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Gotham tells the story of the title city's inhabitants before Bruce Wayne became Batman. Detective Jim Gordon is the hero of these stories, and various mob bosses are the established villains while the actual Batman villains (The Penguin, The Riddler, etc.) are just starting out.
[WORST CRIMES DISCLAIMER: This show implies rape, and often implies torture and slow deaths, but it does not often happen on-screen.]
Gotham is so refreshing. It does so many things I wish all the other TV shows would do, and it refrains from doing so many things I wish all the other TV shows would NOT do. I've compiled a list of said things, from most to least important:
- A show about villains doesn't forget to add heroes into the mix.
I love the villains in this show. And that's weird for me because I've never been the kind of person who likes the villains better than the good guys. In fact, most of the time, I prefer the clean-cut, "straight man" characters that other people find boring. I've always liked Captain America and never liked Loki, and I prefer Church to Caboose in Red Vs. Blue.
That's not to say that I don't enjoy the charming, theatrical villains or wacky, comic-relief-providing characters. I do. Sometimes.
However, when writers present the audience with a compelling villain, they should at least TRY to present us with a hero that's just as compelling. When writers present the audience with a cast of "flawed" characters, they should also present us with a character who definitely knows right from wrong. When writers depict evil, they need to depict it as inferior to good.
(I just think that it's easiest to do that with a likable hero or a character who acts as a moral compass, but there are other ways.)
So, I'm glad to report that the writers of Gotham seem to be writing responsibly. They didn't forget to add compelling heroes who know right from wrong. I myself may watch this show for the villains, but thankfully, there are a number of fans who watch it for Bruce Wayne and Detective Gordon, meaning the good guys are also compelling. And these good guys may be on somewhat of a slippery moral slope but they keep trying to find footing, so they do have a solid belief in doing the right thing.
- The Penguin (a.k.a. Oswald Cobblepot)
Aw, man. Where do I start? I love Penguin. And I hate to say that out loud because he's such a bad person.
In fact, he was the reason I didn't watch Gotham for so long. I tried the pilot episode when it first aired, but I couldn't get past the part where Penguin was beating a guy with a baseball bat and laughing about it.
It was sickening. I can't watch a show with such blatant sadism.
When I did eventually re-try Gotham, I found that that scene was the worst of Penguin and it may not have indicated sadism in Penguin as much as a new-found taste for murder...which I honestly think is not as bad.
And of course Penguin's violent, serial-killer-y actions make me quite uncomfortable. In fact, I know it's kind of wrong to do, but I mostly ignore all the horrible things Penguin does. Pretend it never happened. Actually, that's kind of how I approach all the disturbing scenes in Gotham.
If you're like me and sensitive about violence, this kind of "selective viewing" will help you enjoy the show more. But be careful with that, because it is an irresponsible way to watch shows sometimes. Definitely don't get into the habit of it.
However, within the first episode, I realized that if I were a resident of Gotham, determined to climb the ranks of the mob and attain a position of supreme power so I'd never be bullied again, I'd be Penguin.
I'd be that exact brand of usurper that's outwardly-nervous, inwardly-terrified, but still-trying-to-do-it-with-class-and-still-having-an-abundance-of-fun.
That last sentence is in regards to Penguin's general behavior, but there are many specific moves he makes towards his goal that make me think, "That's exactly what I'd do."
For instance, when Penguin unofficially takes over Fish Mooney's club and she suddenly appears there, baseball bat in hand? Yeah, I'd kiss her boots and politely suggest she team up with me, just like Penguin did. That seems like the only rational option if you're a tiny, little usurper who is working single-mindedly toward a goal that can only be achieved by manipulating other people.
As the non-usurper I am, though, I relate to Penguin in many of his non-criminal aspects. The moment I fell in love with his character was when he unofficially took over Fish's club and, after celebrating with his mom and a band and his employee, he sent them all home. Only THEN did he start eating, drinking, and making merry.
I completely understand that need to be alone before you can really enjoy yourself. He even got on stage and gave an "opening night" speech to an imaginary audience, which, as a complete dork myself, I could imagine me doing.
It's those little details that really make a character come alive. I feel like a lot characters are deprived of any traits that are really specific. You know, a set of traits you might find in a real person but only that one person and no one else for miles around.
TV writers write for the populace at large, but I think that if they can also write for a very specific kind of person, any person who fits that description will find the story more magical than the populace at large ever could.
Those little details about Penguin that made him come alive to me? Those made the show magical for me.
Additional, specific, relatable details about Penguin include:
1) He doesn't date. (Neither do I. I'm busy. And waiting. Busy-waiting.)
