GOTHAM: Penguin's Umbrella

Love Conquers All !

This week's episode is a bit twisty turny. Not a lot of good cop, bad cop crime solving, however it did bring the heat on Jim Gordon after Falcone realizes Penguin is still alive terroizing the city. In typical Falcone fashion, he has another man do his dirty work for him. This man is named Victor Zsasz who is a Batman character (serial killer) who prefers to use a blade, and then carves a tally mark on his body after each kill. Zsasz believes that life is pointless, and that he's freeing his victims from a meaningless existence by killing them. When this character came on screen tonight I was hoping he would live to see another episode and that happened indeed. Finally, a villain that doesn't die at the end.



Last week, Oswald Cobblepot revealed that he’s still alive, and this week, predictably, all hell breaks loose in Gotham. Harvey Bullock feels betrayed, Don Falcone realizes he’s been duped, and Fish Mooney sees blood. Everybody, it seems, wants Jim Gordon and Penguin dead, and no one in the Gotham Police Department has the balls to stand up to Don Falcone’s assassin when he shows up at Police Headquarters looking for Gordon’s head.  Gordon manages to buy himself a little time and gets his girlfriend Barbara out of town, but quickly winds up in the crosshairs between the Maroni and Falcone gangs. Penguin, meanwhile, manages to slither out of danger by playing up his value to Don Maroni.  When Falcone’s gang hijacks a truck full of cash from Maroni’s men, Penguin manages to manipulate Maroni into hitting back hard and killing everyone at Falcone’s drug warehouse (including Fish Mooney’s Russian-mob boyfriend.)

Meanwhile, Gordon hatches a bold plan to arrest the Mayor and Falcone for conspiracy in the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and nearly gets away with it. But Barbara foolishly returned to Gotham to plead for her boyfriend’s life, and Falcone holds her hostage to force Gordon to give up his plan. Throughout all this, Don Falcone has been acting oddly; as Fish Mooney observes, it’s almost like he knows something no one else knows.  At the end of the episode, we learn what that is: Falcone flipped Penguin into being his snitch, and Penguin let Falcone know that Fish and her Russian lover were plotting a takeover. When all the dust has cleared, Don Falcone remains in charge of the city, his biggest rival has been eliminated, and Don Maroni’s none the wiser that his right hand man is actually working for his arch enemy.



There’s one short scene where Gordon stops at Wayne Manor to say goodbye in case Falcone’s men get him, and again David Mazouz impresses as  the young Bruce Wayne. Even Sean Pertwee’s non-traditional Alfred Pennyworth is starting to grow on me. So with Oswald Penguin Cobblepot embedded with the Maroni mob (but secretly working for Don Falcone,) the stage is set for more mischief. Meanwhile, it’s all about real estate and land deals and whatever’s happening at Arkham Asylum, and that’s where we’ll be headed next week.

GOTHAM: Viper

Do Not Breathe The Green Pollution!

GOTHAM has finally got a good steady fight in process. Opening the show is Alfred being frustrated at young Bruce for spending so much time on files and folders to try and solve his parents murder. Our villain this week is a man that has a couple of screws loose. Carrying around a small vile of green liquid that says "Breath Me." Once this green liquid is inhaled it causes you to lose your mind and become super strong and crazy. Stan Topolski is a super smart scientist, an ex employer at Welzyne labs. Edward Nigma (the Riddler) cracks the case on Viper, stating that the drug uses DNA and breaks down calcium in your body causing you to go insane, and soon after your skeleton crumbles and you suffocate to death. (Talk about a bad trip).



Maroni finds out about The Penguin's and Gordon's secret and is now using the Penguin as bait towards Falcone. Maroni and Jim Gordon speaking to each other was interesting because the story he had to tell had to match up with the Penguins to see if he was telling the truth. Maroni takes out a hit on a casino owned by Falcone with the help of Penguin. Maroni is bringing Penguin closer and closer into his mob.



Fish Mooney is still training Liza as her weapon towards Falcone by teaching her how to speak sexy and like the music Falcone does. Mooney is having a romance with a Russian mob leader that Falcone knows nothing about. This was interesting because as a viewer I am unsure how serious that romance is or if she is just sneaking her way more into being the Queen of Gotham. At the end of the episode Liza is listening to the song getting Falcone interested as they sit and listen to the song together. Liza and Falcone's relationship is going to be fun to watch as the series goes on.

