As Season 2 begins, things are all “Penguins to the left of me, Jokers to the right…”
By Matt Fowler
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…
I wouldn’t say that Gotham’s Season 2 premiere exactly signals an upswing in quality, but I commend it for being a soft step in the right direction. Most specifically, it didn’t frustrate me for 44 minutes and actually delivered a Gordon/Penguin “deal with the devil” that held dark consequences, instead of their usual paltry dance.
Because if Gordon was now going to go back to Penguin for a his umpteenth favor, having not quite ever learned that no good can come from it, it’d better be a big one. And the fallout better shadow and shade Gordon like never before. And it did. Sure, it was dumb of Gordon to think that Penguin somehow “set him up” because the known criminal he was sent to go intimidate for moneys owed decided he didn’t like being strong-armed and tried to kill Gordon, but the idea that Jim’s now killed for Penguin is a big deal.
In fact, throw Gordon in deeper. Drown him in complexities. I don’t care what’s canon and what’s not at this point. I won’t fully delve back into my Season 1 review spiel about the show needed to completely forget about Batman and just deliver most everything it can now, using Gordon as the surrogate “Caped Crusader,” but I do think that the less rules and restrictions placed on this show, the better. Because the over-arching rule of “Well, Batman’s coming in a decade” has been crippling the series.
I also want to commend the show for not having Leslie break up with Jim at the end. I feel like that something the show would have done in Season 1 considering how soap-y it was (meaning: characters making huge irrational decisions instantly, based off one scene’s worth of story). I’m not saying that Jim’s dealings with Penguin won’t become too much for her down the line, but give it all time to gestate.
This was also a nice way to remove Loeb from the picture. Admittedly, I wasn’t looking forward to another extended arc featuring Gordon and Loeb trying to one-up each other, so this was a great way to pull the trigger on that character (without having to literally pull the trigger on him). And Peter Scolari’s expression during Loeb’s “retirement ceremony” felt very rewarding.
Gotham: Season 2 Photos
Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Theo Galavan (James Frain) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
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Butch Gilzean (Drew Powell) and Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Theo Galavan (James Frain) in the Gotham: Season 2 premiere.
Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon on Gotham
Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot (AKA Penguin) on Gotham
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David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne on Gotham
Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle on Gotham
Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock on Gotham
Sean Pertwee as Alfred on Gotham
Erin Richards as Barbara Kean on Gotham
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Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan (aka Tigress) on Gotham
Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean on Gotham
James Frain as Theo Galavan on Gotham
Chis Chalk as Lucius Fox on Gotham
Michael Chiklis as Captain Barnes on Gotham
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Now, on to the “Rise of the Villains” aspects/elements of this more serialized second season. Barbara, now replacing her unhinged insanity with a more “cool/calculating” crazy, arrived at Arkham, drawing the instant attention of Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome. Who may or may not be the Joker, of course. But who cares? I don’t agree with the specific origin packaging if he is, but Jerome, regardless, is a fun addition to the show. And, as you may remember from my reviews last season, I was a fan of Barbara’s “I hope you die screaming, bitch” psycho turn. Yes, it seriously smacked of the show trying to desperately figure out what to do with a crap character, but I applauded the efforts to turn someone we hated into a lunatic. At least they figured out a way to keep her on the series. Remember when those two Major Crimes Unit officers vanished alway through the season?
And things certainly feel like Jerome’s the Joker and Barbara’s a Harley Quinn-type – if this show chose to go there. But the dynamics are switched. Jerome’s the needy one and Barbara’s aloof. Again, going back to my thoughts last spring, if I had to choose a Joker from characters already present, it’d be Barbara.
Anyhow, I like the idea of rich “philanthropist” Theo Galavan (James Frain) creating his own brand of misfit nut-jobs. And Jessica Lucas’ Tabitha/Tigress looks to have taken over the stab-happy psycho role that Penguin sort of inhabited last season. But getting to that “come to Jesus” meeting at the end (hey – that was Season 1 guest star Todd Stashwick, back as Richard Sionis!) was a little wonky. That whole thing with the Zaardon guy and the blue mist… How did Theo know that the gas would release right when he needed it to? And how did he know that the exact Arkham inmates he needed would be in the same rec room right then?
Anyhow, it wouldn’t be Gotham without a few hiccups. The rest of this season opener saw Selina taking up with Penguin, Harvey living a calmer life as a sober bartender, Nygma arguing with his own reflection, and Bruce and Alfred teaming up to blast their way into Thomas’ cave. Which was fine, although Bruce slowly walking downstairs and then… getting blocked for a whole episode by a keypad felt a bit silly. Especially considering what the code turned out to be (revealed in Thomas’ posthumous note).
Still, I give props to Alfred however for insinuating that Bruce may not want to find out what a billionaire keeps down in his secret (sex) dungeon.
And yes, that was Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” used for the opening montage. Which you may have heard last night during the opening montage for a different high-profile genre TV show with comic book origins.
Gotham still has silliness to smooth out (that Gordon close-up running cam again, like in the pilot?) and head-scratchers to hash out (is co-ed Arkham mingling a thing? Feels like it shouldn’t be), but overall this Fish-free premiere felt like a shuffle in the right direction.
