Gotham S01E22 "All Happy Families Are Alike" Review

Here we are folks, The finale of "Gotham". When this project began I considered it an misbegotten project that appeared to be destined for failure. I didn't say what I said out of spite or hatred for the project, but a prequel series about Batman without Batman...c'mon, need we look any further than "Birds Of Prey"? But DC has been killing it in the TV game, what with "Smallville" ushering it in and now Green Arrow, Flash and John Constantine (of all people) have their show, so why not a Batman prequel TV show? Since "Gotham" began airing, I've pretty much said the same thing I've always said "It's a mediocre cop drama with Batman bits sprinkled." and thus far "Gotham" hasn't done anything to make me retract that statement. And I hold by that statement and I'll add "If this had nothing to do with Batman, this show would've been canceled in a few episodes.". But it's been declared that "Gotham" has been renewed for a 2nd Season, is this something to look forward too? Well let's dive in:

Gotham S01E21 "The Anvil Or The Hammer" Review

So last week's episode concluded with Barbara entering into Christian Grey's oops, I mean The Ogre's 50 Shades Of Grey room, quite the cliff-hanger, NOT. In other news, Penguin finally managed to set up Maroni at his favorite bar.  Meanwhile, Edward Nygma finally broke bad by stabbing the boyfriend of Ms. Kringle. I've been saying for awhile now that this show needs to do something balls to the walls crazy if it's gonna get renewed and with one episode left, it needs to do that now more than ever! Does the penultimate episode bring certain events to a head? Let's get to the play by play.

Gotham S01E20 "Under The Knife" Review

Howdy Kiddos, sorry for doing these reviews the day after but I got tired, so sue me. Anyways we're back at it with "Gotham" and while Fish Mooney didn't return in this episode (Thank God!) unfortunately, Jim Gordon's dumb as four rocks Ex-Girlfriend appeared in this episode now being targeted by Christian Grey's much more sadistic little brother, The Ogre...a storyline which I'm surprised is still going on. A few things happen in this episode and we'll get to those things now.

Gotham S01E19 "Beasts Of Prey" Review

Sorry for the tardiness, Kiddos. I had a job interview today so I had to go to sleep early last night, but last night I did get to watch "Gotham" now back on FOX! Oh and by the way, HAPPY "MORTAL KOMBAT X" DAY! Yes, the long awaited sequel to 2011's "Mortal Kombat" is out now and I'll be reviewing the story mode (as a movie) a little later on today, but for now let's talk about "Gotham". A few things to get into but for a quick re-cap, Alfred got stabbed, Jim Gordon is elected President Of The Policemen's Union and Fish Mooney is still trying to escape The Dollmaker. Are we all up to speed? Yes? Let's dive in.

Gotham S01E18 "Everyone Has A Cobblepot" Review

My apologizes everyone, lots was going on previously and I was unable to deliver to you the constant "Gotham" reviews on a regular basis that being said, that's all taken care of! So last week and the week before we've established a few things, "Gotham" is laying down bread crumbs for the inevitable arrival of The Joker (for better or worse) and Fish Mooney is held captive by The Dollmaker and is a Mary Sue. Before I continue I'd like to share my thoughts on the previous episode. For starters, Penguin is our main character and is a character right from Batman Mythos, Fish Mooney is a character created for Jada Pinkett to chew the scenery with. Now while Jada is the top billing actress here and that's the ONLY reason her character hasn't bitten the dust, Penguin is the character we actually care about and I find it pretty awful that while Fish's story is moving ahead, Penguin's story is in a death crawl.

For a character who started off geniusly conniving his way to being Falcone's right hand man and saving grace, he's now becoming a punchline, a joke, a character who's barely getting by on the skin of his ass and needs help to run a club. This is getting frustrating as I've been waiting to see The Penguin become truly unhinged. He had a wonderful moment where he set Frankie up and stabbed him, that was great but ever since then he hasn't many moments like that. I'm waiting for the time when we'll see the capable, polite and well mannered but extremely dangerous arch villain come out. With this episode titled "Everyone Has A Cobblepot", I'm hoping the focus will be on The Penguin and less on Fish "Who Gives A Crap" Mooney. So clean up time, Alfred got shivved, Penguin's club is going down the tubes, Fish Mooney..., and Alfred's buddy (Reggie) sold him out to Wayne Corp, and now they're preparing to move on Bruce. All up to speed? Excellent! Let's get to it!

Gotham S01E15 "Scarecrow" Review

This episode oh boy this episode...the start of it wasn't promising at all, what with the opening detailing Fish Mooney's...capture...whatever. And unfortunately, Fish Mooney is a featured character in this episode. But all is not over and done with as we get a bit of business with The Penguin and the titular character The Scarecrow, all that to be reviewed after the break.

Gotham S01E14 "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" Review

So this episode started off with a bang and a hiccup. The opening featured probably one of the most elaborate murders on television carried out by the title's namesake "The Fearsome Dr. Crane". However, the hiccup came when the screen draining Fish Mooney placed a call to SalvaTORE (not Salvadore) Maroni (honestly...) and put him on to our man Oswald in regards to his working for Falcone. For those of us who bother to remember such things, a few episodes ago, after suffering from a massive jolt of electricity, Penguin let it slip that he had "important business with Falcone." when previously telling Maroni he had to tend to his sick mother. Of course, this could be explained away with Penguin having previously worked for Falcone and after suffering from being electrocuted you can't fault the man for being a little jumbled (although, that'd have been my excuse). But Oswald managed to explain it away. Anyways, with Gordon & Bullock having to watch their backs because they just sent Flass to prison, and Maroni now onto Penguin, we'll see just what happens, so let's get to the review.

