Philbert
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Posts posted by Philbert
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I've been assuming that she's the actual mastermind behind Flass's drug operation.
With this show being the way it is, you never know. Most of the audience seems to have been assuming that Ed is going to finally snap at being rejected by Kristin and go ahead and kill her...setting up him becoming the Riddler. I think with this show, it's just as likely that she's a criminal mastermind and will turn him to the 'dark side' herself. It's clear (to me anyway) that at this point she's stringing him along-she seems to know EXACTLY which of his buttons to push. I mean really, you pick a guy who likes riddles? Seriously?
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Yeah if you want a show about police work, Gotham is not for you. Go watch some old CSI reruns or NYPD Blue or The Wire or something.
Umm, yeah. CSI and NYPD Blue are exactly the kind of shows I was talking about. Utter fantasy with regard to police work. Gotham isn't perfect nor do I expect a show about comic book characters to be so.
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Logic is not this shows forte. Everything happens because reasons. Gordon is a terrible Detective, he mostly sits around growling and wondering what to do and the evidence is magically handed to him by a number of different people.
Oh, he's not that bad. He and Harvey actually did a fairly good job last night. One of the weakest parts of the show has been the slip shod detective work and corner cutting that you're just going to find on television cop shows that are NOT on HBO (yes, that was a "Wire" shout-out.) Most of these shows rely too much on hunches and not enough on actual police work which is usually boring as hell to watch and only has been done right a few times in tv history. At least last night, Jim spotted a legitimate clue and acted appropriately. It's a step in the right direction although the constant shooting of suspects is getting old. Most American detectives never unholster their weapons in a 30 year career. How many have Jim and Harvey gunned down since September?
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They REALLY want us to hate Barbara!
It's not working for me. I just feel sorry for her. Last night's attempt to 'mentor' Cat was just...pathetic. And no, I don't think it was meant to be sexual in nature, as some here suggest. It may just be that seduction is all Barbara knows and that's how it's coming across. Anyway, she's now officially a 'hot mess' of a character. She's not even repulsive enough to hate-just sigh inducing and I'm still not sure the writers haven't been planning this all along.
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I confuse easily ... who picked up the Red Hood at the end?
A random kid off the street. I think that was the point. Who wears the Hood isn't important. It's what it is supposed to represent.
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Enjoyed the Maroni/Falcone stuff, and how John Doman and David Zayas play off one another. But, I love how they both shit on Oswald, knowing what he is going to become. These two have no idea what he is capable of.
This. It's glorious watching these two actors work on this show. They're both playing rather conventional tv/movie gangsters but each is giving it his own particular spin. See, this is why you always use HBO alumni-they usually only hire the best.
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Hi Julian Sands, haven't seen you since Banshee.Could Ben Cross be dropping by Gotham in the near future?
Alonzo Duralde over at What the Flick, who reviews this show weekly, has said repeatedly that this show's casting department deserves a lot of credit for finding the best guest stars on television. I agree. Two weeks ago it was Peter Scalari as the Commissioner. I wouldn't be surprised to find Tom Hanks show up one day, especially if this show gains the kind of cult following that the Adam West show did.
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...Is there a character currently on television who is beaten up more than Oswald?...
Probably not currently but I believe that Jim Rockford still holds the men's free-style 'getting the crap kicked out of him' title to this day.
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You know there is a really good show lurking somewhere in Gotham but "the show" is still uneven. Gordon's do gooder routine verges on hammy and there's some rushed editing choices. I keep thinking they need to start reducing the cast, because the actors arent given enough space so when they do show up they try and compress an episodes worth of action into 5 minutes.
I agree with this, although I think it's already stumbling (maybe unwittingly) into 'good' territory-certainly by Network Television standards anyway, and heading into greatness. We won't know just how good it is until season three, IMHO. That's usually the pinnacle of any tv series. They struggle to find their voice in S1, hit the stride somewhere in the middle of S2, and pretty much hit perfection by the end of season three. I point to Buffy the vampire Slayer, Angel and Farscape as my examples. On the other hand, they often start to go downhill at that point. Angel had a brilliant S4 (IMHO) and only starting sliding after the howling blue monkeys at the WB started meddling with it. BTVS on the other hand struggled with quality after S3 and even though it produced some truly excellent episodes after that, never achieved the same level of storytelling as a whole until the disastrous S7 run.when it completely fell apart.
