Gotham The Official Gotham News and discussion thread - Part 1

[kguillou]

I very much like this show and i know by episode 6 or 7 I'll probably end up loving it. I just think that in the meantime the over the top dialogue can be much improved to make this a truly great show.

The one very important thing this show does get right is its lead character James Gordon. Ben Mckenzie's doing an excellent job so far. He really sells it with his stoic yet sympathetic everyman vibe he gives off. I can't wait to see how they build and deconstruct his character.

 

[InJustice]

Frankly,it's the colorful stuff that keeps me interested.People that want less colorful/Bruce subplots- what are you thinking? Go watch CSI Albany or whatever.

Way to completely miss the point. If you're going to use a tone, be consistent. Don't advertise your show as gritty and grounded, when you're trying to have camp added in too. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[NoBozos]

The writers have something in mind by swinging the pendulum between camp and grit. They obviously are drawing upon elements we've seen before from 60s to Burton/Joel yet know they have to ground the show somewhat like Nolan and a lot of TAS. But there is that pull to the bizarre that seems to be part of a Batman holidayt:. I guess those campy cartoony elements get so engrained into the culture it's as if people can't help themselves---but I prefer how things like that were handled in a movie like "The Devli's Rejects"

I do like that it's hard to place the show in a certain year. It's obviously not 2014 but it's not 1987 either. That's working very well for the show IMO.

I guess my real true gripe is with Fish. If she would just dial it down a little I'd be marking out the whole hour.

They've hit the jackpot with a lot of the elements-the city, Bullock, and of course Penguin among other things.

I'm picky but I'm not THAT picky and just a little less camp and continue letting the city unfold and characters breath and we'll be getting somewhere over the next few episodes.

 

[Mysteryman]

Well, its a LOT less campy then the 66 series .
Thats something .

 

[Frodo]

Alot of the characterizations of the villains are more like Burton then the 66 campyness. The Burton style was not so much campy as kind eccentric and off beat. That style does kinda clash with Nolan's more grounded sociopaths who , while potentially on a hair trigger, weren't off beat and eccentric. I guess the question is whether you can put eccentric and off beat characters in a Nolan grounded style Gotham city.

 

[Mysteryman]

Btw, The 66 series was fine for its time .
I have nothing against the show it is quite entertaining .
But , I am glad Gotham is something more akin to the 21s5t century .

 

[Quasimod0]

One part of this show that I'm loving, is seeing young Bruce begin to grow and show early signs or heroism and Batman-ness. lol. Like when he popped up out of nowhere and scared Alfred, that was a total Batman thing.
And when he was showing such compassion for the young orphan kids.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Interesting second episode, it was certainly tonally different to the pilot with the two villains, and I didn't feel they went that well with the tone they used for the scenes with Gordon and Bruce. Overall I am enjoying the show though and the development of the main characters.

One part of this show that I'm loving, is seeing young Bruce begin to grow and show early signs or heroism and Batman-ness. lol. Like when he popped up out of nowhere and scared Alfred, that was a total Batman thing.
And when he was showing such compassion for the young orphan kids.

I loved those scenes as well especially the bolded one. t: I think we will see the beginnings of him setting up a homing system for those kids much like older Bruce does through the Wayne Foundation in later life.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

do we know what year Gotham is set in? is it modern day or could it be set in the 90s?

 

[Herolee10]

do we know what year Gotham is set in? is it modern day or could it be set in the 90s?

As far as I'm aware of, the producers have said that they wanted to create a "timeline" look to the series so I think they're purposefully avoiding giving out things that would indicate on what specific year this series takes place in.

 

[Naked Shia]

Episode 2 was great. The pace was much better this time. I got a real Morrisonian feel from the villain, they were over the top, weird, and threatening, and it worked very well. It definitely gives Gotham its own identity. It's not CSI: Gotham. It's a true comic book show, even if there are no supersuit or superheroes per se.

 

[Herolee10]

Anyone else feel like Bruce may end up getting most of his training from Alfred in this universe like how he did in the Earth One story line and that we won' be seeing him traveling across the globe like how most interpretations says in order to keep him on the show?

 

[Rorschach2012]

i love the **** outta this show.

Ben Mckenzie, Donal Logue, Bruce, Alfred, Selina and Penguin are the highlights. I love what I've seen of Riddler too.

 

[Naked Shia]

Riddler looks exactly like how I picture Edward Nygma. I like how they blend several takes on the mythos, it gives it a unique feel. I' glad they are not using a nolan tone too. It really feels comic booky, with a nice balance between camp and serious. The Gordon/Bullock Banter is priceless. and I love Alfred. You can feel he doesn't know how to behave, and he has to learn how to really take care of Bruce, but he really cares.

