- Title: Gotham – Selina Kyle
- wiki: link
Did you ever think there would be a Batman television show so bad you’d rather be watching The WB’s universally derided Birds of Prey? Most of the issues I had with the “Pilot” return here including its inconsistent tone, ridiculous soap opera dialogue, and storylines which do no justice to beloved characters of the GCPD. The episode even includes a bizarre cameo by Carol Kane which seemingly was written and directed by Tim Burton on mescaline.
Named after Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), the show’s second episode centers around abducted homeless children in a city so corrupt it doesn’t care to investigate abduction and human trafficking of children. Performing an investigation no one really wants done, Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) discovers a pair of oddballs (Frank Whaley, Lili Taylor) are using chemicals from the shutdown Arkahm Asylum to abduct kids no one will miss and sell them off for unknown purposes overseas. Even after learning of the truth Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara), a character in the comics Gordon eventually falls for (which seems less likely at this point in the series than Man-Bat showing up to dance a jig), continues to hamper the investigation of Gordon and a completely disinterested Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue).
The episode also delivers more of what didn’t work the first time around with Jada Pinkett Smith‘s laughably-bad gangster, Gordon attempting to counsel a troubled Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), and Oswald Cobblepot‘s (Robin Taylor) violent tendencies. And, just in case anyone missed the “Pilot” or forgot, the show’s second episode makes numerous attempts to remind us that James Gordon killed a guy (but not really) and everyone knows it. Calling the writing of the series’ first two episodes hamfisted would be an understatement of Batcave-level proportions.