Gordon and Harvey are working better as a team and I like what the writers are doing putting in fun scenes between the two. For example, the two buying hamburgers on the street and having fun conversations. With the drug named Viper, Batman fans can't help to think about Bane with the Venom injection. Stan tries poisoning the Bruce Wayne foundation at a dinner part but is quickly shot down by Gordon and Harvey.

This episode, Gotham really started to gel. The lack of Barbara was a plus. But the character development of Gordon and Harvey is finally starting work. The impending gang war is heating up and actually starting to have some interesting pieces in play. A young Bruce finally came out of his shell (or his manor rather) and became worth watching for the first time. And Alfred getting on board with Bruce at the end of the episode was pretty priceless.

 

GOTHAM Arkham Review

War Is Just Politicians By Other Means

Gotham picks up right where it left off from last weeks episode with Cobblepot at the front door step of Jim and Barbara's home. Jim decides not to offer Cobblepot a drink and it cuts quickly to the back allies of Gotham. Jim has to do everything in his power to keep calm knowing that if Falcone sees the two together, it will be the end of their lives. After convincing Jim that he is a good man and that there is going to be a war coming to Gotham, Cobblepot walks off unharmed. Cutting to our villain for the week, we see a man approach two councilmen in the street. He tells them he is a supporter of their work and asked them to take look into this flute like scope. One councilman looks into the object and it quickly shoots a spike out, killing the councilman. The villain is a new character named Gladwell that was hired to take out the Councilman who are in the pockets of Falcone and Maroni.



Every Batman fan geeks out about Arkham, not just because it is the home of our favorite villains in Gotham, but because we don't know how it came to be... until this episode. Gotham did a great job with keeping the Arkham sign and gates old and creepy much like in the comics. Respect. The focus of the episode is, naturally, what to do with the Arkham section of Gotham. Falcone wants to build low-cost housing and retrofit the asylum into a state-of-the-art mental health facility. Incidentally, this was what the Waynes had been working towards. Maroni wants to use it as a dump. It is a huge chunk of property, and would be a huge win for whichever gang gets the bid.

Back to our creepy friend Oswald, he is gaining trust in the Maroni organization. He stages a robbery in the restaurant he works in, which is owned by Maroni. The robbers kill Lou (restaurant manager) and steal one of two sacks of money Maroni’s men are counting in the back room. Oswald sets it up so that Maroni’s goons find him hiding in the refrigerator, clutching the remaining sack of money. Maroni is so grateful he promotes Oswald to restaurant manager.



Fish auditions a couple of stage singers for her club, but really wants them as some kind of secret weapon, the details of which she does not elaborate on. She can’t decide between the two, so she lets them fight it out. Liza is the winner. And Barbara finally comes clean to Jim the relationship she had with Montoya. He is pissed, but not about the lesbianism; but because she kept the relationship a secret for so long. She, in turn, is pissed that he won’t be honest with her about who Oswald is. “Let me in or let me go,” she implores. Jim says nothing so I assume they are broken up (at least temporarily). Finally, Bruce, having nightmare about his parents death, starts to go through their old files, thinking that their murders are related to the war brewing over Arkham.

Jim cracks the case and knows that the next target for Gladwell's killing is the Mayor. Gladwell is then shot down by Jim and Bullock in the Mayor's house. Jim and Bullock are working better as a team but still clash from time to time. Oswald Cobblepot ends the episode by going to the robbers house and thanking them with a poisoned cannoli.

Fox Picks Up Full Season of Gotham

Gotham Gets the Thumbs Up for Full Season One

Breaking news this morning, Fox orders an additional six episodes of Gotham according to a report from EW.com. This mean that the show is green lit for a full season.



