curious what the production values for what this show is? While the quality can be a mixed bag, looks better than most of the other shows in this genre.

It has an amazing post-production team from what I remembered of season 1

And it helps that they actually film in NYC and not like Vancouver and try to dress it up
 

Sanjuro

Member
So should fans of the genre give it a look?
I'm sorry, that phrase is ruined for me.

It goes from god awful, to decent, to some really enjoyable moments. I guess the best thing I can say if you like Batman is all those things come together into some processed food guilty pleasure.

The look is great. The feel is more unique ultimately than anyone thought. It's more difficult for those individuals that have only specific visions for characters.
 

Veelk

Banned
I feel the quality of any given episode is generally more higher than lower, but I'm apparently of a minority on that opinion. Gotham is a vastly higher quality show than either arrow or flash, for reasons mostly already stated. Surreal atmosphere, unique take on characters, some really enjoyable moments.
 
I feel the quality of any given episode is generally more higher than lower, but I'm apparently of a minority on that opinion. Gotham is a vastly higher quality show than either arrow or flash, for reasons mostly already stated. Surreal atmosphere, unique take on characters, some really enjoyable moments.

The fact that they don't need to fill Gotham with any effects helps too to give it a much higher quality look.

Although Arrow doesn't really have that excuse, but then the CW is notorious for slashing budgets the longer a show goes on. Just look at what happened to Smallville and what's happening with Supernatural.
 

Sanjuro

Member
I feel the quality of any given episode is generally more higher than lower, but I'm apparently of a minority on that opinion. Gotham is a vastly higher quality show than either arrow or flash, for reasons mostly already stated. Surreal atmosphere, unique take on characters, some really enjoyable moments.

It's a very rough start. I think it hit its stride towards the middle mark and then I would agree with you.
 

Veelk

Banned
It's a very rough start. I think it hit its stride towards the middle mark and then I would agree with you.
The very start, maybe. I had actually been at the convention where the show premiered. I had not been impressed, and that wasn't helped by the fact that the video stalled for 10 minutes near the end. But for me, it picked up very fast once I realized the quirky acting was an intentional part of the surreal atmosphere, and the writing was actually going for something unique. I think I was digging it as early as episode 3, though I do agree that the middle is where it was at its peak.

I agree the show has its faults, but it stands stronger more often than not. And I think the reason for that is that even where the show stumbles, it does so doing something unique. Barb for example was not perfectly done, but the sheer appreciation I have for the show giving her an actual character arc when even the comics have neglected to do so is laudable. Nymga is the only true failure I see in Gotham.
 

Ithil

Member
I don't believe for a second that Jerome is actually the future Joker. They make it too obvious, never mind that Joker has always had his origin tied directly to Batman.

I expect he's going to be unexpectedly killed off at one point with the intended reaction of "What!? But I thought he was the Joker!". But he's having a good ride in the meantime.
 
Jerome has literally made the season for me so far. I hope he continues to get this much screen time.

This season looks to be fantastic. I can't wait for the next episode. I'm glad I stuck it out even though S1 was a bit "meh"
 
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