Gotham-Pena-Dura Television 

Five Thoughts on Gotham‘s “Pena Dura”

By | February 1st, 2019
Posted in Television | % Comments

For those who aren’t aware, we here at Multiversity Comics have been rotating review duties on Fox’s Gotham. The catch? None of us have been keeping up, and in most instances have not watched an episode. This week you’re stuck with me, Walt Richardson, former editor of the site and co-host of the Multiversity Manga Club podcast. In my case, I rarely even watch TV — not as a matter of “look how erudite I am,” I just prefer superhero comics and shonen manga when it comes to my serialized junk food entertainment. The “previously on Gotham” bit that begins the show was pretty much useless this week, but hey, that’s part of the fun. Let’s get right to it — be warned, spoilers follow (I think?).

1. Penguins With Filthy Souls

The one thing I knew about Gotham going in was that Robin Lord Taylor’s Oswald Cobblepot is a fan favorite, and even after only one, context-less episode I can see why. As my wife and podcast co-host (listen to and subscribe to the Multiversity Manga Club!) aptly put it, Taylor feels like the only actor besides maybe BD Wong who seems aware that he’s in a comic book adaptation. He’s hamming it up, and although the performance maybe isn’t technically “good” he’s fun to watch, in part because he’s clearly having a lot of fun himself. Cory Michael Smith comes close in some scenes, particularly when he appears onscreen with Taylor, but for the most part he’s taking this whole “I’ve got a microchip in my brain that makes me kill civilians” thing a bit too seriously. If Cobblepot was the main character of the show, I’d maybe be more interested in watching more, because he’s certainly more entertaining than Ben McKenzie’s abysmally boring James Gordon.

Plus, he has a cute bulldog that he named after Nygma. Delightful.

2. No Budget, No Problem

Credit where credit is due: this episode has a few moments in it that are pretty clearly work-arounds for being confined to a TV budget, but the actors do well enough that it isn’t (too) distracting. The most notable is a scene early in the episode in Nygma’s room, which has been booby-trapped with pressure plates and an IED that can only be deactivated by solving a puzzle. The only particularly unique prop is the initial plate that Eduardo Dorrance steps on; otherwise, the scene is entirely Ben McKenzie just playing a game of “the floor is lava.” But you know what, it works! Through some decent acting and camera works, it isn’t particularly obvious that this is a low budget plot device. If anything, the more distracting part is when Gordon picks a book off the shelf that’s supposed to solve Nygma’s “puzzle” without at least seeing what the other options are. If I were Dorrance, although Gordon’s choice appeared to be (and was) the right one, I’d want to know what the other options were before my partner risks blowing us all to hell.

3. Lotta Violence!

I imagine that this is in part because we’re a few seasons in and you have to continue raising the stakes, but the sheer scale of death in this show is wild. Nygma is on the run after having killed over a hundred civilians. Sure, he was brainwashed by a microchip in his brain or whatever, but that’s a lot! I don’t think that’s something that would just be left to the city cops to handle, especially when you consider that it was done with a rocket-propelled grenade. Then there’s all the police-perpetrated violence — I know that cops gunning down criminals (actual or alleged) is a staple of primetime television, but the way the “good guy” cops merc with impunity is a bit disconcerting. It also makes the final confrontation between Gordon and Dorrance in this episode, where Dorrance tells Gordon he must shoot Nygma, seem ideologically confused. Go ahead Gordon, shoot Nygma! You didn’t have a problem with your cops killing nameless goons earlier.

4. The Cat’s Out Of The Bag

When the show checks in on what’s up between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Bruce talks about how he knows Selina better than she knows herself — big yikes to that — before Selina hits this arrogant rich boy with a truth bomb: she was there the night that the Waynes were murdered. What follows is another bit of murky moral arguing. Bruce tells Selina that he understands, she was just a kid and she was scared, and that he doesn’t hold it against her. To this, Selina replies that she wasn’t scared, she was just looking out for number one. But again, the distinction here seems negligible. The former and the latter can both be true, and it’s hard to see how the latter could really hurt Bruce’s feelings that much more. If Selina really wanted to push Bruce away, she could have said that she thought Gotham would be better with two less millionaires (which is where I thought it was going), earning the eternal respect of guys with rose emojis in their Twitter names.

Continued below

5. Nacho Fries Are Back, Baby

Not watching much TV means I miss out on some important cultural touchstones, not least of which are the latest commercials. So it was news to me when during the first commercial break I learned that Taco Bell had brought back their delicious nacho fries. Now, it was only last summer that I remember them bringing it “back,” and I’m kind of miffed that this is going to be a repeating limited thing rather than a permanent addition to the menu — clearly, the demand is there. But on the other hand, the commercial was charming and clever, and did its job of making me want some tasty fried goodness. Seeing that commercial every other break definitely made viewing this dull show a bit more tolerable.

Oh, I guess the last couple scenes with the Joker (?) were pretty important too, but what’s more exciting: the Waynes maybe being impersonated or Nacho Fries?

(This post was not sponsored by Taco Bell, though if anyone working for Taco Bell would be interested in working out some kind of deal, hit me up.)


//TAGS | Gotham

Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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