Although there have been mixed reviews from both fans and critics, it seems that Fox has at least enough confidence to keep the show going to a full season. Lots of speculation has been flying as to how Gotham will fair on Fox with their record of prematurely cancelling shows. *cough cough* firefly *cough* Much of the critical review has been on the subject of how the show can keep up believable story lines 15 years before Batman ever hits the scene. It's a relevant argument. There is something of a catch-22 going on with this show. Some say that the show can never have any satisfying resolutions if the overall narrative is supposed to leave us believing that Batman will someday rise to save Gotham City. On the other hand, anything that Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock accomplish (which would be necessary to leave the viewer with some sense of satisfaction) then why would Gotham ever need Batman? It's a fine line that the show runners will have to walk. But even with the waning ratings over the last couple of episodes, the premiere of Gotham gathered some of this season's highest ratings.

Gotham airs on Fox at 8/7 c on Monday nights. Keep up with our regular reviews of each episode from Aaron Evenson on every Wednesday.

Gotham: "The Balloonman" Review

The Balloonman, the Vigilante Gotham Neither Needs Nor Deserves...

Just when I was getting excited about the great episode "Selina Kyle," this weeks episode of Gotham "The Balloonman" took a small step back. Opening up with a stick/sword fight between Alfred and young Bruce, the two seem to be having a heated battle until Bruce loses his temper. To me, this is the beginning of Alfred starting his training, really letting Bruce show his attitude and emotion. With Selina Kyle keeping her word on helping Jim Gordon crack the snatchers case, she makes a cat like getaway, un-handcuffing herself from a ladder while Jim was looking for evidence. Not to mention with a pen she stole from Harvey to crack the lock. All of this is good character development.



The idea of a vigilante tying up crooked cops, twisted priests and evil politicians to weather balloons was a ghoulish take on The Balloonman. It was a new take on killing someone off by letting them float up into the air, letting them think about what they have done and once the helium gets cold the balloon pops dropping them to their deaths. Harvey does what the bad cop does best to crack the case by sweet talking hookers, beats up a snitch and eats free street cart food. However, detectives Allen and Montoya get word from Fish that Jim Gordon might have murdered Cobblepot. Cobblepot is alive and well becoming creepier and creepier by killing people for weird strange reasons, like for shoes to get a job at a restaurant.



Here is where the episode gets interesting. Barbara Gordon (Jim's Wife) and detective Montoya have been having this secret between each other. As Montoya tells Barb about her suspecions of Jim's murdering Cobblepot ,making it sound like he is working for Falcone, she say's she can't stand seeing her with this man. Montoya goes in for a kiss and we finally without a doubt realize there is a love story going on between these two . Depending on what comics you have read, you know Barb was either shot and paralyzed by the Joker or the mother of Batgirl. This story for me is making wonder where they are going to take this.

Gotham is doing a fantastic job on showing Batman fans little hidden eggs in each episode-like a mask reminiscent of Professor Pyg and a guy named Lamont killing a guy named Cranston (Lamont Cranston was The Shadow). With the episode winding down and Jim and Harvey capturing The Balloonman, Jim vents to Barbara about how Gotham is a sick and twisted place (I typed that better than the actual dialogue because Jim and Barbs dialogue together needs some work). The apartment door starts knocking and as Barbara answers the door, we see Cobblepot saying hello to Jim Gordon.

Gotham: Selina Kyle

With the episode named Selina Kyle, we assumed that we would be getting a catwoman back story. Julie Newmar was a great catwoman in the 1960's television series Batman however the new actress Camren Bicondova transforms an edgy troubled young girl from the streets into the feline villain us Batman fans enjoy.



Ten minutes watching this episode was more pleasant than the first episode pilot, however I am now just looking at the pilot as a good plot/character introduction. Opening into the dark and rainy streets of Gotham we see Selina Kyle who refers to herself as "Cat". With Cat and her street friends around a burning barrel of trash, a bus pulls up with our villains named Patti and Doug. They call themselves "Gotham Homeless Street Shelter." After feeding the kids with lies on what they can offer the children, Patti then starts stabbing the kids with a pen laced with a knock out drug called ATP. Selina making the escape, the rest of the kids get captured.

Cutting to Wayne manor, we see young Bruce Wayne sitting by a candle flame slowly putting his hand on top of the candle causing his hand to burn. Alfred then walks in and sees what Bruce is doing and gets highly frustrated. What I mean by that is he yelled at Bruce then brought it in for a hug, tough love from Alfred. Later in the episode we see Bruce drawing a dark picture, listening to heavy metal and finding out that he has been cutting himself. Later in the episode he explains to Gordon that he is training himself. Confused by this I just assumed he is already trying to find a way to seek justice and find revenge for his parents murder. Falcone and Mooney are still in the battle for Gotham, in this episode Falcone sends a face to face message to Mooney by having his men rough up one of Mooney's boy toys. This scene was excellent in the fact that Falcone is not messing around nor is he the type to be messed with.



