Gotham The Official Gotham News and discussion thread - Part 1

[StarLord]

Another potential parental figure for Bruce, like in the comics.

 

[Sawyer]

Set pic of Gordon and Harvey Dent...

 

[antsman41]

Montoya being a lesbian was awesome in the comics because she had feelings and a point of view. Here, she is merely a plot issue for the main character and his fiancé. She is downright creepy, bias, and 'hot-headed' in this tv show...

 

[batbax]

Montoya being a lesbian was awesome in the comics because she had feelings and a point of view. Here, she is merely a plot issue for the main character and his fiancé. She is downright creepy, bias, and 'hot-headed' in this tv show...

Bingo. Feels like most the characters in this show are just "there", much how you describe Montoya. Nothing to tether them to the audience in any tangible way.

 

[Lilbaz]

Set pic of Gordon and Harvey Dent...

With those side burns, Ben looks like Alex Kidd.

 

[Mikelus]

They also really hurt Almost Human by airing episodes out of order.

What were people expecting Gotham was always going to have some Campy Villains IMO. They can't bring Characters Like Mr Freeze Two Face Joker in when Bruce Wayne is in their teens. Sure they have penguin running around but he was just a stooge at the time.

Think again:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You mentioned The Killing Joke. So you’ll bring in The Joker?

BRUNO HELLER: He’s the crown jewel of the Batman villains. He will be brought in with great care and a lot of thought.

EW: Some feel Heath Ledger’s performance was so iconic it would be a mistake to try to do that character again so soon.

BH: I’ve written scenes for Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. So while that is a serious and valid note, you can’t get into doing this without going there. That was a wonderful performance and — apart from everything else — wonderful make-up. And we should try to live up to that. It will be a different character. It’s certainly going to be more Heath Ledger than Cesar Romero. But like I say, all of these people are real people with feelings and emotions and history and parents. I just build from that.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/08/gotham-interview/

Danny Cannon (executive producer): "My first conversation with [showrunner] Bruno Heller about the villains in this show is always that they need to be very credible and relatable and the science behind them needs to be real.

"So I had a couple of stories that I'd held onto - real, true stories - and one of them just related to Mr Freeze. I know a real way to create an origin story."

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s2...e-mr-freeze-the-science-needs-to-be-real.html

Regarding the tone:

EW: The script was more violent than I expected for a broadcast show. Was that a conversation at all, how dark to make it?

BH: Certainly that will be a discussion down the road, I’m sure. Tone is one of those things you try not to think about too much. It just comes out that way. For this world, the people and violence — if that’s the right word for it — needs to be as tough as the city. It’s a high stakes life-or-death place.

Mediocrity is what you get for not thinking about it "too much".


Ladies and gentleman, stop the presses, we have the best Bruce Wayne ever:

EW: With Bruce Wayne, in the pilot we see him as we’ve seen him before — as a victim of a tragedy. And of course we know where he goes eventually. What function he serves in the series is unclear.

BH: Well, I will say [actor] David Mazouz is, without doubt, the best actor ever to play the part of Bruce Wayne. Without doubt — including the people who played Batman. He is a genuine prodigy of an actor, as you will see on screen. Frankly, before David was cast, I was ambivalent about how much we would use Bruce Wayne in the series.

Keep in mind that Bruno Heller prefers Gotham City over Batman:

EW: You first show was about Roman history; your second was a Sherlock Holmes-inspired detective. I wouldn’t have pegged you for a comic-book reader. Were you a Batman fan?

BH: Growing up in England, we didn’t have DC and Marvel Comics until the ’80s. I was aware of Batman and that world. Gotham itself is much more a fascination for me than Batman specifically. When thinking about how to enter the DC world for TV, certainly on network TV, to do shows about superheroes — about people who wear spandex costumes — that doesn’t work very well. We want to see people’s faces. TV is about emotion and character, not stunts and special effects. This is a way of entering that world in a fresh way.

Arrow and The Flash are better, maybe Heller needs to watch those to finally get a clue.

 

[EssayM]

So to clarify...we're talking about a franchise that features:

-a billionaire CEO and grown man who copes with his childhood trauma by secretly dressing up as a superhero and going out an night to beat up criminals;

-his sidekick, an adolescent acrobatic orphan adopted by said billionaire and trained to also dress up as a superhero and go out at night to beat up criminals;

-their British butler, who cooks, cleans, and tends to their wounds when they get beat up;

-their customized car that is bulletproof and has an array of built-in gadgets and weaponry (and has a plane, a bout, and a submarine to go with it;

-their secret cave under the mansion, where they keep said car, a supercomputer, a crime lab, and multiple spare superhero costumes;

-their nemesis, a psychotic killer who wears clown makeup and poisons people with laughing gas

-their other enemies, including a fat British man with a top hat, monocle, tuxedo, and umbrella, as well as a criminal who gives clues to his crimes in riddles and a lawyer whose duplicity is subtly illustrated with a half-burned face and actually being called Two-Face;

-the local police commissioner, a veteran of law enforcement who not only allows multiple vigilantes to do his job for him, but frequently summons them with a large searchlight on top of police headquarters to directly ask them to do this whenever he has a case that is too hard for him.