Gotham S01E13 "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" Review

I'm back, thanks to an unsecure Wifi connection, I am back with the "Gotham" reviews. So just a quick update before I give my review of the current episode of "Gotham". So that glorious moment came when Fish Mooney implemented her ridiculous "plan" which almost worked, only to have Oswald swoop in and turn the tables. Falcone decided he was gonna choke a bitch and sent Fish along with Butch (who I like) to the chopping block. Meanwhile, Gordon had an EXTREMELY brief stint as a guard as Arkham...while that was a good episode, his stint as an Arkham guard was WAY TOO brief and I really wish we'd have seen more of that before Jim got his shield back, all of that happened kinda quick, no? Anyways now on to this episode of "Gotham".

Gotham S01E09 "Harvey Dent" Review

And there we go, another "Gotham" under our belts this time introducing Gotham's World Heavyweight White Knight and Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent played by Nicholas D'Agosto, gotta say, I like him as Harvey. Nicholas is good looking and handsome enough to be clean cut but he also has a darker edge to him, seeing him become Two-Face will be a treat, that's for sure. Anyways, let's get to the episode proper.

Gotham S01E08 "The Mask" Review

And finally we're starting to get more comic booky and this show is actually starting to pick up a bit, not much but enough for me to actually enjoy it, as much as I possibly can. While "Gotham" is still a mediocre cop drama with Batman easter eggs, it's comic book roots allow it to be much crazier than the average episode of "NYPD Blue". We'll get to all that after the break.

Gotham S01E07 "Penguin's Umbrella" Review

Howdy everyone, sorry I'm late but yesterday was...well...ya know what yesterday was. Anyways, so this episode of "Gotham" has been a considerable leg up after the previous 6 lackluster episodes, why has this been a leg up? Well, it's because this episode primarily focused on The Penguin and his eventual rise to power and we'll get to that after the break.

Gotham S01E06 "The Spirit Of The Goat" Review

Okay, okay, after weeks of mediocre cop drama, "Gotham" is finally starting to feel comic booky and pulpish and that's a MAJOR plus. This week we find Bullock and Gordon chasing down an old enemy of Bullock's past known as "The Goat". This episode was a MAJOR step up from the previous episodes and that's largely due to the VERY noticeable and welcomed lack of Fish Mooney. Let's get to the episode proper after the break.

Gotham S01E05 "Viper" Review

This show continues to be an enigma (no pun intended) to me. On one end, I don't want the show to be cancelled, because that'd mean a lot of people will lose their jobs, but on the other end, I want the show to get cancelled because it's just seems to be getting worse and the glimmers of hope are getting few and far inbetween. Let's get to the meat and potatoes...

Gotham S01E04 "Arkham" Review

Here we are again, lads and laddies, once again back at "Gotham", turns out, I was right, Oswald is looking to snitch exclusively to Gordon and Arkham does indeed plays a big role in things. I gotta admit the Arkham thing is interesting but again, this episode fails to deliver on some prime mythology building. And we'll get to that after the break.

Gotham S01E03 "The Balloonman" Review

So the search for Joe Chill continues with Selina Kyle manning the hunt, meanwhile a crooked politician gets handled in one of the best ways possible, weather balloons. I'm still not 100% sure about how I feel about this show, sometimes it shows REAL promise and other times it spirals downward into a mediocre police drama. The best parts are still when Penguin is on screen, that's the most fun I get out of this series and Ben Mackenzie continues to turn in a great performance as James Gordon but that's about it.

Gotham S01E02 "Selina Kyle" Review

I am still unsure how I feel about "Gotham" at times it comes off generic and at other times it's hard and gritty and everything a show like this should be, still there are some issues I'm having connecting with the material. James Gordon and Aswald Cobblepot continue to steal every scene they're in but that's about it. And it looks the series is gonna run episodic as opposed to serial. I'd prefer a serial format because then they could build up the up-coming mob war between Maroni and Falcone with Cobblepot swooping in and taking the spoils. Anyways, let's review the episode.

Gotham S01E01 "Pilot" Review

And here we are ladies and gentlemen, "Gotham" has arrived. Before we get to the review proper, let me give you some background on my impressions of this series. My expectations were low going into this, mostly because the production seemed rushed, I mean hell, they announced they were making a "Gotham" series this year (I do believe) and it came out this year. Also, with the primary focus being on Jim Gordon and not on Batman, I figured it'd seem more like a Batman story without Batman...which isn't exactly a good idea because let's face it, as much as I like Jim Gordon, he isn't a character that can hold up an entire story by himself. However the Batman element is what separates this from being just another run of the mill cop drama, but that Batman element isn't present...so are they gonna make this work?

Needless to say, I was pretty on the fence, the trailer didn't look all that impressive and the fact that Jada Pinkett is in the cast and playing one of the main villains, an original character named Fish Mooney, things did not bode well for this series from where I was sitting. So with all that said, let's get to the review proper and find out what's going on in "Gotham".