First Impressions - Gotham: "Beasts of Prey"

This is by no means a deeply intense dissection of the episode.

It's just my quick comments and notes after seeing the episode only once (a la AoS).
Spoilers after the jump.

You've been warned...


Hey Gotham...Welcome Bat!

(sigh...) all right, all right.

I do wanna say - that was a hell of a long wait, and it wasn't easy for me to get back into the show. But by the first commercial break, I was bat too.

Onto the First Impression:

Episode 19: "Beasts of Prey"

The Good: Let's start with the obvious...

Gordon is a BAD...ASS!

When he walked up to Loeb at the end, and got right in his face, that was priceless. But when he held up his hand to that other "police official guy"? THAT was badass. 

Nygma. Solving a riddle to help Gordon.

This puts a spin on Riddler I never thought of - the riddle meaning more to him than the law. What I mean by that is it seems the quest for a solution supersedes his desire to become a criminal. If a good puzzle gets him into a bank vault, he'll rob the bank. If a good puzzle helps the police catch a serial killer, he'll help the police. I honestly have no idea if they've done that in the books, but I've never seen him portrayed that way before...and I like it.  

Cobblepot. Plotting and planning...and possibly scheming.

I love how this show fleshed out the villains. I grew up seeing Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman in the classic Adam West Batman show - where they show up, do a few gags and then get caught. When I read the comics, they showed up, did their shtick, and either got caught or escaped. This show's done its job at showing how every single one of them has more than a unique "thing". They have different motivations and goals. They are, in fact, different.

I also liked the Italian bar owner he "helped" to get her to sell. 

I don't know the actress that played her, but she stole her scenes. I also have no idea if that character's in the books at all. 

Speaking of different... Was that Milo "Jessie from Gilmore Girls" Ventimiglia? Why yes...yes it was. 

The Bad: 

Cat crossing the line.

I get why they did it that way, I just don't agree with it. Having Payne find himself hanging outside the building with Cat refusing to help, and the resulting fall, would have made more sense. But maybe that would have been too predictable. 

I didn't understand the necessity of that first scene where he was having lunch with Bruce. 

I guess it was to remind us that they still "hang out" sometimes? So Gordon could see how damaged Bruce still was? I mean all we needed was the scene later on where Alfred started bleeding again to bring us back to speed and understand why Bruce went looking for Payne. 

Fish.

She's a badass. She plots, plans and schemes with the best of them. I get that. But to me, she's a "coming-from-nowhere" character that has little connection to stuff. The Dollmaker is a character from the books, but I stopped reading before he showed up. The Catcher? Is he from the books too? Even if The Catcher is, and even though The Dollmaker is...so f**king what? Is Gordon even aware that this story's happening? Does anyone in Gotham know about this plot?

I'm just saying that if you're going to introduce a brand new character into a recognized comic-book environment, their presence should have some bearing on (or connection with) recognized comic-book characters. 

She helped Oswald become Penguin. I'll give her that.

But to The Dollmaker, aside from naming him I guess, she's just another victim. Who's made her escape, but needs some serious medical attention. Is she going to crash land on Falcone's property or something? 

The WTF?:

How did the bartender know what happened after they left the bar?

I was also wondering why Grace didn't just poison the food? Then I realized it was probably because he had complete control over what she could use in the kitchen. But still...wtf?

Adorkification Moment: 

That Batman-esque move the bum made with the coat as Bruce and Cat walked up the stairs.

Of course now I have to go back through episodes to see if that happens elsewhere, and speaking of Bruce...

THAT was AWESOME!