So season premiere thoughts?
General: This is really a set-up episode; things in Gotham are girm(er) and bleak(er) as usual and the only true shift in the show’s paradigm is that Jim has gone rogue and finally left GCPD. I guess we’re supposed to understand that Gotham is at an all time low (if only Baby!Batman would grow up faster!) and that it’s going to get worse (and crazier) before it gets better. What I did like is that my usual complaint–tonal shifts between arcs–seems to have vanished. All the arcs–Penguin, Jim, Baby!Batman, Baby!Catwoman and Fish–are all similar in tone and approach, with no one character going off on their own little jaunt that has nothing to do with the larger stories (like Penguin last year).
LIKED
–Jamie! Mulan, AKA: Valerie! I shall continue to think she’s Mulan and that she finally escaped the ONCEiverse and changed her name to Valerie.
–“I get drunk when I want…I sleep. Cause saving Gotham isn’t my job anymore..” This is an interesting new take on Jim. He’s been “dark” before but not “morose” and here’s he’s almost without hope; a vigilante before Gotham’s Baby!Batman can grow up. In order to be the hero Gotham needs, can you do it alone? Subtle foreshadowing for Batman too.
–LOL at Penguin bringing Nygma a puzzle box, a sweater, and biscuits. Like some sort of bizarre married couple.
–I really do need to reiterate my love for Ed Nygma. Please let the season use him well.
–“Pancakes?” “Pancakes!”
DISLIKED
–Leah moved on that quickly? It was only a few weeks in between leaving Gotham and when Jim went to find her, right? I mean, I’m not shamming her but that seems awfully fast and convenient and really a disservice to her character–we don’t get to see any of her emotional journey from former pregnant fiancee to this new happy lady. Is the actress not on the show anymore? (no, she’s in the PR)
–It completely escaped my notice that Tabitha was on the show as a regular. UGH. She has no color or definition or anything outside of “sex kitten into kink”
–What on earth is Fish wearing?? What is that cape??
UNSURE OF
–Storylines about kidnapped Bruce Wayne annoy me. He’s in no real danger. Spoiler alert: he’s Batman someday! So when he’s kidnapped (again!) I sort of roll my eyes because there are no stakes in a plot like this. But I’ll see where it goes.
–Still really confused by Clone!Baby!Batman