Is it me, or does this weeks episode really feel like it was written as a Two-Face story, and repurposed when they decided to focus on Hatter?
Setting up dilemmas for Gordon, kidnapping ‘the two halves of Gordon’s heart’…that feels more like Harvey Dent than Jervis Tetch.
Well, that plus elements stolen from The Killing Joke.
And every one of the Saw movies.
This version of Tetch reminds me of why I hate mind-control stories, as well as superintelligent sociopath-toys-with-main-character stories. They’re a crutch for lazy writing, and this derivative episode was lazier than most. Frankly, Jim Gordon should be arrested for not alerting the police. They could have cordoned of the area so Tetch wouldn’t escape… again. I’m sure the pattern will repeat the next time Tetch appears.
Plus Penguin’s gay for Riddler, just as we’re clumsily reminded that Riddler likes the ladies. How topically tragic!
Is the whole mind control thing specific to the show or did this character have the ability in the comics. Either way, it smacks of repeating the Jessica Jone villain.
Huh, the actress who played Kristen Kringle also plays Isabella (Eds new girlfriend)
Brian
Mind control has been Mad Hatter’s gimmick at least since the 80s. (I haven’t read his original appearance, and the 60s version (since retconned as a different character) had a hat-collecting gimmick, but I can say the mind control goes back to at least shortly after the original returned.) And he was a pretty significant villain in BTAS.
Surprised you didn’t notice that when she first appeared, since Ed noting the resemblance was a big part of their first scene.
Didn’t like Penguin’s sudden gay-ness last episode and like it even less now. I don’t have a problem with him being gay, but it came out of left field and if he just now figured it out (“Wait…I’m hot for Riddler??!”) he should have had some kind of reaction to that revelation.
Did NOT like Jim’s sudden daddy issues. Dudes. Just fucking fix Jim and keep him fixed for a full season.
Not enough Butch (who’s hysterical).
I believe it was introduced in the 1966 Batman TV show… more or less. He had the hypnotic gimmick, but he only used it to put people to sleep.
Yep, I am starting to lose interest.
I also hate those.
And it was just embarrassing.
I’m getting close to giving up on Gotham. I don’t care much how faithful the show is to the comic, but within the context of the show, the characters have more-or-less jumped the shark.
Bullock is nobody’s comic-relief stooge. And the last few episodes he was Gordon’s.
I’m so very, very bored with the Lee/Gordon drama. She’s not all that interesting to begin with and he’s coming across as just pathetic.
In the same vein: folks, either do something with L’il Bruce or let him go to Tibet to learn mystic fighting techniques or something. But Bruce Wayne, whiney-emo-punching bag simply isn’t holding my interest.
And most egregiously: Gordon. The premise of the show is that he was the one really good guy in a city filled with darkness. He committed cold-blooded murder a season or so back* and now he just permanently crippled two goons. And is acting dumber than a box of rocks. And predictable (So next episode, since the knife is gone, Jim gets arrested and/or goes on the run for the murder of Lee’s husband). Jim is just another corrupt Gotham cop who’s crossed too many lines for my liking. He’s a bad-guy and the only way that they can kind of fix that is to say that Jim has the virus too. Which is dull.
The only subplot holding my interest right now is the Penguin/Riddler thing. Frankly, if it wasn’t for that, I’d have probably given up.
*The fact that the guy came back from the dead isn’t relevant.
I’m enjoying Barbara Keane’s storyline, which now seems to tie into Riddler’s story. That’s a big improvement over Season 1, where I thought she was the most superfluous character of the season.
True or not, I read somewhere (CBR.com, maybe?) that Barbara was originally slated to become Harley Quinn, but the Suicide Squad movie screwed that up the way it screwed up Arrow Season 3 (Amanda Waller etc).
That said, I like her, Butch (who needs a bigger part, dammit–he’s great) and Butch’s girlfriend’s story as well–I was considering it part of the Riddler/Penguin subplot.
we’ve just about given up - but you do have to appreciate Gordon -
“Who else you want to send?”
Waller died in Arrow because the actress was cast in another show as a regular.
Yes, Lee/Gordon drama is overdone and Gordon is pathetic.
And Gordon has crossed way, way too many lines. He is now just another bad cop, who just believes the end justifies the means.
Penguin/Riddler is good and so is Barbara. And Catgirl.
Waller was killed off in season 4 (not season 3) because Marc Guggenheim chose to kill her off.
Here’s the quote I was remembering, but it doesn’t say why she was eventually killed off, only why she was very sporadic. Also after The Accountant, she got another series, Shooter on USA.
Darn celebrity gossip. I didn’t know about Baccarin and McKenzie. Yuck. I wasn’t into their on-screen drama either.
Agree as a character, Gordon’s headed downhill. Killing both of Falcone’s men and then Mario after he gave his word not to is kinda hard to come back from.
I’m enjoying Bruce’s adventures more these days. Selina’s mom? Can’t wait to hear that story.
Not at all surprised about Penguin’s sexuality. Why not? I’m also enjoying the bad guys’ adventures more than Gordon’s too.
I was >< this close to just skipping the second half of the season because I thought they’d follow the same, ultra-boring formula they’ve done repeatedly: Jim goes On The Run because he wasn’t smart enough to bring backup to a situation where his actions could easily be misinterpreted.
Luckily they handwaved that away, as they did with the Falcone revenge thing and it looks like the second half of the season will move forward.
But geez…what have they done to poor Jim Gordon? He was such a kick-ass cool character back in S1 and now he’s just a moron.
We’re still watching, with the finale still to come.
I must say, the second half of this season has been much better. If they bulk up the actor who plays Bruce a bit over the summer, he might yet be a credible Batman. Alfred is still my favorite Alfred from all the various adaptations of Batman. And the Jim Gordon/Lee drama has taken an interesting turn.
And, the Riddler/Penguin thing looks like it might be a hoot. They’re both fun to watch.
Anyone else think the same?
I know some other folks don’t seem to particularly like the show, but I’ve stayed with it and for the most part I’ve found it enjoyable.
The one thing I’m puzzling about – I only know Batman from movies, not a comic book reader – is this: are they dropping massive hints that the guy who’s been training Bruce is actually Ra’s Al Ghul? They’ve been extremely careful not to name him anywhere in that storyline, like that’s going to be the season’s end big reveal. I’m somewhat surprised that they’d hew so closely to story arc that we saw in Nolan’s films, but then maybe that’s pretty tight canon that they feel they can’t get away from. Or maybe it’s just a head fake? I can’t really tell.
As for the rest of it…yeah, I too enjoy it when Oswald and Ed get “stabby” with each other; lots of fun. Those two actors really inhabit the roles very well. It’s actually a pretty clever set-up to create the animosity between them; if they don’t hate each other, then why wouldn’t they (and the other villains, for that matter) just team up together and wipe out the cops (and Batman) and take over Gotham? Get them hating each other and it makes more sense that there’s a major rival dynamic that balances the villains out. Maybe it’s a sub-textual commentary on villains in general–by their very nature they simply can’t play nice with the other children.
Speaking of, I’ve even come around and taken a liking to Barbara. She’s become slightly less psycho and a little more fun to be around. Not quite as appealing as the other villains, but she’s not too annoying now.
The only down note was Barnes looked ridiculous in his new evil Robocop outfit.
I’ll stick with it as long as they keep the show on the schedule, and as long as they don’t go completely off a deep end.
