Gotham Review: The Blind Fortune Teller

Welcome back my friends, to another Gotham review here on Caped Crusades! I’m really enjoying writing my reviews in this new manner, giving readers a glimpse into my mind by simply writing what I’m thinking as I watch each episode of Gotham. I really hope you like this flow of consciousness style of review as well! Remember, you can always leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

A sleeping Bruce Wayne is not something we get to see often when he is all grown up, what with board meetings and charity events keeping Brucie Wayne busy all day, and criminals and Gotham patrols keeping Batman busy most of the night, it is a rare site indeed to see Bruce Wayne getting any rest. In some interpretations of the character he likes to pretend that he doesn’t need sleep, so it is nice to see young Bruce napping on the couch, reminding us that he is indeed human.

I like that Gotham has made Penguin a momma’s boy. In the past Penguin was often shown as having been abandoned by his parents due to his deformities (which are admittedly not nearly as pronounced on Gotham), but it’s really very fascinating to add his relationship with his mother to his motivations.

I realize that Oswald is trying to make his mother happy by having her perform for his club’s guests, but to be honest if he was going to let her up on that stage he’d have done better to follow in Fish Mooney’s footsteps and have her perform for him and the guys privately after hours. Fish did this a couple times, and not just when she was interviewing Liza. He’s not going to get much business with her on stage, and while stabbing the guy who dared to insult his mother will keep that sort of thing to a minimum, it will also drive away the customers.

Barbara really needs to clean up her act if she wants to win Jim back. You can tell she’s likely not sober, considering her nonchalant reaction to Ivy and Cat in her apartment. Usually I go on a rant about how I don’t like Barbara, but that must be getting annoying by now so I’ll keep that to myself.

This date that Jim and Leslie are on, is very reminiscent of the night that Richard Grayson’s parents died (in many versions of his origin story Bruce is on a date at the circus when the Graysons fall to their deaths) and I think that this must be on purpose. I suppose it makes sense to introduce the Grayson family in much the same way as Dick has always been introduced.

I realized immediately who Dick’s parents must be, they’ve been presented in this episode as a circus Romeo and Juliet, the two teens in the circus, with a long standing family feud, it was quite obvious that John Grayson and Mary Lloyd were going to fall in love, get married and have Richard Grayson.

Very unusual, although clearly effective, using the snake dancer’s snake to track her down. Jerome is one hell of an actor, putting on that show of grief for his mother. I don’t think anybody watching the show believed it though.

I love Fish Mooney, she is tiny but fierce! Short but strong and powerful. I suspect her speech about family was her desire to have more people call her momma. At least she was honest about not getting everyone out alive, many a hero in her position would have promised to get everyone out alive, and though they would have meant it whole-heartedly, it just isn’t possible in this circumstance.

Donal Logue gets all the best lines in this show I swear. Well maybe Cory Michael Smith and Donal Logue, after all, Nygma has some fun lines as well, but most of the best jokes go to Bullock. This is definitely the first time I’ve ever really liked Harvey Bullock.

I like that Leslie Thompkins is more open minded than Jim, it will behoove her later in life when she’s helping Batman stay alive and keep his secret. I think her relationship with Jim is how she will meet Bruce, she is after all the only doctor he trusts with his life and his identity. I think if Gotham lasts long enough for David Mazouz to grow up and Bruce to become Batman, this will be one version where Gordon really does know, without a doubt that Bruce is Batman, though he will deny the knowledge.

Barbara Kean taking fashion and dating advice from Poison Ivy and Catwoman, how… um, is ridiculous the word I’m looking for, or is it brilliant?

Jim is a brilliant detective, to immediately understand that the pentagram and Hellfire Club initials on the hatchet are there to throw the police off. He also realized that by old friend, the blind fortune teller meant that the snake dancer was an old lover.

The more I see of Jim and Lee the more I think she is really good for him, and I finally understand that because she is good for him and because she can be introduced to Bruce through Jim, this is why the creative team behind Gotham put the two characters together.

Jerome very definitely has the character traits I would expect from the Joker, the quick switch from grief to laughter, to anger and back again. This Cameron Monaghan kid is amazing, to me he’s like a combination of Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill’s Jokers.

Penguin got that snap from watching Fish. Victor Zasz on Gotham is not quite as crazy as I’m used to, and apparently he’s got some brainwashing techniques as well. Penguin’s going to have a lot of fun with brainwashed Butch.

I really like the relationship between Bruce and Alfred, one could actually argue that in this case they are a dynamic duo. Alfred knows he can’t replace Bruce’s parents so he doesn’t try. He’s like a confidant, friend, servant, guardian, and partner all rolled into one. And it is amazing to watch the two of them together.

Look at the Wayne Enterprises board of directors, trying to placate Bruce, it won’t work. He’s far too smart for that nonsense, and he’s got Alfred to back him up and protect him from any attempts on their part to harm him. This board needs to start fearing Bruce now, because he will force them to toe the line.

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