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I don't get what's up with Kringle and Nygma. Count me in as hoping she goes evil or something, because I can't figure out why I should care about her scenes if she is destined to be, idk, first casualty? I did enjoy their interactions more this episode, but Nygma had a definite expression that said he was going to do some murdering. If that cop turns up dead in lock up I will know who to blame
There are a couple of ways to go here. A lot of people seem to be assuming that Kristen is going to be Ed's first victim that sends him round the bend to The Riddler but it's just as likely that they go with the whole, "Girl falls in love with socially awkward guy-is tragically killed-sending him over the edge" motif. Personally (and yes, I realize I'm in the minority here) I don't find him that creepy. He's essentially a good guy-just with little to no interpersonal skills. I've known people like that in real life. Most of them are the most decent people you ever want to meet. It's the ones that ooze charm and confidence you have to watch out for. I can see Ed going bad not out of a desire to do evil but as a reaction to a personal tragedy-say, having Kristen fall in love with him and getting brutally murdered later. BTVS Season 6 Evil Willow anyone?
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Commissioner Gordon generally doesn't approve, but he's pragmatic enough to understand that he doesn't really have a choice given how intricately Batman and Gotham are linked.
I think what this show is really all about, aside from the city's descent into the Hell that gives birth to Batman, is Gordon's journey from holier than though, White Knight Avenger, to the more pragmatic, go with the flow Sgt Jim Gordon that we see in "Batman Begins." I realize of course that the show does not have to fit in with the Nolan universe but the feel I get from "Gotham" is that they are trying to strike a fine line between those films and Burton's earlier entries into the franchise-while adding their unique take on it. Right now Mackenzie's Gordon doesn't resemble Oldman's much at all but I can see the one turning into the other in 20 years. I think that's where the show is going be cause honestly, the writers are about as subtle as a sledgehammer. They're lucky they have a first rate cast to cover some of it up.
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7 minutes agoI was multi-tasking. What exactly was the price to be paid at the end? Something with the guy's wife & kid?
Gordon realizes to his horror that the guy is terrified that Gordon is going to have his wife and kids killed...because Penguin's man was interrogating them by holding the wife underwater in the tub. Gordon is figuring out exactly what the cost of 'cleaning up' Gotham is going to be-a whole lot of collateral damage.
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I believe the at least the first season is also on Hulu.comIs it on any of the streaming sites?
The very first episode that I saw was 1.06 "Thank God It's Friday...Again" as part of a 6 block of episodes that Sci-Fi Channel (yeah before they lame name chance)used to run with their new shows. It wasn't until I saw 1.08 "PK Tech Girl" that I got hooked on the show. It remains on my top ten episode list even 15 year later.
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Oh cool. A new Farscape board, well relatively that is. I've been obsessed with this show since I discovered it back in 1999. Eleven years of cancellation have not diluted my passion for it. What I find great about this show is that it's only now starting to catch on among the general public, with the much easier access to the episodes than existed 15 years ago. Fantastic.
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Those trees were wide spaced with no undergrowth thanks to snow. Yep it messed the formation up a tad but no where bad enough to remove the decisive edge heavy horse has vs barbarian infantry. The extras did not seam to be having any trouble riding around in the close up shots. Poor Wildlings any wood laying on the ground and undergrowth probably was put on their biggest fire ever to make it even easier for the heavy cavalry.
ITA here. On second viewing it's easy to see that the forest that Mance had his troops in had virtually no undergrowth in it. Whether they cleared the brush for their fires or the Night's Watch had done it doesn't really matter. That terrain makes it difficult to maintain a line of cavalry but not impossible. Granted had there been heavy infantry in there, or had the Wildlings been expecting Stannis, the cavalry would have had a much harder time of it. But Stannis pulled off a total upset here and they never saw him coming, as focused as they were on Jon and The Night's Watch.
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I don't think Stannis is looking to humilate or dishonor anybody. But at the same time he can't tolerate slights to his power.
He said Mance had to kneel or him and his army would be put in chains, and likely not fed. When Mance refused to kneel Stannis really had no choice he couldn't be like "Oh ok, no biggie."
He definitely wants the Wildlings to join him, but he also can't have them being willful and disobediant. He needs them as supplicants, not as equal allies. A faulty weapon in your own hand can be as deadly as a weapon in an opponents.
True enough. Stannis is going to have to deal with Mance, one way or another. Since I've read the books, I'll leave it there.
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It's a little ironic that Stannis insists that a bunch of foreigners, the Wildlings, adhere to the Seven Kingdoms cultural norm of kneeling, while also insisting that his followers abandon the traditional Gods of the Seven Kingdoms and adhere to a foreign religion.
I didn't really see that as him insisting so much as him pointing out battlefield etiquette to Mance. We all know what a stickler for the rules Stannis is. He dropped it quickly enough. I know some people have claimed they thought he was pouting but I didn't see that in his expression. Stannis respects courage and honor. Mance did the right thing by his people and Stannis knows it. I don't think he's really looking to humiliate him or the wildlings at this point, since his obvious move is to absorb them into his army.
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And I don't even know how sincere Stannis is in his belief. He's happy to exploit the magic of it all but if the red woman and his wife weren't around, I doubt that he would continue to follow the religion. (I have show knowledge only... don't want to know any more than that.)
