We’ll be honest, the holidays are around the corner, comics coverage is picking up going into the New Year, and the batshit (see what I did there) coverage of Gotham slipped our minds a little. But this week we are catching up on the last two installments of “Multiversity Writers Watch This Show That Makes No Sense and Write Hilarious Things About It,” or you know MWWTSTMNSWHTAI for short if that helps.
I watched the first I think season and a half of this show as it was starting and thought it was alright other than the complete rejection of morality. But maybe that’s just Gotham City? I think I hopped off right as the “Joker” died? I haven’t seen an episode of this show since then, and did no research before viewing this episode that aired two weeks ago, and I was rewarded with all the crazy murder and comic booky language one could ever want. Let’s dive in!
1. This show still looks beautiful
Say what you will about the quality of the content of Gotham, I don’t think anyone would deny that this show is a beautiful looking high-quality affair. The shots of Gotham City that line the episode are gorgeous, and the continued grey color palette mixed with the vivid colors of all the crazy characters is really striking. It’s nice to see that as the show has actually gone off the rails, the quality of the visuals hasn’t. So that’s a plus one. Everything else is as messed up as ripping someone’s arm off then beating them to death with it. Oh wait that actually happens…
2. Brutal murder in the most twisted way possible
Yeah so this show still has a penchant for brutal murder you’d almost think this was a Mark Millar comic (ba-zing). The show starts off with Solomon Grundy, the old Butch which threw me for a bit, ripping a guy’s arm off in an arena and literally killing him with it. Penguin then stabs a guy in the neck in his club for mouthing off. Grundy gets another arm ripping moment, and then Babs (who seems to be less outwardly crazy now but still really murder-y) shoots the fight club owner in the head. I’m sure I missed a couple in there somewhere. It’s so strange and gleeful, but hey I mean if that’s your kink.
3. Penguin’s chickens
So there’s another Falcone running around, and that’s cool I still don’t know her name they never said it in the episode, but she’s playing both Gordon and Penguin, There’s a point in the beginning of the episode where she tells Penguin he needs to get a hobby so as to take some of the edge off his life and reminds him of her father’s old chicken habit (which I totally forgot about and was also weird and stupid in season 1). So Penguin takes that as he needs to mentor a mute kid in the art of conning and murdering people. Gotta start them young. He takes this kid from the orphanage that the Falcone woman runs and shows him how to make his bullies fight each other (instead of lighting their shit on fire) and then by the end of the episode is teaching him how to stab people. I get it serves as a parallel for something, something, friendship, something, and I’m sure next episode Penguin is going to get back at the Falcone woman and continue his feud with Nigma, but why is no one weirded out by a crime boss taking on a 10-year old and literally teaching him how to be like him? I guess that’s Gotham…this is not a great continuing excuse.
4. Gordon’s still a self-righteous prick
The more thing’s change the more they stay the same. Gordon didn’t have a ton to do this episode, apparently the whole police station schtick has gone on the back burner to flesh out the villains (which is probably for the best). But, he does get offered the captain job of the GCPD, upending Bullock who somehow does that now. Gordon is still as much of a self-righteous, pseudo-moral, trash character as he always has been on this show, which I guess works for him. Let’s let the least self-aware character be the bastion for goodness, hooray! Apparently the cop subplot this half of the season revolves around Professor Pyg, who doesn’t show up in this episode but is a damn cool Grant Morrison creation, and Bullock is screwing up the manhunt real bad. Falcone lady finagles her way into the mayor making Gordon captain, but he won’t take it cause he doesn’t want to hurt his friend. Maybe just talk to him? Instead he ends up doing this sick cop ritual that Bullock gets too drunk and chickens out from doing cause it’s all his fault. Gordon lets his honor get in the way of the friendship (oh that was the theme this week, friendship and murder) and signs the damn paper contract thing in front of drunk Bullock. Dick move brah. Gordon is blind, and Bullock reminds him you’re being played too, but does Gordon care? Nope. Look I’m not saying Gordon is the worst character on this show, I’m just saying if, say, he got killed off by having his arm pulled off and beaten with it no one would miss him.
Continued below5. What the hell happened to all these characters?
While Gordon is all samey, everyone else has kind of derailed drastically. Babs and Selina are both now way into the criminal sinkhole with some other woman who I have no idea about. But hey it’s the faux-Gotham City Sirens, and I guess that’s cool. Poor Morena Baccarin his slid off into weird leather, cleavage, and villainy which makes no sense for Leslie Thompkins, but sure. And now she’s a crime lord! What?
Butch is now Solomon Grundy which actually I guess works since he’s now a real DC character. Riddler’s an idiot. I guess Penguin is still Penguin. Lucius Fox works at the GCPD? Also where were Bruce and Alfred today is he dead too? Cause that might also be cool. Yeah none of the characters really map to their comic book counterparts in any conceivable way. And that’s fine. When you throw around “red shirt” characters like Mr. Murderface and have lines like “Now apologize for electrocuting me,” and “Predilection for poultry,” you can kind of do whatever you want. This show is bonkers, and it’s what they want.
Anyway, I’m done with the madness and not looking back! Sound off in the comments below and tune in later this week for the next installment of…yeah screw that acronym.
