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Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






So, been watching this since it first aired, and finally on Season 3. Sadly, Channel 5 that hold the rights chose not to air it themselves.

After a somewhat ropey and varying first Season (really improved in the second half) it really found its feet.

For me, it shows a seriously interesting pre-Batman Gotham. The origin tales of the various villains are seriously compelling, and Penguin is absolutely superb. I also like how (beyond season 1!) it manages to drop in lesser known Batman villains.


At the risk of spoiler, it's also doing a solid enough job of Bruce Wayne's journey from scared young boy, to a young man on the road to becoming Batman. Sean Pertwee's Alfred is absolutely another stand out contribution.

Has anyone else been watching?

   
Made in us
The Last Chancer Who Survived





Norristown, PA

I've been watching it.. I think Sean Pertwee has been the best Alfred of all and my favorite out of anyone on the show. Jada Pinket Smith however has been my lease favorite.. don't know anything about Cat Mooney from the comics, so I don't know if she's playing it right or not, but I pretty much hate every scene she's in. Luckily she's mostly just in the first season and then sprinkled sparingly in the rest.

And maybe I'm forgetting from when I read the comics like 27 years ago.. so this is probably wrong but, isn't Gordon married to Barbara? They don't seem to be friends in the show at all (anymore). And wasn't she Batgirl in the comics too?

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I think comic Barbara is his daughter/niece?

I'm not terribly up on my Batman, so it might be a reason I particularly enjoy Gotham, few pre-conceived ideas.

   
Made in us
[DCM]
-






-

I couldn't get past the fact that...well...not only is there no Batman, but Bruce isn't even close to becoming Batman - he's way too young.

Which would mean that unless someone else is going to become all those iconic Batman villains, they're all probably going to be on the wrong side of too old to be those iconic Batman villains once Batman shows up.

Still, if you're saying it gets a lot better...maybe it is worth watching again?

   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Just hit the end of episode 13 in my Series 3 binge, and am still in awe of this show. I skipped the first series when aired as after the first few episodes it just seemed like a generic cop show with some sledgehammer-subtle Batman foreshadowing, but I picked up again at the start of series 2 and what a change.

From there, it's just been a rollercoaster of awesome stuff. Coming at it from the perspective of a massive Bat-fan, comic and film, the thing that astounds me is the unique combination of a clear love and knowledge of the source material (never thought I'd see a live action Azrael or Court of Owls! Those aren't exactly obscure to comic fans but to the general public those are pretty deep cuts from the Batman mythos!) and the guts to do some completely unexpected things with that material (making you root for Penguin and Riddler, going all-in on Bruce's transformation into Batman from the off, introducing Jerome and everything he may or may not come to be...)

It's a crazy, crazy show, but almost a perfect storm of comic book nerdery, somewhat hilarious ultra-violence, cracking characters and scripts and an absolute dead-on glimpse at the underlying madness of Batman's world. It's a very different take to almost everything else out there that deals with Batman and Gotham's origin, but exceptional in its uniqueness and utterly compelling. I'm gushing a bit, but Gotham is almost certainly my favourite show on TV at the moment. While Arrow and Co over on the CW shows are content to turn out the same generic plots and dramas over year on year, Gotham is going all-out nuts with a creepily comic-accurate Mad Hatter, a possible future Joker and as mentioned, the Court of bloody Owls...

Yeah, it's a good'un! And yeah. Pertwee just nails Alfred. Of the live action ones, he's rivalled only by Caine, and definitely the more authentically comicy of the two.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I think comic Barbara is his daughter/niece?

I'm not terribly up on my Batman, so it might be a reason I particularly enjoy Gotham, few pre-conceived ideas.


Barbara Keane (the one in Gotham) is Gordon's first wife, Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle) is Jim's daughter, named for her.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/09/05 20:08:48


 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






 Alpharius wrote:
I couldn't get past the fact that...well...not only is there no Batman, but Bruce isn't even close to becoming Batman - he's way too young.

Which would mean that unless someone else is going to become all those iconic Batman villains, they're all probably going to be on the wrong side of too old to be those iconic Batman villains once Batman shows up.

Still, if you're saying it gets a lot better...maybe it is worth watching again?


