After the shock of seeing the death of what everyone presumed to be The Joker Jerome this less brilliant but still corking episode shows us new characters and more of the awesome Penguin plus the big plot threads are starting to bubble.
Gotham police department has a new Captain in Nathaniel Barnes(Michael Chiklis)a former soldier who has clear views of cleaning up crime and corruption both on the streets and in the police station itself and puts Jim Gordon(Ben McKenzie)as his second in command plus recruits some talented police trainees from the academy to form a strike force.
Whilst this goes on the conniving Theo Galavan(James Frain)kidnaps the mother of Cobblepot a.k.a The Penguin(Robin Lord Taylor)to force Penguin to murder mayor candidates so Galavan can run for the mayor's office with no rivals.
Bruce Wayne(David Mazouz)meets with Galavan and thanks him for saving his life before,just after Galavan introduces Bruce to his niece Silver St Cloud(Natalie Alyn Lind)who will be attending the same school as Bruce and Bruce is very taken with her already.
At the same time Ed Nygma(Cory Michael Smith)finally asks Kristen Kringle(Chelsea Spack)out on a date whilst Penguin tells Butch(Drew Powell)to find where his mother is being held before we learn that Barnes and his teams next target will be Penguin.
This episode felt lighter in tone and more action based than the previous episode that went for a thriller type with a incredible twist at the finale and that's good when a show doesn't just stick to the same thing every week plus introducing new people helped this episode stay strong when it could of been slow and love other characters getting the chance to shine like Nygma and Galavan.
Acting can be a tad campy as some of said for example the makers try to go with a serious tone with the Strike Force scenes but sometimes its taken a bit too over the top but its made up by some stonking acting by Taylor as Penguin and he continues to be the main attraction in the Gotham universe and love how he can go from funny to insane to even paranoid in the blink of an eye.Loved too finally seeing Nygma and Miss Kringle get together and are a great couple(for now)and both Smith and Spack's chemistry and acting match each other well and like how at last he has someone who loves his odd but likable ways.
As ever my other favourite character is Alfred played by our cockney chappie Sean Pertwee and though his scenes are small in this instalment its great seeing him tell Selina(Camren Bicondova)to stay away from Bruce with a added quip and a smack in the face telling her he knows about the death of his comrade we seen in season one,we need more Alfred and Selina as their scenes are magic.Selina has a rival too now for Bruce's affection with the arrival of Silver played by relative newcomer Alyn Lind who may not be as nice as her pretty face shows to Bruce,is she being brainwashed by nasty Uncle Theo,she is a talent for her age and could be a star in the future like Bicondova and Mazouz.
Though the academy scenes can be silly and over the top the action scenes really are great with Barnes(gruffly played by cool Chiklis),Gordon,Bullock(Donal Logue)and the young recruits getting straight into battles with bad guys and love the showdown with Penguin henchman Victor Zsasz(played creepily as ever by Anthony Carrigan)in the streets after he targets a mayor candidate and for the first time Zsasz is really threatened something not really seen in Gotham yet.Though as I said the scenes early are cheesy Chiklis is a great new addition to the show and have loved his funny/serious scenes with both Gordon and Bullock and he is more involved than previous GCPD bosses.
We all expected a slower episode after the previous's excellence but it was surprisingly action packed with Gotham's usual great humour thrown in(thanks mainly to Alfred and Bullock)along with stellar acting from Taylor and Smith as Penguin and Ed/Riddler respectively and though the early scenes are a bit over the top this episode proves the right direction this show is heading and love it more already than season one.
Gotham police department has a new Captain in Nathaniel Barnes(Michael Chiklis)a former soldier who has clear views of cleaning up crime and corruption both on the streets and in the police station itself and puts Jim Gordon(Ben McKenzie)as his second in command plus recruits some talented police trainees from the academy to form a strike force.
Whilst this goes on the conniving Theo Galavan(James Frain)kidnaps the mother of Cobblepot a.k.a The Penguin(Robin Lord Taylor)to force Penguin to murder mayor candidates so Galavan can run for the mayor's office with no rivals.
Bruce Wayne(David Mazouz)meets with Galavan and thanks him for saving his life before,just after Galavan introduces Bruce to his niece Silver St Cloud(Natalie Alyn Lind)who will be attending the same school as Bruce and Bruce is very taken with her already.
At the same time Ed Nygma(Cory Michael Smith)finally asks Kristen Kringle(Chelsea Spack)out on a date whilst Penguin tells Butch(Drew Powell)to find where his mother is being held before we learn that Barnes and his teams next target will be Penguin.
This episode felt lighter in tone and more action based than the previous episode that went for a thriller type with a incredible twist at the finale and that's good when a show doesn't just stick to the same thing every week plus introducing new people helped this episode stay strong when it could of been slow and love other characters getting the chance to shine like Nygma and Galavan.
Acting can be a tad campy as some of said for example the makers try to go with a serious tone with the Strike Force scenes but sometimes its taken a bit too over the top but its made up by some stonking acting by Taylor as Penguin and he continues to be the main attraction in the Gotham universe and love how he can go from funny to insane to even paranoid in the blink of an eye.Loved too finally seeing Nygma and Miss Kringle get together and are a great couple(for now)and both Smith and Spack's chemistry and acting match each other well and like how at last he has someone who loves his odd but likable ways.
As ever my other favourite character is Alfred played by our cockney chappie Sean Pertwee and though his scenes are small in this instalment its great seeing him tell Selina(Camren Bicondova)to stay away from Bruce with a added quip and a smack in the face telling her he knows about the death of his comrade we seen in season one,we need more Alfred and Selina as their scenes are magic.Selina has a rival too now for Bruce's affection with the arrival of Silver played by relative newcomer Alyn Lind who may not be as nice as her pretty face shows to Bruce,is she being brainwashed by nasty Uncle Theo,she is a talent for her age and could be a star in the future like Bicondova and Mazouz.
Though the academy scenes can be silly and over the top the action scenes really are great with Barnes(gruffly played by cool Chiklis),Gordon,Bullock(Donal Logue)and the young recruits getting straight into battles with bad guys and love the showdown with Penguin henchman Victor Zsasz(played creepily as ever by Anthony Carrigan)in the streets after he targets a mayor candidate and for the first time Zsasz is really threatened something not really seen in Gotham yet.Though as I said the scenes early are cheesy Chiklis is a great new addition to the show and have loved his funny/serious scenes with both Gordon and Bullock and he is more involved than previous GCPD bosses.
We all expected a slower episode after the previous's excellence but it was surprisingly action packed with Gotham's usual great humour thrown in(thanks mainly to Alfred and Bullock)along with stellar acting from Taylor and Smith as Penguin and Ed/Riddler respectively and though the early scenes are a bit over the top this episode proves the right direction this show is heading and love it more already than season one.
