This second episode took more than half of its time to finally begin focusing on Selina Kyle. It also didn't really focus on anything other than her experience hiding from the Dollmakers henchmen. There wasn't any real background on her, save but a small amount that was thrown into the episode. The gist of it about a mother who is "out there somewhere," The episode fixated early on (mostly) toward Fish Mooney, followed by more bickering between Gordon and Bullock. We got more background for Pengion than we did for anyone else with a visit to his mother but the overall focus of the episode did not come into play until near the end.
This episode also introduced an old villain, The Dollmaker, only through a few henchmen and then beat us over the head with an Easter Egg attached to the plot, which was originally subtle (seemingly)--as an advertisement on a street billboard. Only to showcase it as a clue to where the kids were likely being kept prisoner, Trident Intercontinental Shipping.
There were a slew of characters thrown in but most were there as background or background noise. Only a few of them were of general note and others a bit of mystery as they were unknowns.
Let's look at this weeks #TheBreakdown for Gotham's Episode II "Selina Kyle" and try and get some perspective on new and existing characters in this episode.
This episode was entitled after her but barely focused its story in Selina's direction. When it did, it wasn't really a character piece as much as it was just a means to an end. It should have been titled "The Dollmaker" instead. Selina did made a minor appearance in the early aspect of the episode, being referenced as "Cat" by street kids and again seems to be witnessing another murder. We don't really see her again until much later.
Selina feels like she is supposed to be a major character, if it isn't obvious that she already is; however, she generally feels secondary. Like an actual cat in the room of pick-your-random-series, she seems to be some form of observer archetype. Not necessarily acting on situations, just patiently observing from the shadows, an odd almost parallel of what we'd expect Batman to do before he ever jumps into action.
While Selina closed the episode off, she also gave us a sense that she can be extremely vicious if need be. She literally clawed someones eyes out! However, we didn't actually see her do this, we know she stated that is what she'd do, she'd attack (the eyes)--as she stated to a small boy who was scared about his travel to Juvenile Hall.
While I like the fact we're getting a bit grittier in the series, especially with this character, we didn't actually get to see her do anything. Likely, due to censorship on this particular network. However, I think it has to do with something else, but I can't put my finger on it just yet. Most of you will agree, we need more episodes to really get a grasp of what the studio and network are trying to do with Selina stories.
Patti & Doug: Henchmen for The Dollmaker who are abducting children in this episode. Both of them vicious and ruthless. I don't have much more information on them as i'm searching for references to them throughout the comics. I do recall a character like Patti in an animated form but I'm not sure it was the same character. I'm was going to look for it; but by the time I needed to complete this piece I was yet unable to find the episode and reference the character.
Just in case some folks try and put it together, this is not Patty Spivot if anyone else is presuming so. Patty Spivot is Ms. Flash and was Barry Allen's lab assistant. Patti in Gotham is not the same character as Spivot.
He's still testing himself and ended up burning his hand. It seems his relationship with Gordon is going to be another focal point throughout the episode and series. Where Alfred seemingly is unable to reach the young master and requires Gordons help to do so on a father-to-son level. Clever for a plot point. Irritating when you realize the relationship dynamic between Bruce and Alfred shouldn't be so tenuous.
Bruce is also (seemingly) adept at sneaking up on people, at the very least Alfred, who is upgrading him to a sort of creeper status. I feel like he is already scaring Alfred on some level. Probably because the little we see of Bruce he is always so intense.
Jim Gordon: A lot of his time in the series is still focused on fighting with Bullock among other cops and I guess we're going to continue seeing this until there is some sort of mutual understanding or a general sense of equilibrium among all of those tertiary and secondary characters outside of just Bullock. I expect it to some degree. However, the writing seems to put them at odds in virtually every scene.
The bueaucratic aspect of this dynamic is another expectation to see on the screen, but it will slowly wear down the viewers as something we don't care to see or experience. We just want the rawness of Gordon's character to shine through.
Alfred Pennyworth: I am still wondering if they are going to turn him into some former military type due to his general attitude. Every time we've seen Alfred in the comics, in other films, even in the 1966 series --he's been a pillar of patience. Not an angry impatient, hot tempered character (I'm also trying to find evidence through the comics) .
Michael Caine was a pillar of nerves trying to protect Bruce. Michael Gough was the epitome of the patient fatherly archetype as a guardian of Bruce.
Here in Gotham this Alfred behaves like someone with a Soldier's attitude, no patience, not used to being around children--despite the fact he's been around Bruce his whole life; which doesn't seem so. Likely to give lattitude for Bruce to behave more sternly. Possibly to force him to grow up a bit faster. It's an interesting viewpoint on Alfred. The intention is obviously to give rise to a stronger relationship for Gordon to have with Bruce, as the central characters in the series. But I wonder if this (Aldred's relationship with Bruce), like the tenuous relationship Gordon has with Bullock, is going to get obnoxiously old...
