Anthony Stokes reviews the third episode of Gotham…
The first two episodes of Gotham were big disappointments for me. Worse than mediocre, I thought they were outright bad. Riddled with cliched dialogue and characters, it was painful to watch such good actors get such incompetent dialogue. There comes a point when you’re watching a show when you begin to debate wether to keep watching or not. This was Gotham’s last straw before it lost me as a viewer.
This episode of Gotham was a huge improvement over the first couple. My biggest issue with Gotham is how it wanted to be “dark and gritty” but also have moments of absurdity and sometimes slapstick comedy. I’d prefer for them to pick either and stick with it, at least one on a weekly episode to episode basis. Here they went for more comedy and it worked pretty well with Donal Logue getting off some good lines.
The story is that somebody is killing known crooks in Gotham by attaching them to weather balloons. It sounds dumb as hell, but what makes it work is that they acknowledge the silliness. They also make it seem plausible for it to happen with the machinery they use. It is a dumb idea done in a fun way and this is a very fun episode. There’s also a whodunnit aspect which is extremely effective, with the mystery making absolute sense . The villain has great motivation as well.
The negatives are still here though. They introduce an Italian guy who is a straight up cartoon, coming equipped with such cliches as “Aye I like this kid” and “You remind me of myself as a kid”. All the elements dealing outside the freak of the week main plot are still weak and overdone. There is even the worst line I’ve ever heard on network television: ” You need to clean yourself Gordon, because you smell like you just got out of the sewer”. The Bruce Wayne and Alfred bits are boring as hell and poorly shot. There’s a scene where they’re fencing and they’re literally just swinging their swords in the same motion and the same spot over and over again.
If this is what I can expect from Gotham going forward, I’m willing to keep watching. At this point all I want is a fun show.
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.
Originally published October 8, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
