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  • Richard Willis September 23, 2014 at 11:56am

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    SPOILERS     SPOILERS     SPOILERS     SPOILERS

  • Richard Willis September 23, 2014 at 12:03pm

    To read comments made before the show debuted, see this link.

  • Jason Marconnet (Pint sized mod) September 23, 2014 at 1:26pm

    I liked it! The pilot was not earth shattering but certainly entertaining to me. There were a few clunky moments but overall it flowed pretty well. The characters were all pretty good and stayed fairly true to their source. The look of the show was really good too. It felt more like modern comic book than the recent Dark Knight trilogy in look and story. I'd give it a solid B+

  • Mark S. Ogilvie September 23, 2014 at 1:49pm

    I can see why that town will need Batman in the future. One of the more impressive characters didn't have any lines and I think the directing and the actress can take credit for that.

  • Richard Willis September 23, 2014 at 1:53pm

    I also liked it. I think they managed to keep all of the character concepts straight. There were occasional Easter eggs scattered here and there. It should do well with movie fans and most comic fans. The characterization of Bullock was one of two ways they could have gone. I don't have a particular problem with it. Gee, I wonder who we are supposed to think the stand-up comedian is?

    I think their take on the Penguin is far superior to the Tim Burton version. If Burton didn't like the Penguin as a character why did he use him? His mistakes with the character caused us to be afflicted with the two Joel Schumacher sequels.

  • Mark S. Ogilvie September 23, 2014 at 3:25pm

    I thought that about the comedian but I wasn't sure. The Penguin does have a lot of potential though. A lot of characters in this first show but it didn't feel crowded to me.

  • Mr. Silver Age September 24, 2014 at 8:02am

    I didn't even think about the comedian, but you're right, I've seen reviews reference the Joker, and I still didn't even realize who he was. His joke was a pretty old chestnut, but I'm not sure if that was intentional. Obviously, Fish had never heard it before, but I've heard it a lot.

    The Penguin is an interesting take, although I always picture him shorter and fatter in the Burgess Meredith-Danny DeVito shape. But he looks deranged enough to be dangerous rather than annoying. This year is supposed to focus on him, so it's good that he seems interesting.

    I was amazed at all the references to Gordon and Bullock killing an "innocent" man and getting their badges taken away when it was discovered he didn't kill the Waynes. The guy ran from the cops, took six shots at Gordon (a paroled felon), and then tried to beat him to death. That seems like a few crimes, several that justify killing him as much as his alleged killing of the Waynes. How does his innocence in that crime make Bullock's shot less justified?

    The reviews on Facebook have been mixed, but a lot of the negatives seem to be upset that there's no Batman, which seems kind of silly given the premise.The problem will be that Gordon needs some victories along the way or the massive and pervasive forces he's up against will become depressing to watch. He didn't get one this week, but the first week is always a bad time to judge a show's premise.

    Was it just me, or was it a little weird that Gordon essentially submitted his resignation to Bruce Wayne and had it refused? I understand the promise part, but he hasn't gone back on that. It seemed like he was acknowledging the power of the richest person in the city, like everyone else does in their own areas. I will say that Bruce had the kind of repressed anger that makes his change to the Batman easy to see.

    It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. It's a cop show, but it's not a procedural, we know where some of it's going (ie, Bullock, Montoya, Cobblepot and/or Kyle aren't doing to die) and there's no indication it'll have SFX to make it super-heroy. But there are enough new characters who could be killed to give it some suspense. If it becomes a story about the secret origins of Batman villains, I'm not sure it'll hold an audience. That won't even hold me--I find most origins boring.

    -- MSA

  • Mark S. Ogilvie September 24, 2014 at 12:14pm

    I think in terms of innocent that he was not guilty of killing the Waynes and I think in Gotham taking shots at and trying to kill a cop aren't things that normally show up in the papers. I often wonder if a town can be that corrupt without some sort of public indifference or outright approval.

    I thought it was more a shot by Gordon to have an excuse to get out of the entire situation. He knows that he's fighting an uphill battle with very little support and the ones who might have supported him thinks he's as guilty as the rest. I think the hatred that Montya and her partner have toward Bullock is coloring their view of Gordon.

  • Richard Willis September 24, 2014 at 1:01pm

    Mr. Silver Age said:

    I was amazed at all the references to Gordon and Bullock killing an "innocent" man and getting their badges taken away when it was discovered he didn't kill the Waynes. The guy ran from the cops, took six shots at Gordon (a paroled felon), and then tried to beat him to death. That seems like a few crimes, several that justify killing him as much as his alleged killing of the Waynes. How does his innocence in that crime make Bullock's shot less justified?

    I also thought it was odd he was referred to as innocent, being a would-be cop-killer. The pawn shop said he tried to pawn the necklace when he apparently didn't know he had it. Was he tipped off by the gang that the police were coming to frame him or kill him? Otherwise his running didn't make a lot of sense.

    I will say that Bruce had the kind of repressed anger that makes his change to the Batman easy to see.

    I agree. His description of the assailant wearing a "black mask" made me wonder. The casting in all the roles is very well done. Donal Logue just came off an impressive six-episode run on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he played a very different cop from Bullock. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the new character Fish Mooney but Jada Pinkett Smith makes her convincing. The performances of the actors portraying Cobblepot, Bruce and Selina are all very convincing. I had a laugh out loud moment when Carmine Falcone said that organized crime needs law and order.

  • Mark S. Ogilvie September 24, 2014 at 1:55pm

    I think it's interesting in that we might see which came first, the 'freak' crime lords or Batman. Many have maintained after all that Batman's appearence and success against the old crime families gave rise to the Penguin and such, but maybe in this case they were there first and young Bruce realized that he couldn't just be another cop, especially if he see's Jim Gordon constantly loosing.

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