Gotham (S1E2) Review: The Cat Is Out Of The Bag

Well, with it's Pilot episode out of the way, it's time for Gotham to prove that it has more than just wink-wink references to future Batman villains up its sleeves. This episode actually doesn't do a great job proving that there's a ton more to this show than that, actually being a bit of a step back in terms of quality, though it did manage to incorporate a younger version of Catwoman into the proceedings in a satisfactory fashion.


Yep, Catwoman is a major part of this episode, after having a weirdly extraneous presence last week. She wasn't anything amazing in terms of characterization or depth, but to be honest, I'm just glad the character wasn't a total abomination. I mean, this thing could have gone off the rails so badly, so fast, it feels like a miracle it wound up being just tolerable. Selina Kyle manages to figure into the life of Jim Gordon by being a central key into a duo that is kidnapping homeless children.

That duo consists of a man and a woman (I swear, the girl reminded me so much of Tilda Swinton from Snowpiercer), and they make a small bit of an impression here in what limited screentime they have. One problem these characters face is they're not the only thing taking up a lot of time in the episode; we've got to deal more with Fish Mooney (still played excellently by Jada Pinkett-Smith), Bruce Wayne, and The Penguin trying to return to Gotham. It's not that the plots are necessarily bad in and of themselves, but each individual plotline lose a bit of impact due to having to be clumsily mushed together with too many other stories.

I admire Gothams storytelling ambition, but hopefully future episodes can be a bit more focused and allow the various denizens of this city room to breathe. I also hope Gordon gets something, anything, interesting to do; at this point he's easily the most boring character of the show despite having some of the most interesting emotional stakes (a good cop in a corrupt system). But, just to even out the criticisms, I would like to thank Gotham for casting Richard Kind as the Mayor of Gotham. I always enjoy seeing him around in high-profile projects like this one.