 

[Human Torch]

Interesting second episode, it was certainly tonally different to the pilot with the two villains, and I didn't feel they went that well with the tone they used for the scenes with Gordon and Bruce. Overall I am enjoying the show though and the development of the main characters.



I loved those scenes as well especially the bolded one. t: I think we will see the beginnings of him setting up a homing system for those kids much like older Bruce does through the Wayne Foundation in later life.

Hey,it looks like someone's back in the red!Congrats Hunter!t:

 

[Micromind]

The second episode was much better.

The tone of this series seems to be in between that of Burton's Batman movies and Nolan's trilogy, while taking some elements from BTAS, which is perfect.

 

[DrMylesOBoogie]

Anyone else feel like Bruce may end up getting most of his training from Alfred in this universe like how he did in the Earth One story line and that we won' be seeing him traveling across the globe like how most interpretations says in order to keep him on the show?

Yes. And that will suck. It's a pity Arrow has the characters of Ra's Al Ghul and Ted Grant. They could have made an appearance in Gotham and trained him.

 

[Naked Shia]

I like it when Bruce travels around the world. That said, it's interesting too when he never leaves Gotham. He was much more of a self taught man in the comics pre-crisis.

 

[kguillou]

Anyone else feel like Bruce may end up getting most of his training from Alfred in this universe like how he did in the Earth One story line and that we won' be seeing him traveling across the globe like how most interpretations says in order to keep him on the show?

The thing is Herolee is the show is about Gotham City. The show isn't about Bruce's training to become Batman. Suddenly havimg Bruce traveling the world and training under the League of Shadows would feel so out of place to what this shown is about. This show is about the origins of the characters that will eventually inhabit Batman's world.

 

[Micromind]

Bruce will travel around the world but it wouldn't happen till Bruce complete his education, till then he would be in Gotham.

They will use Bruce going out of Gotham before making a time-jump in the next season. (next means 5th or 6 th season.)

Which would begin with Bruce in his late 20's returning back to Gotham after having learned from other sources around the world.

 

[DigificWriter]

To the person who asked about the timeframe: the series is set in the present, but has a timeless Noir aesthetic.

Yes. And that will suck. It's a pity Arrow has the characters of Ra's Al Ghul and Ted Grant. They could have made an appearance in Gotham and trained him.

Gotham has full unrestricted access to anything and everything Batman-related,
so Ra's being on Arrow means absolutely nothing.

 

[spider-neil]

Bruce will travel around the world but it wouldn't happen till Bruce complete his education, till then he would be in Gotham.

They will use Bruce going out of Gotham before making a time-jump in the next season. (next means 5th or 6 th season.)

Which would begin with Bruce in his late 20's returning back to Gotham after having learned from other sources around the world.

Is this speculation?

 

[declan]

Anyone else feel like Bruce may end up getting most of his training from Alfred in this universe like how he did in the Earth One story line and that we won' be seeing him traveling across the globe like how most interpretations says in order to keep him on the show?

This is the way it was before Ducard was introduced into canon (early '80s?), but Alfred was always a different character than the Earth One storyline too.

He'd fought in WW2 as an intelligence officer, and had gravitas that's never really been done in film. His sarcasm is organic, but Bruce & Wayne Manor is his life, and he's saved Batman's *ss as many times as he subverted his plans/actions.

Anyway, this Alfred in Gotham is closer to the Earth One version and it seems logical to me that no one's going to stop Bruce from doing what he's doing, and I think deep down this Alfred knows it.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Bruce will travel around the world but it wouldn't happen till Bruce complete his education, till then he would be in Gotham.

They will use Bruce going out of Gotham before making a time-jump in the next season. (next means 5th or 6 th season.)

Which would begin with Bruce in his late 20's returning back to Gotham after having learned from other sources around the world.

So in 5 years time, they will time jump to like 2035?

 

[MadVillainy]

2nd episode was good.
The girl who played Selina Kyle was good. Performances are good all around. So are the characterizations.
I do think they could stand the add a bit more personality to Jim Gordon. Ive noticed that reviewers have been mixed on McKenzie's performance. I think his performance is fine, but Gordon needs a bit more charisma. No I dont want him cracking jokes all the time or whatever, but all other portrayals I like (DCAU, Nolanverse, Year One, etc.) he had more personality than being all gloom and doom.
Not a fan of Alfred though. As people have noted, he reminds me of Earth One Alfred who I was not a fan of

But it's still early and Im enjoying it so far.