Sure this is a new series and revisions are expected, the revision for Aldred (so far) just seems wrong and unwarranted.
Harvey Bullock: I'm getting used to Harvey and the crotchety attitude the character is supposed to have. A more beaten down cop that might not be so bad. A Cop who realized to just put his bright eyed justice to rest and tries to get through the day alive.
Then you get these weird extreme closeups. What the hell is that about? These yell in your face moments between he and Gordon where they're so close its unnatural. I'm not against the over-the-shoulde 3/4 positions for the camera angle pulled in but these closeups are ridiculous. I was expecting some tongue action between both of them at one moment.
I think the Bullock is slowly opening up and I'm appreciating him more because of it.
Fish Mooney: Her writing is getting under my skin. I don't know if Smith's script is campy or if she is playing Fish to be very campy. She just feels unnatural. A friend of mine in a conversation last night very poignantly stated, "Penguins eat fish, she won't last very long." (Bern Berrios; Miami, FL) Which was a comforting thought for a moment. While it seems the natural order of things is itself a subtle foreshadowing, penguins do eat fish, it is perhaps a joke as this character is fresh for this series. I'm wondering how long Fish will be with us. To the end of the season or perhaps a mid-season death? I can't wait for her to be gone, this character weakens the series in my opinion. Fish is impetuous and I struggle to understand how she'd be capable of actually controlling her crime family. Were I Jada Smith I'd have studied the characteristics of some of the most notorious woman in organized crime. Like Griselda Blanco, who was the most vicious woman in the cocaine trade. But that's me being nitpicky and complaining about how this role is being protrayed on the screen. I admit that and I personally dislike this character.
Has become more and more homicidal and psychopathic with every passing moment he's on the screen. When I first looked at Selina Kyle, I thought very heavily she was modeled as a young version of Michelle Pffeifer's rendition of the character.
After watching this episode I can easily say Cobblepot, especially after seeing Gertrude, is being modeled somewhat after Danny Devito's rendition, sans the flippers (so far). He's quite a deranged killer and has many of Devito's spazzy mannerisms from Batman Returns.
I like this character a lot and I'm getting a very clear picture that he is pretty much going to cut a bloody swath through Gotham. Whether it's gravitas through bedlam or intensity via murder. It seems this is the character that will slowly be raining hell on Gotham.
I'm still wondering why they decided to have a random character ask him if he had a Hemi (Dodge) in his Chevy/GMC truck? I'm guessing it's a random moment for product placement, especially since the GM emblem was missing from the front of the truck; but it was done very poorly and not in good taste. As the statement will likely be misunderstood as a stereotypical remark. Likely because it was forced in for those type of placements and the writing couldn't rectify something better to say in that moment.
This is a solid character and allowing crappy writing in a situation, like the one I just outlined, as a probable scenario in production is diminishing to the story and demeaning to its fans.
We got another Random Nygma moment and the character continues to be awkward and stranger than clever.
I don't expect to see much more of him aside from whatever random statement, moment or attempted riddle he's going to give for the episode. I will start collecting his lines to see if they become a much larger riddle in the long run. Although I doubt it.
Carmine Falcone: He is still a very stoic and brooding character. Although it seems that both of his appearances are expository in a sense to portray that he had a larger working relationship with the Waynes--which is upsetting to me. Even for a completely different revisionist series that is essentially prequel to the normal Batman we know and love. Throwing in those kinds of tidbits makes no sense. If the series is going in the same direction that a few CBM's have taken, connecting the dead parents of the heroes into the storyline by attaching them to some criminal aspect. I could understand; however, doing that is the trendy thing to do not what should be done.
It's not completely clear yet as to what Falcone is referencing but I don't like the implication. His portrayal has so far been very specific and extreme. He carries the full weight of his power with him everywhere and has been consistent so far in every appearance.
Mackey: I'm curious about this young man. I'm not quite sure and I will admit this may be one of those moments where I may be grasping at straws. But for now we'll toss it in as a conversation piece. I'm wondering if he is a young revised version of Mackay from The Losers. A soldier, who at this time is just a street kid. While there is no direct connection other than a name, consider the random hobo that tried to help/save them. He had dog tags. Again, none of this really makes sense, but I'm wondering if this is the productions awkward subtle way of pointing out who Mackey may grow up to be.
Mackey is also played by Kyle Massey, a popular young actor whose been in numerous series and films. The likelihood that this character may make more appearances down the road is high.
