Gotham is a quirky, darkish, fun take on the classic Batman mythoss. The show has been holding it’s own nicely on Monday nights with a 1.51 rating for that all-important 18-49 demographic. Fox will likely order a season 3, which should please viewers since Gotham has been improving with time; but it could improve even more.
Season 1
The first season had a lot of “is this character or that character the Joker?” and too much Fish for my tastes. Future Penguin and Riddler were around but they were a long way from the arch foes we’re familiar with. It seemed reasonable that Gotham City’s men in blue could deal with them. Of all the future arch villains only Zsasz seemed to need a Caped Crusader to take him down.
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Season 2 – “Rise of the Villains”
The show spent time molding Oswald Cobblepot and Edward Nygma into the crime lord Penguin, and diabolic Riddler comic fans have come to expect. Tabitha Galavan has appeared, she’s not Tigress yet, but she is still far more than the average Gotham police officer can handle. Gotham’s version of Firefly has burned up a few scenes and it looks like she’ll be back. Now Gotham is adding Mr. Freeze complete with ice gun and Dr. Hugo Strange . All this combined with the already lethal Zsasz means Gotham’s going to need a hero and soon.
Jim Gordon is a war vet and tough guy but when push came to punch Theo Galavan handed him his teeth. And Theo is no match for his sister. This version of Alfred is badass, able to hold his own with Tabitha at least for brief spurts. Yet his best fighting days are behind him making him more suited to be the medic. Gotham needs somebody to instill fear into these criminals, a Batman. It would be great to see Gotham Season 3 time jump ahead three or four years giving the city a Bruce Wayne who is ready to go toe to toe with all who would do it harm.
Teen Batman?
Of course a Gotham time jump would most likely mean replacing David Mazouz as Bruce and maybe Camren Bicondova as Selene Kyle. Both of these teens have been growing into their roles, but the situation calls for a Bruce that is almost ready to put on the cowl. If not, Gotham will be in flames before Bruce is old enough to drive. Mazouz and Bicondova should have no problems finding more work. The show could even consider bringing them back in flashbacks. (Okay, maybe that’s just a CW show thing…)
The leap forward is very simple to pull off and explain. Bruce Wayne goes away for a few years to “school” in Europe. Of course, he’s actually training with the great fighting masters of the world. All the while Lucius Fox has been tinkering away with prototype devices funded by the secret division of Wayne Enterprises. Bruce returns to Gotham under the guise he is ready to attend Gotham University, but of course, he’s there to kick arch evildoer ass with guile, muscle, and technology. Not only does this make Bruce a more fitting partner for Jim Gordon it also allows for more interesting relationships with Selene and even Ivy who so far has been vastly underused. With a true almost Batman in the picture the creators could finally introduce the real future Joker. No more of this “is he or she (looking at you Barbara Keen) going to be the Joker?” Thoughts? [irp]
