Gotham: The Finale that failed the city
How does one ruin a decent show that has great potential to lay the ground work for follow up shows for the next 20 years? You put the show on the fox network. Clearly FOX management team has some drinking problems as they completely botched a “what could have been” show. Whether if it was poor scheduling, randomly giving the show multiple season breaks in the same season, and blatantly giving up on the show, it was a recipe of disaster. After the final season concluded I came to the conclusion that the writers did not use canon or even read a batman comic and were just using their own convoluted ideas to narrate a story that has been retold hundreds of time. The material was there, why didn’t you just use it.
As of this writing the Tomatometer had it at 79%, TV.com was at 7.3/10 and IMDB was at 7.9/10.
The Cast:
The cast is typically non names to start that slowly added recognizable actors as time went on over the 5 seasons. The main cast was perfectly cast and embodied the characters they were playing.
Ben McKenzie as Commission Gordon
David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle
Sean Pertwee as Alfred
Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock
Morena Baccarin as Lee Thompson
Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin
Cory Michael Smith as Riddler
One thing I will admit is that the casting for this show was bang on for the most pat. Even though, Posion Ivy was played by 3 or 4 different actors over the years. However the strongest casting was Cameron Monaghan as Jerome/Jeremiah/Joker. He played multiple variations of the joker from the comics/movies over the years and did it flawlessly. What happened in the final season however, was not hsi fault. There was a ton of walkons like Jada Pinkett Smith (Fish Mooney, literally dumbest name I have ever heard of), John Doman (Carmine Falcone), Michael Chiklis and so on.
The Recap:
James Gordon is a rising detective in the dangerously corrupt Gotham City, where his late father was a successful district attorney. Brave, honest and determined to prove himself, Gordon must navigate the dirty politics of Gotham's justice system as well as the rise of malevolent villains, including The Penguin, The Riddler and Catwoman. The series also chronicles the life of young Bruce Wayne, who becomes an orphan when his billionaire parents Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered. Gordon becomes a friend to young Bruce as he finds his way toward becoming the iconic caped crusader.
The final season was a complete dumpster fire of problems that once it became evident the 5th season was going to be their final season, even the writers made it obvious they didn’t care how it ended.
The good:
· Casting the strong suit as mentioned before. Especially the season that was spent on creating multiple villain origins story
· Sean Pertwee grew on you as Alfred but once the backstory was revealed he became a strong addition t the team
· The gritty, dark, and gothic shooting style reminded me of the Keaton/Burton days
The bad:
· That Bane casting/story tho.
· Season 5 was a complete dumpster fire, cutting the typical season of 23 episodes in half felt like it was a kiss of death more than anything
· With such an expanded universe and 80 years of stories, they could have easily filled a full season.
Things that stood out:
Ultimately this season did not hide the fact that no one was happy to be there. A lot of the season felt rushed and sloppy to be honest.
Why we should watch or not watch it:
If you could stop watching the show at Season 4, I would suggest doing so. They should have walked away once it was announced that season 5 would have been a shorter season. Also, FOX should have taken this show a lot more seriously as it did, because DC is ruling the small screen audience right now whereas Marvel still cant find a foothold.
Rating: 1/5Stars