I've read all 5 books and I don't think they are any clearer on this point than the show is. Stannis doesn't have any POV chapters so you never know what's really going on in his head. Likewise, show Stannis is a very hard read. I do agree with your point though. Stannis is a believer because whatever Mellisandre is doing appears to be working. It stops working, he'll drop the Lord of Light faster you can say "the Thrones is mine by right."
That seems kind of ridiculous.We don't kneel. Now take us 50 feet that way, and we'll be total supplicants.
They call themselves the Free Folk for a reason. They don't kneel to any king. Not even their own.
Now I'm not suggesting they'll all be strong willed, I'm sure some will decide they'd rather submit to Stannis and his laws then face the White Walkers. Just that their code doesn't seem based on location.
I'd say they have very little choice at this point. Stannis isn't planning on conquering the Land North of the Wall. He's not telling them what to do in their own 'country.' It seems to me that if they want to get South of the Wall, they're going to have to ask his permission, since he is now the de facto ruler of the Wall and the lands traditionally belonging to the Night's Watch. They don't have to bend the knee if they don't want to. They can stay North of the Wall and die when the White Walkers come for them. And that's the only choice that they have. Sucks to be them but it's not Stannis' fault.
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I did not buy the Tywin death. He would have heard Tyrion strangling Shae.
I don't see how. He wasn't in the next room. Clearly Tyrion had to move down a long corridor to find Tywin on the 'privy.' Those are also stone passageways. Tywin might not have heard Shae even if she had been screaming, and she wasn't.
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I'm going to handwave it, but the problem with Stannis' coordinated attack is a combination of transportation and communication. Transporting a few thousand horse by sea is difficult. Landing them on an arctic coast without a dock/pier is even more difficult. Then going a hundred miles on a forced march through heavily forested land is absurdly difficult. Then coordinating a simultaneous surprise attack on both flanks against an army with warg scouts should be close to impossible.
You're not wrong but we have to remember that Stannis is probably the best soldier in the realms right now, with the possible exception of Roose Bolton. He was also Robert's Master of Ships for over a decade and a half. He's also very clearly a meticulous planner with the money of the Iron Bank behind him. If anybody is going to pull this off, it's going to be him. What you say about the weather is true of course but we also need to remember that it's still technically summer out there, even in the North, so the bays and harbors won't be frozen over just yet. It is possible to land your ships and and army there but I agree the passage was likely rough. He probably lost a couple of doze ships and several hundred men doing it-but we've seen this play out before in 2.9 "Blackwater." Half his fleet blew up on the Blackwater and Stannis still jumped into a boat and yelled "Come with Me and take this city." A few hundred or even a thousand deaths aren't going to stop him from doing what he needs to do. As for the heavy forests surrounding the Wall, the Night's Watch does clear it back about a quarter of a mile or so on a regular basis all along the wall, to prevent the Wildlings from sneaking up on them. That has been shown throughout the series, where there is a clear area between the Wall and the rest of the North. So it would be rough going, but certainly possible to move his army along it.
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Given that...why wouldn't the Wildlings just try to flee the way that Stannis came? Why run try to run over/through a giant wall when you can sort of run around (maybe you'd need boats and they can't build them?)?
While it's true that the wildlings have been slipping around the edges of the wall by boat for centuries, these are small boats and rafts, not heavy ships like Stannis has. Mance has 100,000 men, women, children, giants and mammoths to move. The latter two groups can't go by boat. Such a project would take shipbuilding capabilities the wildlings clearly don't have. Sure there is plenty of wood in the north but the Wildlings are tribal people, they simply don't have the vast shipyards that exist in cities like Braavos or in Westeros. Going over (or through as Mance wanted) the Wall is really the Wildlings only feasible course of action.
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Stannis on the other hand...was last seen at the bank. And he appeared on the opposite side of the wall, dressed inappropriately, with a massive army that didn't appear to have fought anything on their way to the wall (something is chasing the Wildlings, right? wouldn't Stannis have run into them chasing them down?). It was visually cool, but definitely a little more out of place, imho.
Actually no. Stannis and his armada sailed from Braavos, which isn't really all that far south of the Wall and landed on the east coast of Westeros, next to where the wall begins. Then they force marched along the wall and took the Wildlings in the flank. The White Walkers and their Wights are hundreds of miles north of the wall (as far as we know) so Stannis wouldn't have run across them skirting the Wall.
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S05.E02: The House of Black and White
in Game Of Thrones
Yes, this bothered me a bit as well. In fact, The Mountain and the Lannisters were the only ones NOT cheating in that fight. Oberyn volunteered to fight Clegane to get his revenge for Elia...he got it (by poisoning the man) and then blew the fight by acting like a douchebag. I realize that Ellaria is devastated by Oberyn's death (IIRC she was nearly catatonic in the book) but she's pulling stuff out of...thin air. Oberyn died of his own arrogance and overconfidence. That's not a reason to swear out revenge on an innocent teenaged girl.