2) He's a dork. (That imaginary-audience speech, though. I love it when characters are not cool. I relate to them so much better. But also, Penguin has a manipulative suavity, so he's a smooth dork, which is an interesting and realistic type of person.)
3) He's not beyond being shushed (by Lee) even after he becomes the King of Gotham. (No one ever achieves a rank that ensures no one else will ever stand up to them.)
4) He has a generally sunny disposition. (His "luck has already turned" when he's picked up by some college guys in a truck after being banished from Gotham.)
5) He's visibly overjoyed when he escapes death (by Maroni's hand).
6) He has at least some knowledge of the Bible. (He mentions Job to the women who give him a ride back to Gotham after he escapes death by Maroni's hand.)
7) He's very self-aware. (Always one of my top favorite character traits. He displays his self-awareness when Falcone tells Penguin he will burn in hell, and Penguin admits that he worries about that sometimes. It's clear in many other scenes, as well, that Penguin knows he's a bad person.)
8) He apparently has some belief in heaven and hell and right and wrong. (Same Falcone scene.)
9) He's completely human, and he messes up sometimes. (He thought Maroni was lying about that gun being loaded with blanks.)
10) He really, truly loves his mother.
Okay, the whole "the monster loves his mother" thing is often done in order to make a villain more likable. It was done for Loki, for example. But, with Loki, it wasn't done right because he was actually kind of an a-hole to his mom.
With Penguin, however, it's done right. He is respectful and affectionate to his mother, buys her gifts, brings her to his unofficial new nightclub to celebrate with music and food, encourages her and is proud of her as she performs on stage, physically attacks a guy who boos her...
It's wonderful. (LOL) It's all the things you wish you could do for anyone you really, truly love.
I 100% buy Penguin's love for his mom.
Which is why it was so, so sad when his mother was murdered. I 100% bought Penguin's anguish as he watched her die. I cried. I was sad for two full weeks following that episode.
I honestly thought it would change Penguin forever. I thought he would never again be that happy, optimistic person he had been up until that point. How could he be? Not only did he suffer a huge loss, but (I imagined) he'd lost the person who allowed him to be so happy and optimistic in the first place.
I like how Penguin's despair was explored for three episodes. Penguin was ready to give up in his quest for power, ready to die even. Even so, the mourning period was cut short after three episodes. Penguin did go back to his old self, more or less.
And I can understand why the writers would want him to do so. Penguin, as his sunny self, basically makes the show. For a lot of people anyway.
But I do have the criticism that I don't know how he could go back to being so sunny so soon. What is it that gives him that ability, if not his mom? I want to know.
I mean, I know that The Riddler told Penguin that the promise of freedom comes with having nothing you love. And maybe that gave Penguin hope because he needed something, anything, to give him hope at that point.
But with regards to that idea of "no love, no cry", I hope the writers realize that it might seem like freedom at first, when you lose everything you love. But when life gets difficult, you'll realize that you have nothing to push you through it, because love is the only real motivator. If you don't have it, you at least need to have the hope for it.
I really hope the writers realize that and will explore the idea, since they already brought it up anyway.
Robin Lord Taylor plays Penguin, and he does such an amazing job. Like, for real. Amazing. Amazing actor, amazing character. Really, Penguin is the main reason I watch the show.
But there are other very engaging aspects of the show, such as...
- The Riddler
Adorable. He's extremely likable before he becomes evil. And the scene in the Season 1 finale wherein The Riddler personality is born? Brilliant. Totally empathized with him in that scene. We all have that mean voice in our head. Sadly, Edward's was louder than most of ours.
- The Joker
"There's nothing more contagious than laughter."
A lot of people were upset that Jerome died, but I thought the developments that ensued in his wake were absolute genius. The people of Gotham were infected by television replays of Jerome laughing while committing heinous crimes. All the infected people became The Joker, in the end, rather than just one person becoming The Joker.
I think this is genius for three reasons:
1) It speaks to a real life truth: People can become infected by evil piggy-backed on humor.
Make a joke about abuse that tickles people's funny bones and suddenly abuse is not as serious a topic to some people. No doubt some people will even think it's funny. No doubt some people will continue to joke about abuse. And no doubt -- somewhere down the line, maybe not so far -- some people will abuse others. For the laughs.
As if simply de-serious-ing abuse wasn't bad enough.
2) It ended up that both Commissioner Essen's predictions and The Blind Fortuneteller's predictions came true.
