Perhaps it's because I didn't have any grand expectations based on the pilot episode of Gotham that anything in "Selina Kyle" surprised me. In fact, it actually confirmed some of the basic issues that have occurred to me as I was watching. The series is not consistent with its tone, which is the biggest issue hampering it, in my opinion. The episode isn't well put together from an editing standpoint. One scene tells me one thing and then it cuts to another scene right out of the blue. It depicts a somewhat skewed shorthand method to its crime-solving plots, which is endemic of a network police procedural, that it's come to be expected here.




What's left is put on the shoulders of the characters, and well, two episodes isn't a lot of time to draw in the shades of each one. It should rightfully focus on the partnership between Detectives Gordon and Bullock, yet it also has to shoehorn subplots for both Bruce Wayne and Oswald Cobblepot as well. They're left on the periphery, which is a real disappointment to those who were expecting a prequel to Batman story in this show.


For an episode that is titled "Selina Kyle," she doesn't spend much relevant time in it. She's present when the evildoers carry out the crime of knocking kids unconscious and kidnapping them. Only, the criminals fail to do the same thing to her, thus allowing her to escape. This occurs in the same manner that allows her to witness the Wayne murders, yet somehow the criminal perpetrators fail to eliminate any of the witnesses. So while there is a nice element of creepiness in the way the two henchmen of the "Dollmaker" operate, they don't seem like viable threats. It is not much of a surprise as to the speed by which both Gordon and Bullock dispatch them. In fact, the speed of their arrest (and the case's solution) is notable for occurring just past halfway through the episode, which leaves time for the corrupt people in charge of Gotham City to screw things up even further.




The homeless kids, some of whom had escaped a frightening, traumatic experience, all get sent upstate to a juvenile detention facility as their reward. It's a really blunt way for the mayor (who's apparently under fire from a so-far invisible public) to wield his corrupted power. Again, this is not unexpected because of the way the series has presented itself so far. It's about as subtle as a hammer on a board of nails. Of course, we have yet to see the internal workings of the supposedly corrupt mayor's office so we could be wrong on that assessment. Judging by how the Gotham City Police Department is run though, there seems to be a common malaise that is slowly eating away at both institutions. This is the kind of stuff I want to see from this series. Given that it's a network show, I doubt I will get my wish. These kinds of shows are never willing to go to those lengths because executives think it's boring television. The characters are much more content to say that they're corrupt without backing it up, violating the basic tenet of all watchable entertainment: "Show, don't tell."


Regarding the periphery subplots, I think they don't provide me with much hope. Cobblepot gets picked up by some nameless strangers on the road out of Gotham City. He then proceeds to kill one of them and hold the other one for ransom. There doesn't seem to be much depth to his character, which is understandable when he's not the focus of the episode. Bruce Wayne attempts to show how tough he is or how dark his psyche is willing to go in the wake of his parents' death by burning himself over a candle. It wouldn't be as effective as talking about it with a psychiatrist (like any normal person would do), yet there are specific instructions contrived by Bruce's father to keep him away from therapists if Alfred takes over his guardianship. It's just another way to ensure that Bruce eventually becomes the Dark Knight disguised as a feeble attempt to broaden his character development. 



Detective Gordon does his character development no favors by being the only beacon of light and justice in the face of all this darkness and corruption. It's not unlike the weak manner in which he tries to look badass by confirming to everyone that he did kill Cobblepot for being a snitch when his facial tics would give away the truth if anyone with any investigative sense bothered to watch him carefully. There also isn't much ground gained in the coming mob war, which seems to boil down to a faceoff between Fish Mooney and Carmine Falcone. There is a small suspicion that Falcone knows Fish is faking her sincerity towards him, but he isn't giving it away here. She goes into villain scenery-chewing mode for no particular reason when out of his sight just so she can show the viewing audience that she was faking it.


It's all odd, dissonant storytelling. I'm being hard on this series even with the knowledge that this is the second episode to air because it needs to get better, quickly. It's not a fully formed show. I get it. But the flaws wouldn't be so apparent if Gotham showed even one hint of handling something with aplomb. Like the pilot episode, there isn't a good hook to get me to keep coming back and immersing myself in the show's mechanics. There are a multitude of signs that it needs more time to figure itself out, all the while flailing in the process. That's troubling to me because it can easily spiral out of control with no chance of saving itself. I always hope that doesn't happen, but it happens so frequently that the odds of survival are stacked against the show as it goes along.