Old House Nut

I like Fred, and I hope he is around in Season 2. HOWEVER, it is a painfully gimmicky gimmick when someone faces a shooter who is purposefully aiming his gun at a victim was is shot but then is seen in a hospital's ER at the start of the next season with everyone pacing around the waiting room for news from a doctor. I'm no marksman, but it is totally absurd to think that Fred wouldn't have been dead on the spot.

I confess. The scene with HotArchie! in his underwear while talking to Jughead made me nostalgic for the old "HoYay!" thread that made coverage of The O.C. so fantastic back in the days of "TWOP."

Not only was Sheriff Keller a nitwit for suspecting Jughead without any legitimate reasons, he was also a nitwit for dropping those suspicions without any good reasons. Archie's dad simply said that Jughead had been working for him, hanging sheetrock, on July 11. First, were they actually able to pinpoint the time of death to EXACTLY July 11? And, was Jughead working the entire 24 hours of July 11?

This is really late, but here is another of the series' unending line of nitpicks. When Ed slipped out of the cell by using a newspaper to keep the lock from engaging, that was at least possible. But, how did he get back in the cell after his escapade? We already know that the lock automatically engages when the door closes since the guard didn't have to use a key to lock the door when Ed was breaking out.

Why did Strange have Nigma go to such wacky extremes as a gas chamber to try to find out what Bruce and [forgot name] knew instead of just using the same truth serum as used on Jim? And if he was just going to kill them in the bomb blast anyway without any further interaction, why bring them back to the room with Jim at all instead of just gassing them with poison? Or just leaving them in the room they were already locked up in? And if Clayface can shift his face as we saw him doing after he was hit, what was the point of the equipment Strange put on Jim and his head in the last episode? And was there actually a plan for the fake Jim? Why did Strange even set that in motion? Surely he wouldn't have thought the imposter would pass for even a few minutes if delaying the discovery of Jim's captivity was the point. And why did Strange already have a perfectly matched wig for the imposter to wear even though he had no idea that Jim was returning, yet he had to take Jim's uniform to give to the imposter? (And why didn't we get undressed Jim?!) And when the imposter got back to the station, how did he get a regular uniform, since we saw that the lockers have locks, as I recall, in an earlier episode?

I would never make it in Fish's position, mainly because I don't pick up on things as quickly. If the doctor had shown me the view from the window, the conversation would have played out differently: Doctor: So, you can see I have no reason to worry about your escaping. [brooding music swells] Me: Why? Because you live on the seashore. So what? Doctor: [sigh] Hold that thought. Follow me. Me: Why? Where are we going? Doctor: To the other side of the house to look out a window over there. Me: Why? Doctor: Just trust me.

I like a lot of things about this show, but the one that continues to bother me is the obligatory marriage of "detective procedural" and "mobster soap opera." I'm intrigued by most of the mobster soap opera stuff because it has been playing out over the entire run. The reason I have not enjoyed the detective procedural is the apparent sense that each episode must start and finish an entire investigation in one bite. With half of each episode going to the mobster stuff, there is just not enough time to actually have a meaningful detective show in the balance. Take this week as an example. I was actually interested in the parts of the show that have been given several episodes to play out: Fish in the spooky prison, the battling crime families, even (and don't hate me) the romantic dynamic with Barbara. But then look at the "investigation." Gordon finds a dead body and learns that she was involved in a love triangle of sorts. Then, assuming that there was no real message from the grave, Gordon concludes that the psychic was misdirecting him. At that point, what on earth led him to suspect that the son had murdered the mother and then cleaned up in the old man's place? Did I miss something? At that point, a rational person might have suspected that the old man was trying to misdirect the investigation. But what would possibly have led Gordon to thinking about any of the rest of that stuff? Why wouldn't his suspicions have turned to one of the lovers? After all, they were both more apt age-wise to have had some relationship to the old man. It's like the writers just skipped over thirty minutes of investigation in the show and leaped to the a-HA moment where the murderer is revealed. That made no sense at all. I wish that the show would stop forcing a "Law and Order: Gotham" show into every episode. It's just not working. Have Gordon spend two or three weeks on a case or just can those and let the soap opera part take center stage.

