GOTHAM's first season came to a roaring end in this finale that saw some main characters taking their final bows, while others took steps on paths that will have great consequences for themselves and the world of Gotham.
The main arc of this episode concerned the Mob war between Don Falcone and Sal Moroni, one that was instigated by Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin, with Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock caught in the middle and trying to halt the carnage single handedly as the corrupt Gotham police force runs for cover. Fish Mooney makes her return with a squad of goons backing her up in her own bid for power and revenge; along the way she enlists the aid of Selena Kyle, who seems perfectly happy to be Mooney's henchwoman. Fish also seems to have recovered nicely from that gut wound she received two weeks age as she fled in a helicopter from Dulcmacher's hellish version of Fantasy Island.
Gordon and Falcone make an alliance of necessity as the various gangs chase each other through the seedy streets of Gotham; before it's over, Moroni gets shot in the head by Fish; Butch wounds both Oswald and Fish; Oswald makes sure Fish sleeps with the fishes and Falcone decides to just call it quits, but not before revealing a connection to Jim's father and giving Gordon some sound advice; and The Penguin stands high atop a building and steals a move from DiCaprio as he proclaims himself the King of Gotham.
Meanwhile, Gordon's two squeezes, Doctor Tompkins and Barbara Kean are having a heart to heart in an attempt to get Barbara to deal with her traumatic encounter with The Ogre; things take a very unexpected turn when Barbara reveals she most certainly was not a passive victim after all. This leads to a cat fight, with the good Doctor emerging victorious just as Jim walks in the door.
And meanwhile, over at Wayne Manor, teenage Bruce is trying to discover a secret his late father kept hidden very well from the world. This ends in a scene very familiar to the one which concluded the first season of LOST.
And back at police headquarters, Edward Nygma has a private meltdown that puts him a big step along the way to becoming The Riddler.
There was a lot going on in this episode...to say the least, and some of it had a hurried feel to it, as if the writers couldn't wait to set the table for the next season, leaving us viewers with some questions: why does the fearsome Falcone reverse himself abruptly and retire? All season long Selena Kyle has been defiantly independent, but just like that, she throws in with Fish? Where is Falcone's right hand man, Victor Zzaz when all the mayhem is going down? Fish's button gets pushed by Moroni calling her "Babes" repeatedly? And after all Fish has been through this season and all the monsters she has gone up against, how could a wounded Oswald just throw her in the river so easily?
During much of this season of the Batman show without Batman, critics have complained that it couldn't decide what kind of show it wanted to be; one review I read said it needed to be more like the old Adam West Batman of the 1960's. In other words, they needed to camp it up, to which I say, God forbid, we don't need to go down that road again. GOTHAM does have problems with its pacing, which is natural considering the large group of characters it follows from week to week and the multiple story lines. But overall they pull it together pretty good.
The acting has been first rate, especially when it comes to the rogues gallery, Robin Lord Taylor's Penguin and Cory Michael Smith's Ed Nygma being the real standouts. But we are really going to miss Jada Pinkett Smith next season and I surely hope we haven't seen the last of John Doman's Falcone. And somebody really needs to give David Zayas his own show after the great work he's done, not only on GOTHAM, but on DEXTER as well.
In the end, GOTHAM is one more take on the Batman saga, different in its own way as Tim Burton's and Christopher Nolan's versions of the world Bob Kane created. I look upon them all as alternate universes containing the same characters, all unique in their own way.
Onward to Season 2, when hopefully we'll see more than a hint of Cameron Monaghan's The Joker and more of Nicholas D'Agosto's Harvey Dent, the future Two-Face. Bring on the Big Bads.
The main arc of this episode concerned the Mob war between Don Falcone and Sal Moroni, one that was instigated by Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin, with Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock caught in the middle and trying to halt the carnage single handedly as the corrupt Gotham police force runs for cover. Fish Mooney makes her return with a squad of goons backing her up in her own bid for power and revenge; along the way she enlists the aid of Selena Kyle, who seems perfectly happy to be Mooney's henchwoman. Fish also seems to have recovered nicely from that gut wound she received two weeks age as she fled in a helicopter from Dulcmacher's hellish version of Fantasy Island.
Gordon and Falcone make an alliance of necessity as the various gangs chase each other through the seedy streets of Gotham; before it's over, Moroni gets shot in the head by Fish; Butch wounds both Oswald and Fish; Oswald makes sure Fish sleeps with the fishes and Falcone decides to just call it quits, but not before revealing a connection to Jim's father and giving Gordon some sound advice; and The Penguin stands high atop a building and steals a move from DiCaprio as he proclaims himself the King of Gotham.
Meanwhile, Gordon's two squeezes, Doctor Tompkins and Barbara Kean are having a heart to heart in an attempt to get Barbara to deal with her traumatic encounter with The Ogre; things take a very unexpected turn when Barbara reveals she most certainly was not a passive victim after all. This leads to a cat fight, with the good Doctor emerging victorious just as Jim walks in the door.
And meanwhile, over at Wayne Manor, teenage Bruce is trying to discover a secret his late father kept hidden very well from the world. This ends in a scene very familiar to the one which concluded the first season of LOST.
And back at police headquarters, Edward Nygma has a private meltdown that puts him a big step along the way to becoming The Riddler.
There was a lot going on in this episode...to say the least, and some of it had a hurried feel to it, as if the writers couldn't wait to set the table for the next season, leaving us viewers with some questions: why does the fearsome Falcone reverse himself abruptly and retire? All season long Selena Kyle has been defiantly independent, but just like that, she throws in with Fish? Where is Falcone's right hand man, Victor Zzaz when all the mayhem is going down? Fish's button gets pushed by Moroni calling her "Babes" repeatedly? And after all Fish has been through this season and all the monsters she has gone up against, how could a wounded Oswald just throw her in the river so easily?
During much of this season of the Batman show without Batman, critics have complained that it couldn't decide what kind of show it wanted to be; one review I read said it needed to be more like the old Adam West Batman of the 1960's. In other words, they needed to camp it up, to which I say, God forbid, we don't need to go down that road again. GOTHAM does have problems with its pacing, which is natural considering the large group of characters it follows from week to week and the multiple story lines. But overall they pull it together pretty good.
The acting has been first rate, especially when it comes to the rogues gallery, Robin Lord Taylor's Penguin and Cory Michael Smith's Ed Nygma being the real standouts. But we are really going to miss Jada Pinkett Smith next season and I surely hope we haven't seen the last of John Doman's Falcone. And somebody really needs to give David Zayas his own show after the great work he's done, not only on GOTHAM, but on DEXTER as well.
In the end, GOTHAM is one more take on the Batman saga, different in its own way as Tim Burton's and Christopher Nolan's versions of the world Bob Kane created. I look upon them all as alternate universes containing the same characters, all unique in their own way.
Onward to Season 2, when hopefully we'll see more than a hint of Cameron Monaghan's The Joker and more of Nicholas D'Agosto's Harvey Dent, the future Two-Face. Bring on the Big Bads.