Philbert

Yeah, really good episode tonight I thought. I know there are people out there who don't like the Jerome/Jeremiah storyline but I think they're in the minority. Cameron Monaghan is really nailing both roles-and yeah, there are serious differences between the two characters. Jerome reminds me more of Nicholson's Jack Napier/Joker while Jeremiah seems closer to Heath Ledger's "The Dark Knight" Joker. I've been loving both performances and I look forward to seeing how that storyline progresses. Probably in a minority here but I really love Riddler/Lee as a 'ship.' At this point, I'm not sure if it's her playing him, him playing her, or both of them playing each other but it's really fun to watch. Jim remains the least interesting character on this show but at least he's showing the signs of somebody with a talent for command. He's easily the most productive of "Gothams" police captains in recent memory. The storyline with Jeremiah and Bruce was clever and very well done and reminds me of the Joker's speech to Batman in "The Dark Knight" about Batman completing him. I actually believe Jeremiah when he said that Bruce was his best friend. It's going to create a really interesting dynamic over the course of the rest of this show. Assuming of course we get any more. 9/10

You know, when they were first promoting this show on SyFy they were tagging it as "Game of Thrones in Space." I dismissed that as mere hyperbole but they've actually managed to make Errinwright more despicable than fucking Cersei Lannister. So, well done, show.

So, I went through the show all this week and as somebody who grew up watching the original in rerun in the 70's (as so many of us Gen-Xers did) and who forced himself to sit through that god-awful late 90's film (seriously, how do William Hurt and Gary Oldman manage to suck that badly?) I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this show. Of course then I found out that Molly Parker and Toby Stephens were in it ("Deadwood" and "Black Sails" are two of my favorite shows) and I was committed to at least give it a shot. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this show, despite the obvious writing flaws. I'll leave the science mistakes to people that understand science. I know on the Netflix comments the geeks are tearing it apart, and as a history major I can sympathize with that point of view. I can't watch "The Tudors" without wanting to throw something at the tv...but I digress. This episode, while not perfect at least got me interested. I think it was a clever idea to step back a little bit and give us something that resembled the original plotline but had a few twists on it. I didn't find the sisters all that annoying but maybe that's because I'm used to listening to my nieces quarrel all the time. They actually have a good dynamic there, and to be honest, I like all of the cast here, even Parker Posey, who I generally DON'T like. Yes, the 800 lb. gorilla in the room is how the writers make people who are very smart act stupidly when it's convenient for the plot mechanics. This isn't unique to this show of course. This is a common problem with most tv shows and while you can overlook it up to a certain point (acting in the heat of passion, panic, etc.) eventually it starts ruining the state of suspended disbelief. We're not there yet with this show but they're going to need to work to overcome it during the next couple of seasons...or it will get as silly as the original. Obviously, the best part of the show is the set design and special effects. The whole look of "Lost in Space" is amazing and the monsters are completely believable. That in itself is a giant leap forward from the original, which was often hampered by its technical limitations (understandable given the time period.) So yeah, pretty good, provided you don't put too much thought in it. The character changes, which are driving some of the neanderthals on Netflix crazy are not as earth shattering as is being made out. I think the decision to make John Robinson a soldier rather than a scientist isn't a bad idea if you're going to make this a more action oriented show, and we know that Toby Stephens can rock the "thinking man of action" part in his sleep given his amazing performance as Captain Flint recently. Judy and Penny, and Maureen herself to some extent were largely non-entities in the original. Will, Dr. Smith, and the Robot increasingly became the focus of the show so making the women more capable and important to the storyline makes a lot of sense. 7/10 for this episode.

As much as I thought the late, great Jonathan Harris really rocked that part, I am forced to agree with this sentiment. By the end of the original series it had really become the "Robot and Dr. Smith" show. What happened to Smith is one of the earlier cases of what is now called "Flanderization"-where one aspect of a character introduced early on-in this case Smith's cowardice and pompousness becomes the defining characteristic over time. Not Harris' fault-he did what he was supposed to do but I don't think we'll see that here.

Yeah, I enjoyed this one. Maybe a bit over the top but what "Gotham" episode isn't? Jerome finally gets the send off he richly deserves but manages to 'live on" through his brother, who I think we can all safely assume will be the eventual Joker. Cameron Monaghan is really fun to watch as Jerome and I swear at times in this episode I can see him channeling Jack Nicholson-who has always been my favorite Joker-until now. Poor Oswald, Jerome and his minions were too crazy even for him. I liked the level of disgust in his voice when he described Jerome's lack of interest in money and power to Gordon. Speaking of which Gordon was....well, Gordon. Not particularly annoying or maybe he's finally just growing on me. Not enough Harvey but there never is. As for the Barbara plotline. ::Sighs:: I love Erin Richards. I loved the way she played Barbara at the end of season one and through most of seasons two and three. Cray-Cray Babs is a joy to watch. This version bores me to tears. Tabitha is boring me to tears. Enough with this storyline already. Bruce and Alfred celebrating Bruce's birthday were gold, as was Selena's party crashing. I really like that family dynamic. 7/10

A fair point but I still think it's a safe bet. Now, if it were "Gotham" we know she'd be back in 2 episodes...because that's how that show rolls :)

Since she got chopped up into little, bitty bits, I think that's a fair assumption at this point.

