Kathemy

Short review version, great episode. Worse pacing than last one but much, much stronger. The Lee/Jim-Nora/Victor parallells were hamfisted. Bruce Wayne was absolutely incredible in this episode. The dialogue was top notch and David is brilliant with his subtle changes in facial expression. One second he looks like a young teenager boy, the next he's a goddamn Sith lord.

I can't help noticing how many people feel the need to excuse themselves for saying positive things about the show. You shouldn't let the rabid haters of this show intimidate you or brainwash you into thinking there's something wrong with it. They have no clue what they are talking about. Gotham is the greatest and the most thematically rich and nuanced comic book show on television. The whiners, on the other hand, are so simple-minded that they are confusing conscious aesthetic choices with a lack of quality.

My views on this episode were conflicted. Rather than linking my review I'm going to opt to post it here in its entirety instead. Gotham: Season 2, episode 12, “Mr. Freeze” Now, before we get started, I’d just like to point out that whenever there is a poll about a Gotham episode, I always give it top score. I do this for two reasons: (A), to balance the idiots bashing the show for no good reason, and (B), because I love this show so much that even the weaker outings far beat out anything else I’m watching. But, this is a real review, for my real friends in the Gotham fandom, so I can’t use that cop-out. Putting it simple in the most confusing way possible, I thought this was a great episode that wasn’t very good. Why was it great? It was great because everything in the episode worked. The pacing was practically flawless. There was little to no redundant data. The acting ranged from competent to stellar. It told a focused story. It wasn’t very good because to me, the story that it told wasn’t all that engaging, and how they told it wasn’t either. I have tried to disregard any purely personal preference. Of course, since they are my favorite characters I was a little sad that neither Bruce nor really Selina was even featured in the episode, but I understood and respected the decision. There was only room for so many characters before it would get cluttered. This is improved storytelling. I only hope that future Batcat-centric episodes too will benefit from this improvement. So what was wrong? Gotham has an “it” factor. My favorite episodes of the show - “Penguin’s Umbrella”, “Under The Knife”, “The Son Of Gotham” among others - had that in common that they were tightly narrated stories, wrapped in a deceptively simple package but layered like an onion. They left you with a choice - to peel the onion, or to use it for a sourcream dip. It’s a question of depth versus shallow complexity. Shallowly complex shows are all the rage with all the idiot reviewers. As an example you have Daredevil - which isn’t a bad show, mind you - which owns that in abundance. It screams it at you - “I’m deep, I’m dark, I’m mature, I’m serious!” - it throws it in your face. These shows are to television what Krzysztof Kieslowski was to Postmodernism. When you scratch the surface, there is little more to be found, as it exhausts itself in overt exposition. Gotham always offers you the option to watch it like a popcorn show, and therein lies its magic. I’ll make a confession - I’ve never much enjoyed Mr. Freeze in any medium. I’ve always felt that the attempts to “humanize” the character by appealing to our sense of matrimonial love fell flat, and its latest iteration is no exception. The actor is certainly no slouch but he doesn’t make the role shine either. This is in stark contrast to the phenomenal work done by B.D. Wong as Hugo Strange. And yet, not even this brilliant performer is able to successfully fight the script, which keeps ticking off one character illustration after another like a clockwork in full and needlessly obvious view of the audience. Interestingly, Jim Gordon’s portrayal in this episode was possibly the strongest of the show. It’s clear that he has turned a page, yet the show doesn’t stuff it down your throat. This isn’t a person who lies because he’s afraid to get caught, not really. This is a person who lies because he’s convinced it’s the right thing to do. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Still, “Mr. Freeze” scores higher on the Daredevil meter than the Gotham one, and I think that’s a shame. This is my favorite show on television, which is why I must be honest enough to tell you that for me, it was a failure.

Not like I'm claiming David Mazouz would make a better Batman right now. That would be reaching :D But he's very, very talented - as in the showrunner wasn't necessarily "overexaggerating" - and if the show is lucky, and it actually gets its projected nine seasons? He'll have more experience with that role than any actor in history, and he's got the skills to benefit from that experience. He'd kill it.