As Essen predicted, Jerome was very soon dead and no one would even remember his name. (The Joker doesn't even have a name besides "Joker," does he? Certainly, no one remembers The Joker as "Jerome.") AND as The Blind Fortuneteller predicted, Jerome's legacy was death and madness. (He didn't even have to be remembered by name to leave a legacy. Makes you think.)
3) It's an interesting development in the story of Batman.
I know that the Joker is Batman's archenemy, but I love the idea that Batman's archenemy is really just the evil in people in general. I mean, Jerome did have a lot of potential as a character and was very convincingly acted by Cameron Monaghan, so I wouldn't have had a problem with him becoming THE Joker. (And he very well may still. See #7 below.) But I love the idea of The Joker just being a way of thinking of the evil in Gotham that originated from Jerome's "laughing gas," of sorts.
- Firefly
I quite liked this character. I like how, in this version, Firefly is a young girl who had the intention to be a hero, basically. I definitely related to her desire to beat the bullies. I am curious to see how her character grows in Season 2b. Presumably, she still has a desire to beat the bullies, but I'm sure she also feels betrayed and bullied by Selina and Gordon.
She may have sympathetic motives, but thankfully, that's not the case for most Gotham villains.
- Excuses aren't made for the bad guys. They do bad stuff for selfish reasons.
I am so tired of writers trying to make ALL their villains sympathetic by indicating over and over again that he had a hard childhood, or she was trying to save such and such, or he was dirt poor, etc. Is it me or does that sound like a long list of bad excuses? And is it me or is it exhausting to hear excuses repeatedly for every single villain in a show?
Well, Gotham villains make no excuses. Gotham villains are real villains. Gotham villains do bad stuff for selfish reasons. Penguin kills for power. Riddler kills for the thrill. Sure, perhaps unhappy circumstances led to them becoming villains, but now that they are?
Well, the Gotham writers never fail to depict a character's redeeming qualities, but I never feel like the writers are trying to get me to excuse the villains' actions.
(I also think the wonderful Gotham musical score really helps convey the seriousness of the villain's actions. Whenever something awful happens on screen, the music does its part to make you feel uncomfortable. Another example of responsible story-telling by Gotham creators.)
- Dead characters returning
I usually much prefer it when dead characters stay dead, because otherwise, what are the stakes? Who cares if a character dies? I'm not going to care if I know they're just going to come back to life. And the more you try to make me care -- the more you show the other characters crying and breaking down -- the more annoyed I get. I usually won't even watch shows where the dead characters won't stay dead.
But for Gotham, I ain't even mad if I have to make an exception. All the dead characters were interesting and wonderfully brought to life by actors like Jada Pinkett Smith and Cameron Monaghan.
Additionally, my annoyance-levels go way down when I think about the way it seems Gotham is going to resurrect its characters. It seems -- and thank goodness for this -- the explanation is NOT going to be, "The bodies were switched! They were never really dead!"
I'm sorry, but that explanation is even more ridiculous than no explanation. I mean, seriously? It's like...
Show-that-resurrects-characters-willy-nilly: "It's so easy to pretend to be dead. No one would notice the guy wasn't really dead. Trust me. Morgue and hospital personnel are hacks who don't give a poop."
Me: "Don't you think they would have noticed if there was no body?"
Show: "There was a body. They switched the bodies. It's so easy to carry in one body and carry out a different one. Trust me. Morgue and hospital personnel are hacks who don't give a poop."
Me: "And no one in the family or at the funeral home noticed that the bodies looked different?"
Show: "No, because the fake body was identical. Completely identically. Down-to-the-hairline identical."
Me: "So the guy had a secret twin?"
Show: "No, that would be ridiculous. It was just some random, identical stranger, who happened to die at the exact same time as the real guy fake-died."
No.
Commit. At least, commit. They were dead. They were brought back to life.
It looks like Gotham is resurrecting its characters, who were really dead, by a scientific process. And this is much better than resurrecting them just magically, out of the blue. A scientific process, with rules to it, would at least still place limits on the whole resurrection thing.
If, for example, the resurrection process requires certain equipment, that equipment could be destroyed. Or perhaps, if there is a single mastermind behind the process, he could be killed. And then, possibly, no further characters could be brought back to life. At least, not easily.
So, there's still an element of risk to dying.
And yeah, if Gotham resurrects its dead characters, it would still largely negate the seriousness of death. And it would negate certain other things I like about Gotham (see #4 above).
BUT the dead characters are all pretty interesting and portrayed by wonderful actors, so I can't really be that upset about them coming back from the dead.