...And people are complaining that it's sometimes kinda stupid and ridiculous???

(For the record, I'm a longtime Batman fan who legitimately enjoys the above listed elements, yet agrees that some darkness and maturity is integral to the Batman universe, and feels that this show has included both at several points thus far, some sillier moments notwithstanding. Also, kguillou has a valid point, and the show would definitely improve with some more of that.)

 

[batbax]

Lol he actually said that kid is the best Bruce Wayne ever? Oh my dear god.

 

[Sawyer]

Lol he actually said that kid is the best Bruce Wayne ever? Oh my dear god.

Given that this is the only actor thus far to play just Bruce, rather than Bruce and Batman... tell me where he's wrong.

 

[batbax]

Given that this is the only actor thus far to play just Bruce, rather than Bruce and Batman... tell me where he's wrong.

Lol. He also specifically points out in his quote(heller) that he's the best Bruce Wayne "without doubt" including the people who've played batman. I know you were being tongue in cheek(I hope) but if he really feels that way no wonder we r getting the mediocrity we are in this show if that's how he judges acting talent.

 

[The Shape]

The Joker is a villain that I really think should be off limits, other than allusions. He should not be around if Batman's not around.

 

[The Guard]

Thrilled to hear about Leslie Thompkins coming into the show.

 

[godisawesome]

I've been curious how she'd appear; traditionally, Alfred's her beau, but maybe they've decided that the Essen they've created can't serve the job of making Gordon more human through an affair, since she seems pretty corrupt herself and an office romance between a superior and subordinate loses a lot of appeal to people.

And I'm just going to say I love the tone they've gotten for the show. Noir style stories but with a bit of snarky humor is actually a little refreshing from noir's usual dead serious nature, and it's still far away from the outright playacting you're getting from Sin City. And honestly, the city being a garish mess before Batman show's up is great, and I'm hoping we'll see more of the interconnectedness of the procedural elements with the plot arcs; Balloonman being set off by the Mayor's "arrest the kids" plan was actually a nice touch, and I love how exasperated Gordon's getting with all of Gotham, especially since he seems to recognize that as outright crooked as Bullock is, he's still at least somewhat in the right place in his heart.

 

[The Guard]

As much as people have complained about the villains, its really the relationships between characters and the politics of the city that GOTHAM is about. The villains and the mysteries therein are almost secondary. And that's nice to see. In a lot of shows its the other way around.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

Does Bruce even go to school...so far we only seen him at his home. We have seem much of him outside.......perhaps the setting is during the summer ?

 

[Spider-Who?]

Just watched the three episodes up on Hulu. Not quite sure how I feel about it yet. I really like how they're treating Penguin, though I'm not too familiar with his comic backstory. I also appreciate the strength of Jim and Barbara's relationship; seeing Barbara stand up for Jim and trust him without any doubt is good. I was worried that they'd treat that with all the usual cliches...but the season just started so that could change. I'm surprised that I like their take on Selina as well.

I'm not sure about Alfred yet. He's kind of a dick, but it's almost refreshing, lol.

So far, my biggest complaint is how they're handling the corrupt cop angle. Constant over the top police brutality is such a lazy way to illustrate it that I roll my eyes every time they do it. Hopefully they'll fix this and not rely on that aspect as much and let the actual story illustrate the corruption. I can only take seeing the cops kick a guy in the crotch while screaming "look at me! I'm a bad cop!" so many times.

Overall, I hink the show has potential and am interested in seeing where it goes once it finds its footing.

 

[Micromind]

Harvey Dent is making an appearance ? In which episode ?

 

[DrMylesOBoogie]

Delighted we are getting Leslie. Annoyed about the melodrama prospect of her being a love interest for Gordon. The should have cast a younger Essen for that.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yeah I don't really like that either, but what can you do? Maybe Gordon will eventually hook up with Essen anyway, though it seems unlikely at this point.

 

[CaptainWagner]

The Joker is a villain that I really think should be off limits, other than allusions. He should not be around if Batman's not around.

The Joker is one villain I defiantly agree needs to be "created" by Batman. Now, they could instead introduce a criminal under the guise of the Red Hood, possibly played by Mark Hamill

 

[shauner111]

So this idiotic showrunner doesn't think too much about tone, and talks like this show is super serious or something. He also thinks that the kid playing Bruce is better than Bale or Keaton. There's no way i can EVER take this guy or show seriously anymore, even if i wanted to with Gordon.

 

[antsman41]

Yeah, Heller is so far up his own ass for some reason.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Yeah... Heller is so arrogant it's shocking.

He could barely give Heath Ledger a small compliment there, without adding in the *****y make-up comment.

 

[Sawyer]

So this idiotic showrunner doesn't think too much about tone, and talks like this show is super serious or something. He also thinks that the kid playing Bruce is better than Bale or Keaton. There's no way i can EVER take this guy or show seriously anymore, even if i wanted to with Gordon.

Bye.

 

[StarLord]

So, any thoughts on this ''wild child'' character named Liza that's been cast?