I'm halfway through Season 3....I'd say give that season a spin. See how Brucieboy is shaping up

   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Where ever the Emperor needs his eyes

 Paradigm wrote:


Yeah, it's a good'un! And yeah. Pertwee just nails Alfred. Of the live action ones, he's rivalled only by Caine, and definitely the more authentically comicy of the two.


Pertwee isnt even close to rivaled by Caine, Caine's Alfred stopped being Alfred the moment he quit on Bruce. Jeremy Irons though, he's close to Pertwee, but Pertwee is the best.

Also I was really excited when they announced Alexander Siddig was joining the cast and only slightly disappointed that he only showed up once, so far. But considering who he's playing, him being used sparingly is good. To not spoil Season 3 for people, I liked it, I liked its out come and revelations, and am looking forward to season 4.

One of my favorite Villains, who showed up in two episodes as a minor character is coming back as a larger villain.

Spoiler:
Its Scarecrow.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/09/05 20:32:17


 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Oh, true, Caine's Alfred isn't all that accurate, especially compared to Pertwee or Irons, it's simply the strength of the performance that puts him up there for me.

Not seen Siddig yet, but that is some genius casting. Looking forward to seeing if he delivers...

 
   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Where ever the Emperor needs his eyes

I'll give Caine's performace that much, it had strength. But the Nolan movies all started to fall apart for me. That and I just felt the Batman parts of BvS were much stronger than in Nolan's. TDKR was just awful to me personally, TDK and Begins were good but Batfleck got both parts of Bruce right. Sure he killed, but that doesn't bother me as much. Besides the best Batman movie is still
Spoiler:
Mask of the Phantasm


Siddig probably could have been better in the like five minutes he was around, but he delivered fairly well I thought.
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





It's kind of fun but rather inconsistent quality wise, Mrs Smith is flat out awful at all times

My minor gripe with Season 3 is mobile phones, I kind of liked the vague 'around about now(ish)' but mildly retro feel that was going on before

Looking at the Season 4 trailer, I'm thinking its 1 or 2 seasons tops before it ends a la Smallville with the bat-signal


"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED." 
   
Made in au
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





Happy to hear the show picked up in season 2.

I lost interest slogging through season 1 when it first ran, the show felt like it was trying to fit an over-arching Gotham narrative in between a monster of the week police procedural, leaving both short changed. The potential was there but execution was so far off.

So with you guys telling me it improves I'll give it another go.

“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”

Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something. 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Definitely do!

   
Made in gb
Wolf Guard Bodyguard in Terminator Armor




I quite like the show, as well. Only in season 2 right now, but it's good fun!
Contrary to most (apparently), I quite like Mrs. Smith's "Fish" Mooney, but Alfred, Edward Nygma, Cat and Penguin are stellar performances as well.
I'm not a big fan of how Jim Gordon crosses the line in season 2 though. Especially the second time. It just felt like it was going too far for him.
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




 Alpharius wrote:

Which would mean that unless someone else is going to become all those iconic Batman villains, they're all probably going to be on the wrong side of too old to be those iconic Batman villains once Batman shows up.


They are generally only a few years older (5-10) than Bruce Wayne and something happens to most of the more outlandish villains that easily makes any minor age differences largely meaningless anyway.

I enjoyed it although it is definitely patchy, the whole organ harvesting subplot involving Fish for example was terrible. The casting is generally superb though.
   
Made in us
Androgynous Daemon Prince of Slaanesh





Norwalk, Connecticut

 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:
I'll give Caine's performace that much, it had strength. But the Nolan movies all started to fall apart for me. That and I just felt the Batman parts of BvS were much stronger than in Nolan's. TDKR was just awful to me personally, TDK and Begins were good but Batfleck got both parts of Bruce right. Sure he killed, but that doesn't bother me as much. Besides the best Batman movie is still
Spoiler:
Mask of the Phantasm


Siddig probably could have been better in the like five minutes he was around, but he delivered fairly well I thought.


I believe you meant Under the Red Hood is #1, but it's understandable you'd pick the second best as your personal #1

Reality is a nice place to visit, but I'd hate to live there.