Gordon and Harvey are still playing their good cop bad cop show, trying to crack the case of the street kid snatchers. With Doug and Patti hijacking a bus that was suppose to transport the street kids to juvenile hall, the two mention that their leader "Doll Maker" will be pleased with their accomplishment. This makes me wonder if we will see the villain Doll Maker in the TV show? This villain was a very dark and disturbed character that used the skin and limbs from his victims to make dolls. Speaking of dark and disturbed, Oswald (Penguin)  has made a friend by capturing him, killing his friend with a beer bottle, taking him hostage and calling his mom for a bounty. Also, we do get to see Oswald's mother who is just as creepy as he is.

Gotham is still doing a great job in planting hidden facts about the character's back stories. For example Selina Kyle tells another foster kid the best way to take down a prey is to scratch out their eyes (seems like something a crazy cat would do). I am so relieved that the show is picking up in dialogue and cinematography, maybe someone over at DC or Fox read my post? Please let me know your thoughts on the show or your opinion on where the show might be going.

 

GOTHAM "Pilot"

If you are expecting great Batman writing from Frank Miller or cinematic directing from Christopher Nolan, the new television show Gotham may not be the show for you. With that said if you are however a Batman fan like myself, you tuned into watch.



Gotham is the story before Bruce Wayne becoming the caped crusader. Opening the show with panning shots of Gotham the show flies off with a more in depth feel of how Bruce Wayne's family was murdered and Jim Gordon was introduced. Selina Kyle aka Catwoman being on top of the building witnessing the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne was an interesting take, why she is purring around Wayne manor in the show is beyond me but I am sure they will get into that later. With Jim Gordon letting young Bruce Wayne know he will find the man that did this terrible tragedy, we are introduced to Alfred Pennyworth, the english butler in the Wayne family. In the show he seems to be a more rustic butler. I was thrown off by this but then I remembered reading Batman: Year One, Alfred took a big part in training young Bruce Wayne since Alfred was ex military so I like the route this is going. From there the show just seems like a good cop bad cop routine (yes I thought of Heath Ledger after typing that) between Jim Gordon and his dirty partner Harvey Bullock. While watching I found in some parts the dialogue felt like terrible one liners you would try on a girl. Keeping in mind this is the first episode pilot and 75% of TV shows start out edgy, however this is Batman and should be taken seriously. Staying on the negative topics, some of the shots used were not very well planned out. A couple shots looked liked extreme close ups used with a GoPro camera and had no purpose.



With my negative criticism aside, the writers did get creative in the character development. With Gordon and Bullock on the case, Gotham Police Department evidence room worker kept spitting out riddles about the bullet and gun used, Bullock then says quiet Nygma, which hints that being Edward Nygma "The Riddler." As Gordon and Bullock continue on we see a little girl enjoying plants named "Ivy" who's dad is framed for the murder of the Wayne's cause the pearl necklace of Martha's was planted into his house. Fish Mooney is a new character that has Oswald Cobblepot as her assistant who we know as "Penguin". Oswald is my favorite character in this because his acting is creepy and haunting yet he does it with class. Keeping to the character, Oswald tells the team of Carmine Falcone (classic character who runs Gotham in a mob fashion) that the pearls were planted. Fish Mooney finding out beats up Oswald causing him to have his classic penguin limp. The show boils down with Bullock making Gordon put a bullet into Oswalds head and having him fall into sea. Bullock wants nothing to do with the Mooney/Falcone battle and thats the reason he makes Gordon do it. Gordon then whispers into Oswalds ear "Don't come back to Gotham," fires a bullet by his head and shoves him into the sea.

Aside from the dialogue needing much work and some of the shots adjusted, this is a great show for comic book lovers or just fans of the Dark Knight. While watching keep your eyes open for hidden pieces that connect with the Batman story. For example, the picture up above and how the bodies are laid out resemble a bat, coincidence?