Back to the fairest city
Jan. 19th, 2016 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessGotham - 2.1 Damned If You Do
‘Rise of the Villains’ eh?
Well, it’s promising in that regard. Zaardon was ridiculous, so they might as well have revealed who his master/the potential big bad was (I have a nostalgic soft-spot for James Frain) quite quickly.
Obviously, don’t tell Don Penguin, who apart from being able to think and manoeuvre bigger is much the same, but obviously believes HE should be the big bad/Jim’s bestie. I liked his teaming up with bug-eyed Victor, in particular, and that he adds crazysauce to the mob storylines.
Although I make the point that they can’t use this device with Harvey Dent, truly evil!Nygma duelling with the remnants of Nygma’s ego and conscience are better than most of what they did with Edward Nygma in season 1.
I was delighted that they brought Jerome who will be the Joker back – the stand out one episode only baddie – callow and overconfident but crazy.
And full on evil Barbara is much more purposeful and, er, fun than she was in the last series.
So, they’re basically the suicide squad or something now? Some of the dialogue seemed to be a bit meta in that regard.
So, that is promising. Jim continuing to be stupid? Not so much. Turning to Penguin just ‘cause you really, really want to be a cop? Turning to Harvey and then Bruce for moral guidance? Ahahahaha. Dump him, Leigh (she won’t because Baccarin is in the credits).
I am slightly worried about how long well-meaning Commissioner Essen will last in post. And absence made me welcome seeing Harvey, although if it’s all the three of them being stupid cops doing questionable things that I’m meant to be swallowing as morally justifiable when they’re all stupid and dull? I will be whining again.
We started off with Bruce and Alfred discovering the entrance to the proto Bat Cave, then the growth spurt of ‘one month’ later, some bad parenting from Alfred (I could see that The Italian Job thought bubble above Sean Pertwee’s head) and brawn instead of brains from Bruce. Did he even try his birthdate?
Still, Mazouz sold Bruce’s stricken face when he realised what his dad’s super sekrit code was. Mazouz’s performance almost sells me on letting this show remain on air long enough for him to play Bruce becoming Batman.
It was too long before we saw Selina, and then I was sad that she is hanging out with Penguin’s mob. I don’t think they’re going to go criminal psychopath with her in the end, but...well, obviously, at some point she’s going to meet Tabitha and see the whip and make it her own.
There was enough of the hyped up crazed type of Gotham villainy to offset Jim (and Bruce) being stupid. Er, driven. (And Victor being a nasty psycho killer is more palatable than season 1 gore, somehow.) It was as visually stylish as ever. At the moment, I feel that there’s just about enough to make me hang on in there, and there was no Bruce-Selina interaction AND I was really grudging about catching up with this episode.
‘Rise of the Villains’ eh?
Well, it’s promising in that regard. Zaardon was ridiculous, so they might as well have revealed who his master/the potential big bad was (I have a nostalgic soft-spot for James Frain) quite quickly.
Obviously, don’t tell Don Penguin, who apart from being able to think and manoeuvre bigger is much the same, but obviously believes HE should be the big bad/Jim’s bestie. I liked his teaming up with bug-eyed Victor, in particular, and that he adds crazysauce to the mob storylines.
Although I make the point that they can’t use this device with Harvey Dent, truly evil!Nygma duelling with the remnants of Nygma’s ego and conscience are better than most of what they did with Edward Nygma in season 1.
I was delighted that they brought Jerome who will be the Joker back – the stand out one episode only baddie – callow and overconfident but crazy.
And full on evil Barbara is much more purposeful and, er, fun than she was in the last series.
So, they’re basically the suicide squad or something now? Some of the dialogue seemed to be a bit meta in that regard.
So, that is promising. Jim continuing to be stupid? Not so much. Turning to Penguin just ‘cause you really, really want to be a cop? Turning to Harvey and then Bruce for moral guidance? Ahahahaha. Dump him, Leigh (she won’t because Baccarin is in the credits).
I am slightly worried about how long well-meaning Commissioner Essen will last in post. And absence made me welcome seeing Harvey, although if it’s all the three of them being stupid cops doing questionable things that I’m meant to be swallowing as morally justifiable when they’re all stupid and dull? I will be whining again.
We started off with Bruce and Alfred discovering the entrance to the proto Bat Cave, then the growth spurt of ‘one month’ later, some bad parenting from Alfred (I could see that The Italian Job thought bubble above Sean Pertwee’s head) and brawn instead of brains from Bruce. Did he even try his birthdate?
Still, Mazouz sold Bruce’s stricken face when he realised what his dad’s super sekrit code was. Mazouz’s performance almost sells me on letting this show remain on air long enough for him to play Bruce becoming Batman.
It was too long before we saw Selina, and then I was sad that she is hanging out with Penguin’s mob. I don’t think they’re going to go criminal psychopath with her in the end, but...well, obviously, at some point she’s going to meet Tabitha and see the whip and make it her own.
There was enough of the hyped up crazed type of Gotham villainy to offset Jim (and Bruce) being stupid. Er, driven. (And Victor being a nasty psycho killer is more palatable than season 1 gore, somehow.) It was as visually stylish as ever. At the moment, I feel that there’s just about enough to make me hang on in there, and there was no Bruce-Selina interaction AND I was really grudging about catching up with this episode.