I liked it better than most commenters, but a few quick nits to pick. First, when Bruce was crawling up the hill, he seemed surprised when he finally made it to the top and saw Alfred. But it was night and Alfred was sitting by a crackling fire with a lantern glowing too. At some point on the climb up more than 10 feet away, wouldn't he have noticed the light and called for help? Second, what was the point of strapping a stick to his shin if he had an ankle injury? The only reason that would do anything at all is if he had broken his leg and needed to stabilize the break. I'd chalk that up to his just trying to slough off the seriousness of his wound to Alfred when he said it was a sprain ("Oh nothing. Just a little sprain!") but that makes Alfred a pretty terrible person if he allowed Bruce to sit there all night with a broken bone. Third, in one scene Bruce is seen lying at the bottom of the hill and feeling pain. When the show resumes, it is night and he is still in exactly the same place. Only then does he reach for a stick and his pack. I'd have rather seen his fall take place in the dark and then have him respond a little more promptly instead of glossing over a two hour (at least) period of utter inaction. Fourth, someone needs to work on consistency when editing this. In the scene when Leslie is introduced, Harvey reaches with his right hand directly over his head as he leans backward a little to shake her hand. One second later the camera angle changes, and Harvey is reaching across his chest to shake her hand.

Two questions about the early scene between Gordon and Dent in Dent's office. First, why exactly did Dent just happen to have a slide projector set up to show a slide of the person who, through wild coincidence, was the person he was getting ready to make an unexpected exposition on? And second, what is Gordon's role in Dent's scheme to lure out the Wayne killers? Yes, Gordon has someone who claims (falsely apparently) to have seen the killer. But, if her identity, location, etc. is not going to be released as part of the plan, then what was it about Gordon's reveal that prompted Dent to hatch that plan on the spot? If he was, for all intents and purposes, going to rely on a fictitious witness, then why didn't he just start with that plan weeks ago using a fictitious witness?

Just catching up on my viewing via Hulu, so this is late. But, wow, I didn't much care for that at all. Having an episode which includes an entire procedural (which was really silly for many reasons) AND a subplot involving Bruce at school AND a subplot involving Gordon and Barbara's relationship AND a subplot involving Fish AND a subplot involving the Penguin AND a subplot involving Catwoman was all just too much. WAY too much. Better to focus on one (or two) things each week. 45 minutes just isn't enough time to develop so many story lines at the same time. A few other nitpicks. I hope they stop using the last-second-rescue trope. It seems like that has now been seen in every single episode. And to no particular advantage. What was achieved by having the police chief show up (alone?) to interact with Gordon? (And did she have a warrant to enter? I honestly can't even remember what prompted them to fan out to the entire list of addresses in the first place.) And, just as a matter of editing, it was odd that they started the fight at the Office Depot with Gordon and then dropped in the scene where Bullock is handing out the addresses, and then back to the continuation of the fight. It was as if the police chief magically was teleported to the scene of the fight in one second. And exactly what was up with Penguin's robbing the woman of her broach? Are we to think that he was just walking along and decided to rob her at exactly the same instance that she walked out of her house? Or that he had been stalking her to get that exact piece of jewelry? Now, as for something nice to say, I continue to love the scenery. I know that some of the sets (e.g., police station) are built on a sound stage. But, several of the sets seem to be filmed on location in historic buildings -- the Mask's office, for example. If those aren't real spots used for filming, then the stage director has one of the best eyes for c. 1910-1930 design I've ever seen and must have a fantastic collection of craftsmen to execute the plans.

That was easily the best episode of the season. Interesting plot, excellent acting, intriguing secondary characters. Yes, Barbara is a doofus, but that was about the only thing that disappointed in this episode. Highlights included the sideline banter about the "sending a message that things are serious" from the truck drivers. That sort of riff on a cliche of crime movies and shows was really nice. It's exactly the sort of thing that a real person might say but which never happens in these situations on TV or in movies. And, of course, Ben McKenzie looking spectacularly hot. One thing did strike me as a bit unfortunate. When the shady woman was introduced by Bullock, he refers to her as the Duchess of Devonshire twice. That's not exactly a common reference to signify wealth and sophistication; most writers might have said the "Queen of England" or something. But, the Duchess was a real person who was the epitome of wealth and grace. Sadly, the real Duchess of Devonshire died only six weeks ago at the age of 94 (Note: Fascinating life. Worth some Googling), probably just after this episode was filmed. I'm sure no member of the Cavendish family will ever even hear about the existence of "Gotham," much less a reference to the Duchess, but it might have been nice to change the audio on the show to swap that name out. Seems a bit awkward.

Two episodes down, and I'm still liking the show. That could change easily enough, but I'm generally okay with the story, actors, etc. I'm not a big comic book show fan, but I am a big Ben McKenzie fan, and I'll stick with the show because he's on it for a while. I thought the writers missed good chances to offer fans a shout out in Episode 1-1 when he appeared in a wifebeater T-shirt and again when it was revealed that his father had been a great lawyer. Oh well. My only nitpick on tonight's episode was that Selina didn't seem to have any blood on her hands at all just moments after clawing a guy's eyes out. Or did I just miss that?