Gotham Episode 2 - Selina Kyle

For most of my favorite TV shows, I can tell you the episode that got me hooked. For Sherlock and LOST it was their very first episodes. For Game of Thrones, it was episode 4 where Tyrion gets arrested by Cat Stark. And I didn't get addicted to Doctor Who until the second season of the relaunch's The Girl in the Fireplace. If Gotham ends up going anywhere, "Selina Kyle" may be the episode that makes it a must watch for me.

Selina Kyle

You know it's a weird thing when the character in your episode title doesn't even utter her first words until about 40 minutes in. When Selina, or Cat as she prefers to be called finally speaks, she's blunt and to the point. She doesn't whine, unlike another prepubescent character on the show. Her character already comes off as an adult having been hardened by the streets of Gotham. And by the end of the episode, she's completely won me over.

But what does it say when the most compelling parts of the episode are the guest villains played remarkably by Lily Taylor and Frank Whaley? As a quirky pair of child-traffickers working for the mysterious Dollmaker, they were both bizarre and terrifying at the same time. While they seemed like an old married couple, they didn't hesitate to shoot a homeless man or even one of their own guards who had his eyes scratched out. These two were perfect criminals, and hopefully we haven't seen the last of them.

The episode mainly revolved around kidnapped kids, and Gordon & Bullock's attempt to find them. No big mystery here. Just establishing further that Gotham is filled with baddies, even the Police Captain and Mayor are in on it. And Gordon is still the lone good guy in a sea of corruption.

Penguin Begins

This was such a small part of the episode but it was so much fun to watch. I'll admit, those bastard fratboys with their popped collars deserved to die! While one called him "Penguin" and was promptly stabbed with a broken beer bottle, the other was taken hostage and his family refused to pay the ransom. Penguin is having some serious growing pains in his return to crime. But you can assume he's going to get much better at it.

Batman Begins... To Really Annoy Me

Once again, the most uninteresting part of the episode is anything with the young Bruce Wayne in it. Part of it is we know he eventually becomes Batman. Seeing him train his body & mind like he did in Batman Begins is cool. Seeing a kid test his fear by burning his hand isn't. And seeing Alfred freak out is the next least fun thing to see. But it looks like we're not getting away from the young Wayne so maybe I should just get used to it.

All in all, an excellent episode. While the jam packed pilot seemed a bit unfocused and crowded, "Selina Kyle" kept it simple and impressed me. I'm actually looking forward the next episode titled "The Baloonman" about a vigilante killing bad cops.