Crap why would you stop with Tim? Hire Matt Saracen, Eric Taylor and Jason Street while you're at it! If they absolutely need to fill the show with a million of extras why not make them count?

I think that the most significant development of this episode was how they actually, in one episode flat, managed to retcon the entire Scarlett/Gunnar disaster into him being a supportive, non-obsessive friend who really loves her and cares for her enough to let her go if that's what she needs to be happy. I think that was absolutely needed to make any people root for their relationship.

Impossible. We have Scarlett and Gunnar singing a song during (?) the vows. We have dancing.

A "snow globe" conjures a different image. That snow globe was a heavy object and if it had hit Cadence's head, she would have died. Not too strange that they're never, ever going to bring that up again. They're just trying to make it out to be Avery-The-Jerk overreacting, and then we're supposed to feel sorry for St. Juliette after her Second Coming.

They won't introduce another place-holder for Scarlett, I think. Gunnar will ditch Erin and that's it, they're getting back together. The rest of the show will be good to them, probably doing the Xth round of "flirting-their-asses-off-and-angsting-a-little-before-finally-kissing" only without the toxicity. If Juliette's coming back, she'll probably end up with Avery too, unless they give him as the grand prize to Layla. The only negative is that Layla Grant will be back to suck up a crap ton of screentime as in probably more than the other singers combined. Someone surely must love her. Deacon and Rayna are getting married and that is their last hurrah. The show doesnt know how to write for happy couples so their presence and songs will dwindle into near non-existence. Case in point: Scarlett and Gunnar did not get to sing a single song together during all the episodes they were a couple. Rayna will get some screentime in order to kiss Layla's butt, and they will both get a little to argue with Maddie, but basically, nothing will be about them anymore. They know they're getting cancelled. Time to at least attempt to save this charade.

I don't think they "redeemed" her. They just gave her that little pinch of redemption that makes it plausible to introduce her as a believable LI later. I doubt Silver will ever be a "genuine-good" character on this show and I approve of the show's decisions. Still ultimately she won't stand a chance against Batcat.

Okay, better to link it then. http://kathemy.tumblr.com/post/134693661546/dont-ever-grow-up

Only problem is, turns out he's going to be proven right. By the way, I've written a really long Bruce analysis but I don't know if I am allowed to link it. Should I just copy/paste it here? Warning, it's long, and it'd lose the pictures.

Juliette is back in the sides by episode 14.

Only that won't happen, and I'm glad af it won't happen. The chemistry between those two is my main reason to continue watching this show for the few episodes it has left before it gets canned. I don't care if it makes sense. Nothing on this show makes sense anymore. All I want are crazy good duets and there are no people who deliver those better than Sam and Clare and the flirting is part of what makes it good.

There's literally no way the show doesn't get a full season but anything past that only depends on whether they have managed to land an extended syndication deal. The numbers alone certainly don't merit a renewal no matter how you swing it.

What did he say, pray tell.

I'm sort of thinking Nashville is going to spend the rest of the season building up Scarlett and Gunnar into a couple again, so their storyline will probably be among the happier things on the show. So that will of course be nice for me since they are my favorites. I'm thinking Deacon showing Scarlett that ring will have them having some sort of conversation which

I was trying to apply some dark humor to the entire debacle but I guess it sorta fell flat.

I'm not in the business of placing blame here, I just think it's a god-awful storyline. It's pretty weird when you've come to the stage where I'm starting to think that the eternal on-off-fling between Scarlett and Gunnar is the healthiest relationship on the show.

Maybe they get married so she can cheat on Deacon with Markus down the road?

Going to reserve judgment on it but Markus does kiss Rayna on the mouth and it doesn't look very unwelcome to me, but of course the actual episode could twist that another way.

Was responding to the post above... Idea that women should simply stay clear of men if they don't want to get raped is pretty conservative.

Hush, you're giving the writers ideas.

They're doing an experiment. They're trying to see how low their ratings can get.