Plus, it will probably help Gotham's ratings if Jerome comes back, so it's understandable if the writers want to bring him back. I want Gotham to stay on air as long as it stays good, which hopefully and PROBABLY will be many seasons.
- Gotham City is worth fighting for because there are relatively happy, normal people leading relatively happy, normal lives.
Why should I care about the protagonist's (Jim Gordon's) quest? This is a question a good show has to answer.
The Walking Dead, for example, was terrible at making me care. I stopped watching it long ago because of this problem, along with many others. I kept shouting at the screen, "Just die! I do not understand why you fight so hard to stay alive! I guess there'd be no show otherwise, but there's no in-story reason to keep fighting. Everything's just gonna keep being crap for everyone."
When I first started Gotham, I was afraid it was going to have the same problem. "Why don't you all just move?" But, no. Thankfully, it becomes plain that Gotham City holds some relatively normal, happy people leading relatively normal, happy lives.
Penguin's mom, for example. I mean, sure, her happy life didn't last long in the show, but presumably, she lived in Gotham quite happily all her son's 38 years (Robin Lord Taylor's age). Therefore, I can see how other Gotham residents might think they could live and die peacefully in Gotham, and they probably actually could.
This show focuses on the bad parts of Gotham City, sure, but this show also makes me believe there are good parts of Gotham and therefore makes me care about Gordon's quest to protect Gotham.
- Darkness serves a purpose.
Yeah, the show does get really dark (by my "sensitive" standards), and I think it could get by with a lot less violence. Nonetheless, at least the darkness does serve a purpose. It's not there just for the sake of making the show edgy. It reveals things about the characters, and/or it changes the characters.
Take, for example, when Fish was kidnapped and placed in Dollmaker's underground prison. Yes, it was scary to watch, but it made realize, "Wow, Fish can really take care of herself! Fish took over the whole freaking underground in a day! Fish is a badass!" Even if I never grew to like her THAT much, she was still a strong and interesting character, and the darkness of those underground episodes helped reveal that.
- Gotham does NOT send the message that murder is the worst crime possible and expressly sends the message that suffering is worse than death.
TV is saturated with shows that propagate this random and frankly ridiculous notion that murder is the worst crime possible and that people who commit it are irredeemable, or at least far worse people than people who commit any other crime.
I am so, so tired of that idea being shoved down my throat, and, thankfully, Gotham doesn't propagate that idea. Bruce Wayne himself may believe something similar to that idea, but the show itself doesn't depict murder as something you can't come back from. It's nothing Selina can't come back from, and it's clearly nothing Gordon can't come back from.
In fact, murder is depicted as being the better choice when Penguin is beating Mayor Galavan with a baseball bat. Galavan begs Gordon to just kill him, and Gordon complies. I think Gordon absolutely did the right thing.
Well, I mean, if we're being real strict about what's right or wrong, then any kind of violence is wrong. But, I think that most people, like Mayor Galavan, would prefer to just die rather than be tortured.
Maybe there are some people who are so afraid of death that they'd prefer to be tortured, if it presents even a chance that they won't be killed in the end. And, so, maybe -- MAYBE -- it would be worse to kill those people than to torture them. But, in this case, it was obviously better to just kill Galavan, because that's what he preferred.
Gotham, you see, doesn't send the message that murder is always the worst crime possible. Instead, it presents the reality that a quick death is almost always preferred, and therefore, it is often the lesser evil.
- Gotham is well-written overall, with pay-offs, consequences, and well-explained, logical story developments.
Overall, Gotham is very well-written in terms of dialogue, story, and especially character. It really explores characters psychologically, each half-season comes to a point and pays off, and choices have consequences that last.
For example, characters can experience emotions such as anger, distrust, or grief for more than a couple minutes. Gordon remains wary of asking Penguin for help after it turns out badly, and Penguin, as I said, remains in shambles for three episodes -- which is a relatively long time in TV -- following his loss.
Finally, most developments make perfect sense and are well-explained. The only major exception I can think of is when Selina goes to the dark side at the end of Season 1. From the way it plays out, Selina turns evil as the result of seeing Fish Mooney look cool for a couple of seconds.
Suddenly, Selina is super interested in killing people slowly because that's a thing Fish does. It makes Selina seem weak-minded at best. No satisfactory explanation was given for the sudden change in Selina.
But I can forgive one or two hiccups in a show as well-written as Gotham. It's so, so good.
Here's hoping it continues to be amazing in tonight's Season 2b premiere and forevermore. =)
RATINGS
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General: 10/10
Compared-to-all-the-Content-I've-Ever-Loved: 8/10
