Gotham Season 3

[DKW]

I like it. Plenty of action, lots of fun sifting through all the politics, love watching all the personalities bounce off each other (I have way more fondness for Jervis Tetch than I ever thought I could have for a manipulative, smug, snotty little twerp), and it’s fantastic that anyone that we don’t explicitly know has to survive can go at any time. I was stunned when Captain Barnes killed Catherine…I’ve seen “snooty, overbearing lady in a position of power” before, and this is the first time I ever saw her get her comeuppance just like that!

To address a few issues:

Re. Bruce Wanye - Really do not understand why anyone was expecting a raging hulked-out ballbuster nor how that is in any way desirable. No, don’t “Christian Bale” me, punk. I watched The Dark Knight, and his grunt-snarl-arrgh performance was downright cringeworthy. Moviebob said it best: “If Batman is supposed to be this crazy acrobatic wall-climbing ninja, he shouldn’t look like Brock Lesnar in between Wellness Policy suspensions.” Way I see it, he’s already a fit kid who knows his way around an abandoned lot, so as long as he’s learning martial arts and honing his detective skills…which he is!..that’s good enough for me. Besides, doesn’t he get any credit for escaping a gory death by picking a lock with a freaking staple? If that ain’t Batman, nothing is!

Re. Jim Gordon - Yeah, he’s something a headcase, and yeah, he should’ve left Lee to rot a long time ago; not disputing that for a second. But y’know what, we were all dumb kids once. Maybe the point here is that Gordon is just one of those well-meaning stubborn fools who always has to learn the hard way. I mean, if nothing else, working outside the law and still managing to stay alive and bring in bad guys would go a long way toward explaining why he’s so tolerant of Batman later in life.

Re. Ridder/Penguin - I couldn’t find anything about them being this closely tied as friends or enemies in any other canon, so I’m convinced that this is something the writers threw in just because they thought it would be cool. And…it is! This is a nitro and glycerin pairing, two men who aren’t much physically but infinitely cunning and completely ruthless, and when they want the same thing, sparks are going to fly. As long as they’re still in the game, there’ll always be something to look forward to.

And hey, how about that Bullock? Progressing from “least objectionable GCPD cop” to “sympathetic world-weary figure” was remarkable enough in itself, but lately he’s looked like a bonafide hero. Say what you will about his personality, he’s damn good at his job and stepped up as a leader when the department needed him the most.

[Fenris]

Good thoughts, but a couple of comments

@DKW

Re. Jim Gordon - Yeah, he’s something a headcase, and yeah, he should’ve left Lee to rot a long time ago; not disputing that for a second. But y’know what, we were all dumb kids once. Maybe the point here is that Gordon is just one of those well-meaning stubborn fools who always has to learn the hard way. I mean, if nothing else, working outside the law and still managing to stay alive and bring in bad guys would go a long way toward explaining why he’s so tolerant of Batman later in life.

The problem is that he’s committed cold-blooded murder…not self defense, not “line of duty” stuff at least once and I think maybe three times. No way could a Batman (and I agree with your thoughts about Batman) ever be ok with that.

Re. Ridder/Penguin - I couldn’t find anything about them being this closely tied as friends or enemies in any other canon, so I’m convinced that this is something the writers threw in just because they thought it would be cool. And…it is! This is a nitro and glycerin pairing, two men who aren’t much physically but infinitely cunning and completely ruthless, and when they want the same thing, sparks are going to fly. As long as they’re still in the game, there’ll always be something to look forward to.

Agreed, but I was a little disappointed at the direction they took. I’d have liked to see Penguin declare his love for Nigma, see if Nigma turned it down gracefully or freaked out (could go either way) and THEN have Penguin kill Riddler’s doppel-girlfriend…whatshername, the Miss Kringle lookalike). Still, the chemistry between the two is electric.

And hey, how about that Bullock? Progressing from “least objectionable GCPD cop” to “sympathetic world-weary figure” was remarkable enough in itself, but lately he’s looked like a bonafide hero. Say what you will about his personality, he’s damn good at his job and stepped up as a leader when the department needed him the most.

Here’s where we disagree. IMO, Jim is running things and Harvey’s just left to say “Yeah, what he said.” I’d love them to do what you’re suggesting, but right now, Harvey is completely impotent and ineffectual, a stooge for Jim. He and Butch should get together and compare notes about working for crazy bosses.

I still wanted to see the virus turn Barnes orange and lumpy. It’d look better than the silly costume he’s wearing. Hell. Make him orange and lumpy to start and the, over time, have the characters notice he’s turning green and scaley and make him Killer Croc or something.

[Terminus_Est]

Alfred dangling Hugo Strange off the roof of Police HQ by his necktie drew my attention to the professor’s unusual knot, and led me to muse on what each character’s choice of knot says about their personality.

[ul]
[li]Hugo Strange wears an Eldredge knot, an extremely unusual choice for an extremely unusual character.[/li][li]Alfred Pennyworth wears a Full Windsor knot, as a gentleman should.[/li][li]Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock wear Four-in-Hand knots, befitting their no-nonsense detective characters.[/li][li]I couldn’t catch Riddler or Penguin’s knots, as they didn’t get undone in this episode. But they’re always impeccably dressed and probably wear Half or Full Windsor knots.[/li][/ul]

[N9IWP]

Missed the end of part two (could have sworn I recorded it, but my DVR had only part 1). Guess I will have to wait a week to see it (I don’t have cable) I saw when Gordon gave Barbara and himself the antidote – can anyone tell me how much was left after that?

Thanks,
Brian

[simster]

@N9IWP

Missed the end of part two (could have sworn I recorded it, but my DVR had only part 1). Guess I will have to wait a week to see it (I don’t have cable) I saw when Gordon gave Barbara and himself the antidote – can anyone tell me how much was left after that?

Thanks,
Brian

quite a bit - Penguin beat Riddler, we find out who the big bodygaurd really is, Barbara was in for a shock, Selina got a new toy and a mysterious figure in black swooped into save a couple in a back alley.

[Terminus_Est]

I didn’t expect them to be advancing the Batman mythos this quickly. Both Penguin and Riddler have declared themselves as such; their feud is what really makes the show. Selina has fallen off the balcony and taken up the whip. Bruce has met frikken Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins and encountered the Lazarus Pit; the end scene showed him taking up vigilante work. I fully expect, though, that we won’t see him in a batsuit until the very last episode of the series. The very last scene of the series should be the Batman chasing a criminal through a chemical factory, who then falls into a tank of chemical waste.

My favorite ascended extra is Butch. He started out as Fish Mooney’s lackey, then Penguin picked him up. His role kept getting expanded and now we find out he’s actually Cyrus Gold! We’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

[Sam_Stone]

The Gotham finale was a bit of a hot mess, but I liked it. It looks like they have set up season 4 really well.

[E-DUB]

That little epilogue was just great. Wonder if Bruce is going to go for the “Flying Fox” persona that he used early on. Maybe next season (there is one, right?) will introduce Harvey Harris. (Retired cop who trained Bruce in criminology.)

[That_Don_Guy]

@E-DUB

That little epilogue was just great. Wonder if Bruce is going to go for the “Flying Fox” persona that he used early on. Maybe next season (there is one, right?) will introduce Harvey Harris. (Retired cop who trained Bruce in criminology.)

There will be a “next season,” but on Thursday nights at 8 Eastern.

I’m a little surprised they left that part in, considering that the show is coming back. “He is Vengeance - he is The Night - he is…coming back for another season? Somebody call the film editors…”)