The first half of Gotham’s inaugural season has concluded and I’ve really enjoyed it. However, no show is without its problems. The first season of a show always has its growing pains and Gotham has been no exception. Here are a few unsolicited requests I have for Gotham when they return in this spring.
Coordinate Between Writers
When a show has multiple writers, sometimes episodes are written at the same time. There is an outline for the season and each writer knows where they need to leave a character at the end of their episode, but sometimes communication gets lost and unfortunately we had a lot of that in our first ten episodes. Minor examples include characters interacting in a way that goes contrary to a conversation they had one episode prior. More major and clunky examples include everyone calling Oswald a dishwasher one episode after he was promoted and the inconsistency of Bruce’s school enrollment. Get more communication among the writers to ensure a tighter continuity.
Mix and match the characters
At times certain characters seem glued to a certain set and only interact with the same few people. We rarely saw Fish leave her nightclub or Barbara leave her penthouse. Fish has a criminal empire, let’s see her run it instead of hearing her talk about it. Barbara Kean is supposed to have an art gallery but you would never know it. Remember when Alfred and Fish met in “Lovecraft”? That was one of the more interesting moments of the episode. We need more character interactions like that to mix things up. What would happen if Bruce met Barbara Kean, or Oswald met Edward, or Maroni met Alfred? The same characters don’t always have to hang out in the same place with the same people.
Give Some Minor Characters The Spotlight
The show has so many characters and there are times when cramming them all into one episode is done at the expense of character development. “Spirit of the Goat” was one of the best episodes of the series and that’s because it dropped a few characters and gave us more screen time to develop Bullock and Nygma. If all Fish has to say is “Falcone is a weak old man”, then write her out of the episode and give Crispus Allen a character defining scene.
Show Gordon’s History
Throughout the series we’ve been given teases of Gordon’s military history. We know he’s a war hero and people like Black Mask, Bullock and Falcone have all alluded to his wartime background. I would love to see that explored more. Perhaps something from Gordon’s past can pop up or we can get an extended flashback.
More Penguin
I originally thought the show would be a great character piece for Gordon and Bullock. After a few weeks the consensus among my friends and I was that Oswald Cobblepot is the character to watch on the show. His rise to the top of the criminal underworld has been horrifying (stalking someone for their shoes), uncomfortable (kissing mobsters when he kills them) and full of surprises (the reveal at the end of “Penguin’s Umbrella”). Oswald has constantly kept us guessing and has been a great wild card. I hope the show continues Oswald’s trajectory.
Don’t Make Everyone Older Than Bruce
It’s been fun to see different characters from Batman’s mythos introduced, but the lack of diversity in their ages are annoying. Aside from Ivy Pepper, Tommy Elliot and Selina Kyle, everyone has a decade or more on Bruce. We’re in a universe where Bruce’s contemporaries like Black Mask, Harvey Dent, Sarah Essen and Renee Montoya are all older. The pilot even hinted the same thing with the Joker (although to be fair so did the Burton film). When it comes to adaptations, we need to accept these things, but I don’t like the idea of all of Batman’s enemies and allies being established before he is. When the show introduces more iconic characters, I hope some of them are closer to Bruce’s age.
What about you? What do you feel the show needs to do when they air the second half of season one? Let us know in the comment section!