Gotham City: This city continues to be just a city. The fly-overs are nice but don't really do it any justice. It doesn't have much of a Gothic look or feel in its architecture. There was merely one random fly-over scene where we can see one iconic eagle head stature. One where the Dark Knight may likely stand on (one day) to watch over his beloved city. The rest of the material is simply just a city. Nothing to indicate it as Gotham. It can be argued it is plain B-Roll.
Tim Burton truly had the best vision of what Gotham should look like. A wonderful Gothic and eerie skyline that was almost as alien as it was Batman. The Nolanverse almost completely ignored this aspect and didn't really give us a skyline that made sense as Gotham city. The images we've seen so far can be cataloged for any number of city's, with the exception of a few landmarks that are recognizable. It's unfortunate because episode 4 will be "Arkham" and I'm not sure who the studio will portray that aspect in this series. Something that should be an even darker yet stoic reflection of Gotham.
Dollmaker ???: We didn't get to see the Dollmaker in this episode but I'm very curious to see what he has planned down the road. We only got to meet two of his henchmen, Patti and Doug. Both whom were ruthless. These characters elevated the tone of the series with their direct intent and nature. Not only kidnapping children but their immediacy to kill anyone in their path. They made the series that much darker and underlined the nature of what we could expect from The Dollmaker when he makes his/her first appearance.
We've already seen a variation of the Dollmaker in the series Arrow and i'm curious to see how this version is going to pan out.
Aquaman ???: There seemed to have been a possible Easter Egg about Arthur Orin (Arthur Curry), better known as Aquaman in this episode. Early on in a billboard during the scene where Patti and Doug are abducting children you can clearly see "Trident Intercontinental Shipping" with a large Trident for a logo. At first I thought it was a nice and subtle item to throw in. But it turns out you get beaten over the head with this clue as its shown a few more times. You know, In case you missed it.
The trident becomes the plot point to solve this particular case and save the kids. What a criminal described as a fork on a plate turned out to be the logo for the trident. Then we see it on a truck and again on a container that the kids are being placed into.
I'm sure arguments here will be that it was just a plot device for the episode; however, I expect it is in fact a nod to Aquaman. Whether he'll reveal himself as Arthur Curry/Orin somewhere down the road or if he will actually make an appearance (which I doubt) as Aquaman is anyones guess. Keep in mind the character can arguably be portrayed as an adult.
This episode still felt like a soup of many things floating around some Batman-based chicken stock to makeup a story that we follow for Gordon. But the truth is that we're following a variety of characters. We had a timeline for Gordon, one for Penguin, another for his mother, one for Fish Mooney with Falcone and then we finally got what the episode is titled for--Selina Kyle. All the while throwing in a separate arc for Keane and Montoya. Even if I honestly like this aspect in the series, it's more to swallow in this already packed episode. Through all of this we get snippets of yet another super-villain--The Dollmaker. And of course we can't forget Bruce, Alfred and Bullock.
There were other random characters I wanted to look at more deeply, like Morry Quillan, Ince, Shad, Zeb and Lazlo. For now they didn't seem that important. It just continues to show that this series is going to pile everything (it can) into each episode.
On one level, I enjoyed the episode because it has so much involved, but on another note I'm still wondering how they're trying to develop the story and (really) into what!?
I'm sure i'm going to hear the debates from fans who think i'm negatively arguing against this series by stating "It's too early to say!" and try to brush off obvious issues in the plot and story. But I'm going to sharply state, that argument is moot and Gotham so far continues to flux its characters in a very tenuous intermingling--we should be arguing why this is! Part of me loves the chaotic overtone, while another sees that the attempt is not solidly multi-threading so many character angles to develop into one cohesive series.
I was hoping for a straight character piece on Selina Kyle. We didn't exactly get that. We got a mish-mash of characters through a meta timeline toward her climax. But we didn't really get anything other than the knowledge she can claw out peoples eyes, street kids call her "Cat" and she seems to know Gordon.
For now I'm still interested and likely will continue to be interested in this series because I want to see where they're going next. As predicted, it did drop slighly in viewership and ratings this week; but not large enough to be overly concerning. I want to see how these characters develop and who else is going to be brought into the mix. Next week we get an old school character that is no longer in the contuinity from the comics Post-Crisis--Balloonman. Really, Balloonman! I'm exceedingly curious how this will work within the scope of this series and how else the characters will be developed because of it.
For now I'm somewhat contented over the show, despite my many grumblings. Comment, share, tweet, pin, add your two cents. Hit the giant red thumb and join the conversation.
by @EmanuelFCamacho
Up next on the The Breakdown is Agents of SHIELD Ep2 "Heavy is the Head"