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

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Luigi87

Member
Hm... Self defense or not (Gordon technically did instigate aggression to begin with), wonder how this will play out considering he flat out murdered that guy.


Edit: Oh Bruce...
 
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Effect

Member
WTF!? I know Gotham pushed what you could show at 8pm EST but that was worse then anything they showed last season. Damn! Zsasz is off the chain and Penguin was loving every moment of it.
 
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DangerMouse

Member
That ice cold hangup, oh yeah she's gonna get worse.

She went a bit Harley on that answering machine. Oh man, just googled that, didn't know that was a speculation theory going around the web that she might be similar even if not actually her.

Impressive entrance
 
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Desean101

Banned
Zsasz Being a Mob Hitman in his younger years is one of the better things to come out of this show. He just enjoys his work so much XD
 
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Effect

Member
I like how they're not even attempting to address the fact she's behind housed around male inmates/patients as a negative outside of that first conversation. The fact they would do that in the first place is crazy but this is Arkham where they clearly don't give a shit.

This is going to haunt Jim for a long time I think.

Edit: Also Jessica Lucas looks amazing!!!
 
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Penguin

Member
Said it when watched it first time, really nice step forward I think for the series.

Some nice improvements
Seems like it will be less of "Case of the Week" type dealio.
 
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Effect

Member
I enjoyed the hell out of that episode. Could have used more Bullock but otherwise pretty damn good. I even like Barbara now.
 
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Oddduck

Member
AV Club gave this episode a B.

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/focusing-villains-gotham-finds-new-life-its-season-225645

The season two premiere, “Damned If You Do…,” by contrast, is more promising than anything in the first 22 episodes. What’s remarkable is that Gotham didn’t even need to do that much to make its first hour of this season captivating. The pieces have been there all along; it’s just that the quality of the show depends on how they all get arranged. The biggest change in the premiere from all previous episodes is in the tone of the show. There are still silly villains and stilted dialogue, but it’s clear that the show is no longer taking itself too seriously. Where the first season never managed to balance its campy elements with its more gritty ambitions, “Damned If You Do…” strikes that balance almost immediately.

More than just the product of a shift in tone though, the premiere is promising because it introduces a ton of variables into the mix. Gotham feels unpredictable for the time being, which is not something that could be said about any stretch in the first season. Where the first season consistently winked at the viewer and nudged narratives towards everything canon, “Damned If You Do…” seems more focused on establishing Gotham as its own thing, with its own unique voice. The biggest jolt to the show comes in the form of the new band of villains, as Theo Galavan (James Frain) and his sister Tabitha free a handful of prisoners from Arkham, including Barbara and her new pal Jerome (with Shameless’ Cameron Monaghan back, thankfully), in the hopes of bringing chaos to the streets of Gotham. Right now, Galavan and his team don’t need more motivation that that. The presence of the villains, and the shakeup they represent, in the premiere is enough of a hook for the rest of the season.

This is still an imperfect show with dialogue that occasionally makes you cringe and a Batman origin story that’s moving along at a horribly sluggish pace. Still, with its new band of villains and a shakeup in the city of Gotham, be it Cobblepot becoming the man who pushes Gordon to compromise his ethics or billionaire Theo Galavan preparing to disrupt the order of the city, “Damned If You Do…”presents a rejuvenated and reworked version of Gotham that, for now, represents a significant step forward for the series.
Click to expand...

IGN gave it 7.5 out of 10.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/09/22/gotham-damned-if-you-do-review

I wouldn't say that Gotham's Season 2 premiere exactly signals an upswing in quality, but I commend it for being a soft step in the right direction. Most specifically, it didn't frustrate me for 44 minutes and actually delivered a Gordon/Penguin "deal with the devil" that held dark consequences, instead of their usual paltry dance.

In fact, throw Gordon in deeper. Drown him in complexities. I don't care what's canon and what's not at this point. I won't fully delve back into my Season 1 review spiel about the show needed to completely forget about Batman and just deliver most everything it can now, using Gordon as the surrogate "Caped Crusader," but I do think that the less rules and restrictions placed on this show, the better. Because the over-arching rule of "Well, Batman's coming in a decade" has been crippling the series.

Gotham still has silliness to smooth out (that Gordon close-up running cam again, like in the pilot?) and head-scratchers to hash out (is co-ed Arkham mingling a thing? Feels like it shouldn't be), but overall this Fish-free premiere felt like a shuffle in the right direction.
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