Gotham Gotham Season 1, Episode 16 "The Blind Fortune Teller" General Discussion

[Kahran Ramsus]

I want Jerome to be The Joker. That scene was FANTASTIC.

Agreed. He did an amazing job. If he is the Joker, the actor nailed it.

 

[Frodo]

Agreed. He did an amazing job. If he is the Joker, the actor nailed it.

Totally. He set the bar pretty high I think. I know Heller is hedging his beats , but the was the Joker. He was like this fusion of Ledger and Nicholson and frankly after his coming out, the episode was over as far as I was concerned.

 

[Human Torch]

Well,I guess I can't call any episode a success,that makes me enjoy Fish & Barbara's scenes more than the plot at large---or can I?

I was looking forward to the Flying Graysons. The "feud" angle was somewhat amusing,but I felt we didn't get to know John & Mary beyond the superficial.

Bullock was pretty much a ghost for the whole episode.Penguin was pretty useless beyond the admittedly amusing last bit with Zsaz. No Nygma.

Gordon not looking into the blind man being a suspect/accomplice until goaded to investigate by Leslie seemed a pretty sophomore mistake. And how did he pull Jerome's guilt outta thin air?

The guy playing Jerome had a pretty good Joker down,but I still don't want to know his history. The fact that he's the murderous son of a so and so snake charmer in the same circus that will one day star the Boy Wonder is hardly the origin I'd have liked.

Bruce's stuff...eh, was OK. (what little there was of it)

Fish's leading the band was...actually kinda interesting. Seemed pretty contrived that she seems to have plenty of burly guys ready to kill or die for her, but, eh.....I was just wondering what was wrong with using those tough guys to attack the two guys with guns? A couple would probably die-yes- but a better plan than just beating a guy to death to prove some kinda point.

The Barbara scenes were priceless. I don't know if they were supposed to be intentionally funny,but they were certainly the highlight for me. Last we see she's at her stuffy parents house,then she comes back home bombed. After finding two waifs living in her pad,she decides to take their fashion advice in an effort to win Jim back. Now, that's worth watching for 40 minutes!

Overall,a disappointing episode.

 

[Roderick]

I really loved this episode. Starting to feel somewhat attached to the characters now, nice to see Bruce at Wayne Enterprises and Barbara interacting with Selina and Ivy. Also loving Fish Mooney and I reckon Gordan has great chemistry with Leslie which is shame because we all know he'll end up with Borefest-Barb. Is anyone else getting tired of Penguin?

As for Jerome as Joker, not too sure how I feel. I wasn't too wrapped in his acting before his psychotic reveal. Will definitely wait for the other Joker candidates before making a decision though.

Looking forward to the next episode.

 

[Uskok]

Fish's leading the band was...actually kinda interesting. Seemed pretty contrived that she seems to have plenty of burly guys ready to kill or die for her, but, eh.....I was just wondering what was wrong with using those tough guys to attack the two guys with guns? A couple would probably die-yes- but a better plan than just beating a guy to death to prove some kinda point.

She's not a revolutionary. She cares only about herself.

 

[The Shape]

Fake Joker reminded me of an evil Weasley brother.

 

[Silliminite]

This show is getting better and better. Loved kid Joker, the actor is great.

I also laughed hard when Penguin got scared upon seeing Butch, and Zsasz just laughs like a maniac. That was ****ing hilarious.

 

[StlMike1969]

I do not agree with this whole too early to reveal characters stuff. The show is very entertaining as it is going. It has been fun to see how they portray the back story to each supposed villain.

As for the "Maybe" Joker showing last night. I immediately was reminded of Jack Nicholsons portrayal in how he kept with the slow, downward, uninterested evil eyes thing. I think he threw in some Heath Ledger with the whole banging on the table emphasis moment. If he is destined to become the Joker I think he could do a good portrayal.

Have to wonder if maybe we are not seeing the turning of the Riddler also. I noticed he seemed rather taken that the new Doc took his platform for presentation.

 

[StlMike1969]

She's not a revolutionary. She cares only about herself.

I would agree with this assessment. Fish is a leader in the sense she understands she must be more ruthless and cunning than the rest to be the Gal in charge. She is just taking a bad situation and making herself a new gang of devoted followers. Give any one a little hope in a hopeless situation and you have a loyal servant. I think we will see with the whole meet the manager sequence she manages to get control of the situation and gang. This gives her a new gang and source of muscle to take over Falcone and get to Penguin. Eventually she will drive the Penguin into the under belly of Gotham and we see his character really evolve.

 

[darknight7.1]

I was impressed with what they did with the joker. I dvr'd the episode and watched his reveal several times. He clearly does 3 impressions. Mark Hamill, Jack Nicholson, then Heath Ledger.

