Gotham is a relatively new episodic television series, highly anticipated following the box office success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. The Fox program revolves around a pre-Batman Gotham City, where it appears a big emphasis is placed on telling the origin stories of many Batman comic supporting characters. Christopher Nolan’s three films follow the narrative of Bruce Wayne/Batman from how he became a superhero to his circumstances as a superhero. However, these films could not spend a lot of time deepening the audience’s knowledge of and relationships to the supporting characters. While there are a variety of differences between Gotham and the Dark Knight trilogy, what makes Gotham most appealing is its potential to explore
…show more content…
After several episodes, further along down the season, the storyline of Renee Montoya and James Gordon’s fiancée could have had the potential to be much more. Audience members would have had the opportunity after several episodes to develop their own feelings towards both characters, making for a more surprising, impactful, and entertaining storyline. Yet Gotham was influenced by its mold as a primetime serial, releasing so much information early on that it interfered with the balance between episodic closure and serial deferment. Newman puts it best: “Television writers strive to parcel out this information in such a way that it will seem urgent,surprising,and emotionally resonant.The way the story is unfolded bit by bit encourages viewers to take an interest in it,and as the unfolding progresses the storyteller seeks to intensify this interest” (Newman, 18). The fact that the showrunners of Gotham established the narratives of Edward Nygma, Ivy Pepper, Selina Kyle and Oswald Cobblepot in addition to those of Bruce Wayne and James Gordon all in the pilot is overwhelming. This choice does not adhere to the primetime serial principle of releasing information over the course of a season/series, keeping audiences on the hook to watch every episode. the idea of exploring multiple character narratives is something Gotham offers that any of the Dark Knight trilogy or Tim Burton films cannot. The …show more content…
Despite the ensemble cast being lauded with each addition, the on-screen relationship between Gordon and partner Harvey Bullock falls short. Between the two opening episodes Ben McKenzie (Gordon) and Donal Logue (Bullock) could be accused of over acting and pumping each other’s chests at any moment for a possible dispute. This relationship between the characters is one of many beats introduced so far in only two episodes of Gotham. “...the story only takes shape when they begin to think of it as a series of moments.” (Newman, 18) Each squabble between the characters are little moments, beats, building upon each other to form the narrative/relationship between Gordon and Bullock. The sheer amount of character in the show so far in two episodes indicates the potential for a ridiculous amount of beats. Yet the over saturation of character introductions and abundance of beats is what makes Gotham overwhelming. Because there are so many characters to sort through each one of them appears flat and present the potential to not be well developed over the course of a season. The show imbues itself with a great deal of intensity, with a lot of action and a very fast pace. It feels like one of the fastest-paced shows to grace television screens, having subplots easily tied up in a few quick-cut scenes. However, this was one of the problems with the pilot - so much was crammed in that some interesting stories
After several episodes, further along down the season, the storyline of Renee Montoya and James Gordon’s fiancée could have had the potential to be much more. Audience members would have had the opportunity after several episodes to develop their own feelings towards both characters, making for a more surprising, impactful, and entertaining storyline. Yet Gotham was influenced by its mold as a primetime serial, releasing so much information early on that it interfered with the balance between episodic closure and serial deferment. Newman puts it best: “Television writers strive to parcel out this information in such a way that it will seem urgent,surprising,and emotionally resonant.The way the story is unfolded bit by bit encourages viewers to take an interest in it,and as the unfolding progresses the storyteller seeks to intensify this interest” (Newman, 18). The fact that the showrunners of Gotham established the narratives of Edward Nygma, Ivy Pepper, Selina Kyle and Oswald Cobblepot in addition to those of Bruce Wayne and James Gordon all in the pilot is overwhelming. This choice does not adhere to the primetime serial principle of releasing information over the course of a season/series, keeping audiences on the hook to watch every episode. the idea of exploring multiple character narratives is something Gotham offers that any of the Dark Knight trilogy or Tim Burton films cannot. The …show more content…
Despite the ensemble cast being lauded with each addition, the on-screen relationship between Gordon and partner Harvey Bullock falls short. Between the two opening episodes Ben McKenzie (Gordon) and Donal Logue (Bullock) could be accused of over acting and pumping each other’s chests at any moment for a possible dispute. This relationship between the characters is one of many beats introduced so far in only two episodes of Gotham. “...the story only takes shape when they begin to think of it as a series of moments.” (Newman, 18) Each squabble between the characters are little moments, beats, building upon each other to form the narrative/relationship between Gordon and Bullock. The sheer amount of character in the show so far in two episodes indicates the potential for a ridiculous amount of beats. Yet the over saturation of character introductions and abundance of beats is what makes Gotham overwhelming. Because there are so many characters to sort through each one of them appears flat and present the potential to not be well developed over the course of a season. The show imbues itself with a great deal of intensity, with a lot of action and a very fast pace. It feels like one of the fastest-paced shows to grace television screens, having subplots easily tied up in a few quick-cut scenes. However, this was one of the problems with the pilot - so much was crammed in that some interesting stories