Manchu wrote:I'm a Catholic. We eat our God.


Due to work, I can usually only ship any sales or trades out on Saturday morning. Please trade/purchase with this in mind.  
   
Made in gb
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain





Earth

 timetowaste85 wrote:
 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:
I'll give Caine's performace that much, it had strength. But the Nolan movies all started to fall apart for me. That and I just felt the Batman parts of BvS were much stronger than in Nolan's. TDKR was just awful to me personally, TDK and Begins were good but Batfleck got both parts of Bruce right. Sure he killed, but that doesn't bother me as much. Besides the best Batman movie is still
Spoiler:
Mask of the Phantasm


Siddig probably could have been better in the like five minutes he was around, but he delivered fairly well I thought.


I believe you meant Under the Red Hood is #1, but it's understandable you'd pick the second best as your personal #1


Nah mask of the Phantasm for me too
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






After a few days break from Gotham, back to it tonight.

Really impressed with Season 3. Many twists, some suitably camp, others solid, none ridiculous or contrived.

Now I mention camp, perhaps that's the main key to itself? The city is a pretty dismal placed. Lots of grey, often raining. Run down, unloved. But there's just the right level of razzledazzle from its inhabitants, particularly the upcoming villains and criminals to offset that without clashing.

   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Where ever the Emperor needs his eyes

timetowaste85 wrote:
 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:
I'll give Caine's performace that much, it had strength. But the Nolan movies all started to fall apart for me. That and I just felt the Batman parts of BvS were much stronger than in Nolan's. TDKR was just awful to me personally, TDK and Begins were good but Batfleck got both parts of Bruce right. Sure he killed, but that doesn't bother me as much. Besides the best Batman movie is still
Spoiler:
Mask of the Phantasm


Siddig probably could have been better in the like five minutes he was around, but he delivered fairly well I thought.


I believe you meant Under the Red Hood is #1, but it's understandable you'd pick the second best as your personal #1


Formosa wrote:
 timetowaste85 wrote:
 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:
I'll give Caine's performace that much, it had strength. But the Nolan movies all started to fall apart for me. That and I just felt the Batman parts of BvS were much stronger than in Nolan's. TDKR was just awful to me personally, TDK and Begins were good but Batfleck got both parts of Bruce right. Sure he killed, but that doesn't bother me as much. Besides the best Batman movie is still
Spoiler:
Mask of the Phantasm


Siddig probably could have been better in the like five minutes he was around, but he delivered fairly well I thought.


I believe you meant Under the Red Hood is #1, but it's understandable you'd pick the second best as your personal #1


Nah mask of the Phantasm for me too




Atleast we all know that both are the best Batman movies.
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Very nearly finished Season 3 now.

Show just keeps getting better and better.

   
Made in ca
Enigmatic Chaos Sorcerer





British Columbia

Completely disliked this show in season 1-2. Stayed longer than I normally would but finally quit as I felt like I was hate watching.

Has it really improved that much?

Also another vote for Mask of the Phantasm. "Chuckie Sol... Your Angel of Death awaits..."

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/09/09 20:32:12


 BlaxicanX wrote:
A young business man named Tom Kirby, who was a pupil of mine until he turned greedy, helped the capitalists hunt down and destroy the wargamers. He betrayed and murdered Games Workshop.


 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






If you didn't enjoy Season 2, I don't think Season 3 will challenge your stance.

I really enjoyed it though

   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Just wrapped up S3... bloody hell! Absolutely bonkers finale that wraps everything up very nicely while leaving a few very tantalising threads for the next series...

Fantastic stuff and hopefully we won't be waiting quite as long for the next series in the UK.

 
   
Made in gb
The Daemon Possessing Fulgrim's Body





Devon, UK

 Eldarain wrote:
Completely disliked this show in season 1-2. Stayed longer than I normally would but finally quit as I felt like I was hate watching.

Has it really improved that much?


Eeeeh, maybe?

Personally, I found both S1 and 2 suffered quite badly from uneven pacing, I'm halfway through S3, give or take, and not only is the pacing better, the general overall progression of the characters across 3 seasons means we're just a good deal closer to the inherent Batmannyness that the average viewer was probably drawn to the series looking for in the first instance.

