Gotham: Season 1, Episode 2

Gotham

Episode Title: “Selina Kyle”

Channel: Fox

Director: Danny Cannon

Writer: Bruno Heller

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Runtime: 45 min

Rated: TV-14

Original Air Date: September 29, 2014

The pilot for Gotham didn't immediately grab my interest, and I still have reservations in regards to the starting point of the series. With that said, “Selina Kyle” was an improvement on the first episode. Maybe it's because they've gotten a lot of the introductions out of the way, this episode seemed much more focused than the premiere. The audience is now learning about characters, instead of learning of them, and it is of course a much more effective method of storytelling.

Most of the performances are smoothing out a bit, with Jada Pinkett Smith, Robin Lord Taylor and Camren Bicondova standing out. With half of the episode revolving around Bicondova's character it would have been very noticeable if she faltered. She manages to nail the young teen, trying not to seem so young around adults, moments while showing some uncertainty when she's unobserved. Taylor's descent into madness seems to be happening a little too quickly, but he's playing it well. Smith's portrayal of Fish Mooney is one of the brightest spots thus far in the show, her back and forth with Falcone was very tense, and you could see in her eyes that she was already plotting her revenge by the end of the scene.

They are still putting characters into scenes that the audience just doesn't need yet. Edward Nygma just pops in awkwardly and delivers a line more suited to an extra. Non-comic book readers won't recognize the name, so they don't need to see him in every episode, and comic book readers can make it through a scene without seeing something that validates their knowledge of the source material and still enjoy the scene, I promise. Also, there's a scene with some gouged out eyes. The effects are horrible, just because you can CG something, doesn't mean you should. That's why you have a make-up department, surely someone had some modeling putty to spare.

Conclusion: A marked improvement over the first episode, due mostly to the more focused nature of the narrative. If the showrunners can cut down on the not-so-subtle elbow nudges to the comic reading fans, and use some practical effects when they can, they should be able to build upon these first two episodes to deliver an entertaining story.

Rating: 7/10