I think what was most impress was how effortlessly he transitioned between each one.

 

[kguillou]

It's funny, I feel like Warner/DC in recent years has had this total complete change in mentality in regards to their characters. They went from a " Let's wait...no we're not ready to do this yet...no, lets hold back on this...let's let this rest for a while" mentality to a "ah **** it why not? Why wait, let's do it!" mentality. All these new tv shows, bringing Batman into the MoS sequel, going all out with Batman's villains on this show...it seems like DC is sick of holding back and just going for it and you gotta admire that.

I think that's a big part of the reason a lot of fans are like "ehhh, this is just too soon to do this" because we're just not used to DC being so gung ho-ready-to-go with this stuff.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

Well,I guess I can't call any episode a success,that makes me enjoy Fish & Barbara's scenes more than the plot at large---or can I?

I'm on the same page. I think Fish worked in this episode because she actually gets a chance to show, not tell, her leadership. We get some indication here of why people might have followed her in the first place and how she might have carved out an incongruous niche among Gotham's Godfather-style mafia types.

Barbara's scene worked IMO because the writers haven't found a better role for her yet than "generic blonde bimbo" and so decided to at least play on that.

The rest of the episode struck me as meh. Proto-Joker the ax murderer was OK but seemed too much too fast. Li'l Bruce still does nothing for me. But we'll see how it goes. If they can get me to warm up to Fish I suppose anything's possible.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I liked the episode but still feel the show is finding it's footing. I think I will be happier in season 2 when it's not a new villain every week thing but considering Batman has one of the deepest rogue galleries out there that may not be the case. Still not a fan of Fish's acting but I like that they are challenging the character now. I did miss Bullock this episode though, Logue shouldn't get shafted like that. Proto-Joker was pretty good, but I still think it was a red herring. I think it's kind of funny that Cat and Ivy are hanging out with Barbara now. My only qualm with the show is it needs more time to develop the villains instead of just constantly introducing them but I think that will be solved as we get more seasons of the show so it's not that big of a deal. All in all it was another solid episode.

 

[terry78]

I agree with the consensus across the board, Cameron nailed Baby Joker. He was that good. He needs some kinda nod for that.

 

[Guts]

Gotham has two actors that have been on another DC comics tv show. Anthony Carrigan played the Mist on the Flash and here he's Victor Zsasz. Mark Margolis was Felix Faust on Constantine and he played a blind fortune teller in this episode.

 

[StarLord]

We just need Robert Knepper (William Tockman on Arrow/The Flash) to show up and the trio will be complete!

 

[godisawesome]

I liked the episode, but I agree with whoever said that Heller probably needs a co-show runner. I still like the tone and I actually enjoy most of the procedural elements, but someone needs to make sure that people like Selina, Barabra, and Bruce have a definitive subplot arc that actually has progress and logic, and someone needs to maybe slow down a bit of the villains of the week to make them more interesting. The Cranes were actually a pretty good two part set-up, and the Electrocutioner was memorable almost entirely because he was a two part baddie. We're probably going to get the second half of the Joker equation with the Red Hood next week. And that's what we need; procedural elements that can be stretched out and come in segments week to week to build the plotline more and more. More Penguin-esque mission goals, less Selina dropping down to rob someone. Less Barbara written horribly while waiting in line for plot developments, more stuff like Selina giving Bruce a few acrobatics pointers.

 

[Legendver2]

I won't be surprised if they decide to do a joker red herring episode each season, all with potential jokers, until his final season debut with batman, where he recounts each seasons origin story of how he came to be to play on his mysterious multiple origins aspect, so that any of the characters we saw earlier could've been joker, but you'll never know for sure.

 

[Snow Queen]

Unlike everyone else in this thread it seems, I wasn't loving the kid playing the maybe Joker.

 

[Silly Cat]

I must say that kid deserves a round of applause!

He nailed the unpredictability, the sense of unhinged chaos, the laugh! You didn't know what he was going to do from one minute to the next in that interrogation scene and that is so the spirit of the Joker!

If he does turn out to be the Joker then I couldn't be more pleased, he certainly put a smile on my face. So well done!

 

[Guts]

Essen being baffled over how Gordon found the body by letting a snake loose was funny

 

[terry78]

Unlike everyone else in this thread it seems, I wasn't loving the kid playing the maybe Joker.

You are such an odd duck, Snow Queen.

 

[Snow Queen]

You are such an odd duck, Snow Queen.

No, I'm a goose.

 

[Wildcard]

I was very impressed with the kid playing Jerome, thought he did a fantastic job & I hope to see more of him very soon.

 

[terry78]

No, I'm a goose.

Stop hitting on me.