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Gotham TonightWelcome to our first Gotham Tonight podcast. Each week Tom and Adam chat up the latest episode of the Gotham television show. After much anticipation, we finally get to plunge into the murky waters of Episode 1.

Gotham Tonight! Pilot MP3 Download

What we hope to bring you every week:

  • We will strive to critique this show based on its own merits. We don’t want to compare Gotham to other comic book properties. It will be tough and we’ll have some slip ups from time to time. However, we’ll do our best to limit our conversations to Gotham.
  • How each week’s episode is being perceived on the world wide web

Things we liked about Episode 1:

  • Adam finds it difficult to judge the caliber of a show based solely on the pilot episode. Tom makes a fantastic point on the evolution of the pilot and how it has changed over the years.
  • The episode starts with a brief introduction to a young Selina Kyle. She’s a witness to the Wayne murders. She shows up a couple of times through this episode. Always observing from a distance. The character has a great look (reminiscent of current version of Catwoman with the night vision goggles). Selina sees Bruce at his lowest. What are Selina’s intentions and how will her story evolve in the coming episodes? Tom and Adam are both eager to find out.
  • The portrayal of Jim Gordon. So far, he’s the only person on the Gotham PD that has exhibited a moral code. It’ll be interesting to see if he sticks to that code or if he falters at some point.
  • Oswald Cobblepot (played by Robin Lord Taylor) stole the show during this episode. He’s a low level henchmen/servant for Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), a mobster who runs the theater district. Mooney frames an innocent man for the Wayne murders. Cobblepot sees an opportunity for a power grab and rats out Mooney to the cops.
  • The writers took a risk by introducing a brand new character to the show. We both applaud this. It would have been easy to only use established characters from the Batman universe (which they’ve already used quite a few).
  • Batman stories work best when you don’t know what era the story is set in. There were some things about the pilot that felt modern and other aspects that didn’t. Neither Tom nor Adam are sure what era the show is set in and that’s a good thing.

Things that didn’t work for us:

  • We both wish the writers would have held back a few of the characters. It feels like every potential major player was introduced in this episode. I could have done without the Nygma and Ivy appearances. They felt forced and there was nothing subtle about their introductions.   Tom especially takes issue with naming the plant loving girl “Ivy”.
  • The writers took all of the guess work out of which characters could end up being iconic villains. We already know who our Penguin, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Riddler are. Where’s the mystery?
  • The last scene puzzled Adam. Jim Gordon travels to Wayne Manner to inform Bruce the cops got the wrong guy. He asks for Bruce’s forgiveness and another shot at catching the real killer. Perhaps this is some heavy handed foreshadowing of a partnership between the future Batman and Gordon. Tom had a different take on this scene and had Adam second guessing himself.