I'm not sure I buy the argument that they were ever writing Julia "badly." They were certainly showing her in a somewhat unsympathetic light at times but I'm not convinced that was a mistake. I know Stella Maeve got a lot of shit (that I think was frankly, very unfair) for the way she played Julia through season one and half of season two but I think that's exactly what they were going for. Julia (the Hermione Granger of Brakebills in just about every other timeline) was seriously messed up for a while and I suspect it was due to the decision to leave her out of Brakebills this time around-thus leading to her current character development. I can't prove that of course but the writing this season is too good to be just a fluke in my opinion. I haven't followed anything the showrunners have said about this (because I learned my lesson the hard way with "Buffy") I think this interpretation at least makes sense.

Another glorious episode. High King Margo (does that make Elliott High Queen?) is a wonder to behold. Finally the most badass character in the group gets her due. Lovely stuff between Kady and Penny23. Absolutely delicious karma getting distributed to Reynard, after all the devastation he's caused it's still not enough but it's a good start. Loved Julia making her amends for burning down the Forest in S2-she's grown so much as a character in the last year it's hard to remember how she was when the show started. Best part though was Josh running Penny23 through the "previously ons" in the opening. That was exactly what I've come to expect from this show. I'm really psyched for the season finale next week.

Just when I think this show can't get any better-it does. This episode was amazing. We managed to get just about everybody into this one (except Kady and Fenn) and set the stage for a number of twists for the finale. I was wondering what they were going to do with Penny, now that it looks like he's decided to stay in the Underworld-and they rose to the occasion-managing to create a potential Penny/Julia/Kady triangle which is going to be really interesting. Also...Marina's back...and there are TWO Joshes. Okay, there's just our Josh now but at least he has that cool coat. The stuff with BeastQuentin and Alice was just heartbreaking. And hell,we even got a new Margoism "Cock out." Absolutely fantastic episode 10/10

Damn they've blocked it already. Oh well, I tried.

The only criticism that I've had of this absolutely wonderful season is that I didn't think Kady and Josh were being used enough. I'm going to sit over here in the corner and shut up now :) PS I fucking love Margo and Elliott. That is all.

While they are stretching things a bit as to her motivations, apparently there was a Satanic Priest and an evil sorceress operating at the time-she was tried as a witch and burned in 1680. Montesepan's involvement is very sketchy, largely due to Louis squashing much of the evidence. What I enjoy about this show is they take little tidbits of information from the periphery of history (which may or may not have actually happened) and give them their own plotlines. The poisonings at court that took place in the 1670's were an actual thing and a number of nobles were indeed implicated. Obviously it's going to be played up for effect but from the little I was able to research on this period, there's been at least some justifiable basis for each story.

Well Season two turned out to be closer to season one than I had been led to believe. Overall I liked it a lot. Seems to have reached a point of closure but maybe there is hope for a season three. Certainly worth the time I took to watch it.

I just finished watching this show a few days ago. Yeah the twist at the end of the season was a bit shocking but in retrospect it shouldn't have been. After all, this IS "The Frankenstein Chronicles." DId we really expect an ending that wasn't shocking?

If you ever find the answer to that question please come back here and share it with us all. It is interesting that the two shows about Gotham I've seen-this one and the 60's "Batman" pretty much had the villains as the center stage attraction. In the 60's people apparently tuned in just to see which aging movie star was going to show up that particular week. Is any of this planned? You'd have to ask Bruno Heller but I doubt you'd get a straight answer out of him.

Oh Gotham, you crazy, crazy show. How I have missed your over the top insanity. A toymaker who moonlights as an assassin using a model airplane to assassinate a doctor turned rabble rouser. Ed's right. That is so Gotham. No sofia, Oswald or Jerome this week but it looks like they'll be back very soon. Bruce is still a dick. Snap out of it soon kid. Gotham's going to need you. Poor Alfred. Quite possibly the most stand-up guy on this show and easily the unluckiest. Sean Pertwee owns this character...and given who's played him in the past, I think that's saying something. Riddler's back. Always a plus. Jim, sighs...you're just such a...sighs. Yay. Harvey's back....for about 3 minutes. But in those three minutes he manages to save Alfred's life, help catch a murderer, and give Jim the lecture that only Harvey could give. Seriously. Go fuck yourself Jim. The Sirens are okay but that's about it. I like Butch/Grundy and Tabitha and that scene was fine but I'm not sure where they're going with this. Ivy. This character does nothing for me. I hated Uma Thurmond playing her in "Batman & Robin"-I don't care for any of the actresses playing her now, except the first one. She wasn't bad. This is just a problematic character that hasn't been developed very well and hasn't had the benefit of first class acting to make up for the lack of depth. Great way to start the second half of the season overall. 8/10

My favorite line of the episode. As a loyal BTVS and Angel fan, I'm really loving all the references as well, even though I'm not in the target demographic. Damn, Buffy was a very long time ago.

True but at least they've been pointing it out as they do it. That makes me think that she's due for some tremendous revenge by the end of the season. Everybody knows that Margot is awesome, even Jane Chatwin...and she's fucking dead.

Is it wrong that when Hyman started going off on his Quentin/Julia ship fantasies I almost yelled "Hell Yeah" at the screen? Yes, yes I'm a Q/J shipper. I need help :)

Bad Santa: "Only magic can hurt me!" Nick: "Hocus Pocus, muthafucka." Oh, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase say there's going to be a season two. This is the only show more batshit crazy than "Gotham." And that's saying something.

We're all sick and twisted bastards for loving this show. God Bless us, every one :)

So say we all. Oh wait, that's from the show where Margo is totally Grace Park. :)

Actually I am fairly sure Buffy reruns are on cable somewhere right now. There are still quite a few Buffy communities online so it wouldn't be hard for people in their 20's to follow it. Hell, people are still just finding "Farscape" now.