Gotham: Season 1, Episode 18: Everyone Has a Cobblepot
If you know me, then you know I am a Batman fanatic. So it’s only natural that I would follow this show. It has been very competent so far. That being said, as in most adapted media, especially shows, I have to disconnect my mind from my extensive knowledge of the source material. It’s a completely separate form of entertainment and I will respect it for what it is. That being said, the whole “they knew each other years ago” thing has always been pretty thin to me.
The show started off doing a pretty good job of creating its own issues with the central cast, but the deeper in the more it has started leaning on its source material for attention. It’s a decent show, a cop series set in Gotham City that starts with the Wayne murders has to be at least decent. It’s had its weak points, but it is a solid series. It’s annoying that it’s shoehorning so many characters from the comics in while at the same time creating a few of their own, but that’s livable.
Speaking of the show’s original characters, Fish Mooney is fairly interesting. She is powerfully written and a force to be reckoned with, but Jada Pinkett Smith really overacts in every scene. Over the top works sometimes, but it gets old. This episode in particular had a lot of her and I personally find her side-plot to be tedious. I like that she exists, as the show had to make its own moves, but man get to the point.
Otherwise, I really like Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and especially Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma. I am very much looking forward to Nygma’s decline into the Riddler. No matter how hard he tries, everyone treats him like crap and now the woman he is enamored with keeps rejecting him for jerks. That is definitely a reason why nerds hate jocks and seek revenge, usually through success, but revenge nonetheless. They’ve been hinting at his decline for the entire season and it will be fantastic to see where it goes.
In the comics Oswald Cobblepot is a pillar of the Gotham underworld and a very influential character. You can see him steadily rising through the ranks as he makes friends in both organized crime and the police department. That was one of the sticking points of this episode: Jim Gordon owes the Penguin a favor.
Between that and Harvey Bullock getting a clean slate, the rest of the season and seasons to come will definitely be worth keeping an eye on.
Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.