However the spine of the show is still fundamentally the same, it's still the Jim Gordon show and not the Batman/Bruce Wayne show, and it hasn't departed from that in any notable way, so if you really disliked the first 2 seasons, I can't see any substantial reason you'd like 3, despite the general uptick in quality.

We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't. - Frank Howard Clark

The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!” Professor Brian Cox

Ask me about
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Made in us
Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Where ever the Emperor needs his eyes

EDIT: Video went down

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/09/22 16:32:02


 
   
Made in nl
Stone Bonkers Fabricator General




We'll find out soon enough eh.

Hmm. Well, brains are wierd I suppose; I watched EP1 and half of EP2 back when season one first aired and just really really hated it, but I decided to try starting again based on what folk here were saying about the later seasons and...I'm really enjoying it. Even the first couple of episodes. I can't even figure out what about it made me bounce off so hard the first time.

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-----
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Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

 Yodhrin wrote:
Hmm. Well, brains are wierd I suppose; I watched EP1 and half of EP2 back when season one first aired and just really really hated it, but I decided to try starting again based on what folk here were saying about the later seasons and...I'm really enjoying it. Even the first couple of episodes. I can't even figure out what about it made me bounce off so hard the first time.


I think it struggled earlier on with what it was and what people wanted/expected it to be. Some people wanted a straight-up Batman prequel and were disappointed that the focus was mostly on Gordon at first, and people expecting a cop show were probably put off by the more comicy elements that came through... Then there's just the fact that the first few episodes are really quite slow.

Gotham is at its best when you accept that it's a totally unique beast. It's not a cop show because it's waaaay too crazy for that, it's not a superhero show (yet), but it survives based on the strength of its characters and plots and rarely if ever conforms to the conventions of either genre. You root for the monsters half the time, and the good guys are far from always heroes. At this point, it's found its niche and is catering, I think, to a very specific audience. If you can get to series 2 and are still enjoying it, it's only uphill from there.

 
   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Where ever the Emperor needs his eyes

Last week season 4 started and tonight is Episode 2 of the season, lets see if things continue to shape up fairly nicely, and see how Scarecrow does in action.
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Given that the UK won't be getting it for ages, can we please keep any Series 4 talk in spoilers? With how frequently Gotham drops twists and turns, I'd like to avoid foreknowledge as much as possible.

I wish Netflix would just pick up UK broadcasting rights now Channel 5 seems totally uninterested...

 
   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Where ever the Emperor needs his eyes

Totally can do, I'll keep that in mind as things progress.
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






 Paradigm wrote:
 Yodhrin wrote:
Hmm. Well, brains are wierd I suppose; I watched EP1 and half of EP2 back when season one first aired and just really really hated it, but I decided to try starting again based on what folk here were saying about the later seasons and...I'm really enjoying it. Even the first couple of episodes. I can't even figure out what about it made me bounce off so hard the first time.


I think it struggled earlier on with what it was and what people wanted/expected it to be. Some people wanted a straight-up Batman prequel and were disappointed that the focus was mostly on Gordon at first, and people expecting a cop show were probably put off by the more comicy elements that came through... Then there's just the fact that the first few episodes are really quite slow.

Gotham is at its best when you accept that it's a totally unique beast. It's not a cop show because it's waaaay too crazy for that, it's not a superhero show (yet), but it survives based on the strength of its characters and plots and rarely if ever conforms to the conventions of either genre. You root for the monsters half the time, and the good guys are far from always heroes. At this point, it's found its niche and is catering, I think, to a very specific audience. If you can get to series 2 and are still enjoying it, it's only uphill from there.


Something I'm quite enjoying in it is a subtext I'm perceiving....

Specifically, that our frame of reference, Jim Gordon, is on the way to be turn into yet another Gotham Monster. Because that's what Gotham does to Good Men, it slowly corrupts. Slowly gets them to push their boundaries....

Which is why Batman becomes so important to the city. He is the literal monster in the shadows, but does it all on his own terms. He distracts The Big Bad Guys, freeing up the GCPD somewhat - and crucially, allowing Gordon to keep to his moral code.

   
 
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