Franklin & Bash: Reaction To Cancellation

Age, and the audiences' intelligence,
finally caught up with them...

For Jared and Peter, The Party's Over...

Well, in what can only be called a shock to absolutely no one, Franklin & Bash was cancelled.   America, it seemed, had tired of two himbos with law degrees getting more and more stupid and insulting our intelligence; frankly no one cared anymore about either Peter Bash or his lifelong partner, His Royal Highness Elmo, Duke of Landingshire.

Maybe the fact that Jared Franklin, aka Elmo Franklin, aka HRH the Duke of Landingshire BECAME an HRH was one of the contributing factors to Franklin & Bash's demise.  I think the fact that we had a character find himself with a royal title was flat-out insulting to the audience, but Franklin & Bash had been sliding for, well, at least three of its four years.

Is it a coincidence that Season One of Franklin & Bash is the ONLY season to be released on DVD?  Could it be that its creators, Kevin Falls and Bill Chais, pretty much knew that everything after that fantastic first season was pretty much garbage?  My feeling is that they indeed knew it, and either didn't care or thought that its fanbase would go along with whatever silliness they threw at us because hey...it was Franklin & Bash.

As I have not completed my full retrospective on Franklin & Bash, I feel I'm giving away a bit here.  However, a quick look at Seasons Two to Four showed that the show was sliding further and further down. 

Season Two Average: 4.6.
Season Three Average: 4.0.
Season Four: 3.2.

For three seasons the show wasn't even average.  The show was getting stupider and stupider, the cases becoming sillier and siller, and the characters regressing.  Again and again I hollered that rather than have Peter and HRH grow up a little, they were actually growing more juvenile and more dim-witted to where you genuinely wondered whether they were functioning humans, let alone brilliant attorneys. 

She couldn't save the show,
but she helped sink it.

These lawyers, who were suppose to be so clever and bright, didn't know the military doesn't need search warrants to look at the troops' property, didn't know FDR was in a wheelchair, thought Galileo discovered gravity and that Louis Pasteur invented milk. 

Seriously, one of them thought Louis Pasteur invented milk. 

How'd Peter Bash graduate elementary school? 

It didn't help that Bash was always the one who was made to undergo humiliating practices for silly laughs.  Given that Mark-Paul Gosselaar appears to be the more likeable of the two, and Breckin Meyer never shook off his jerk-like persona, sometimes you just wanted to pelt both Meyer and His Royal Highness Elmo, Duke of Landingshire. 

There really were so many bad moments in Season Four that I'm shocked that anyone thought Franklin & Bash would have survived past that season.  The Curse of Hor-Aha was just a total mess.  Kershaw vs. Lincecum reduced the vaguely homoerotic subtext the show had played with (particularly with Jared, who had made some really curious comments and seemed oddly possessive towards Peter) to a stunt by having them kiss each other as part of a dare.

Two forty-year-old men still play Truth or Dare?

Many fans point to Heather Locklear's Season Three arc as their new boss Rachel King as the moment the show jumped the shark.  I think the show began to die at the Season Two premiere of Strange Brew.   Rather than let them accept adult responsibilities, the show and episode allowed them to have their cake and eat it too.  For myself, that was the moment the magic was gone, and while Franklin & Bash pulled itself from its own inanity from time to time (the Season Three finale Gone in a Flash was a welcome return to form), most of the stories were really dumb...even for Franklin & Bash.

Nothing more infuriated me than the episode Freck, which to me was just one of the worst hours of television I have ever seen.  The story was stupid, the people on it were stupid, and I felt such anger and disgust that for me, the show was dead.  I kept watching as one watched a freak show: appalled but fascinated how it kept limping along. 

This isn't to say Heather Locklear's turn (which didn't go over well with fans) made things easier.  It to me, however, captured the slide of F&B in its full spectacular disarray. 

The final death knell rang with The Curse of Hor-Aha.  Apart from it being a Freck-like episode in terms of stupidity, it did a disservice to the Franklin & Bash fans who had hung on.  It threw out two characters with nary a reason.  Worse, they were two good characters (or at least fan favorites): Dana Davis' Carmen and Kumail Nanjiani's Pindar.  Pindar was very divisive (loved and loathed in equal measure), Carmen was universally liked.  To not only write these characters out but write them off, to not give an explanation as to why they left, was an unfair cheat.

So Davis and Nanjiani are no longer on the show.  Fine.  The actors might have other jobs, but that doesn't mean you just say to the fans, "Well, they USED to be here, but now they're not, we don't have to tell you why two integral parts of the show aren't here anymore, just focus on the new guys". 

That's what we did, and that's where more problems became apparent.  I don't blame Toni Trucks and especially Anthony Ordonez, who were asked to perform a thankless job: be replacements for two characters (and in Ordonez's case, be a mix of two of them).  Ordonez's Danny Mundy, the boys' new investigator, was a disaster from the get-go.  Falls and Chais were determined to make him 'quirky' but he came off looking like a certifiable psycho (or at least, either mentally unstable or a wild-eyed stalker).  Later episodes tried to tone down the weird factor Ordonez had been asked to do, but by then simply too much damage had been done.

That's not counting the decision to take Reed Diamond's Damien Karp (Jared and Peter's favorite foil and the only really good thing on the show) out to have him pop in every so often.  Too many changes in too short a time with no explanations as to why certain characters left and with poor replacements were simply too much for those who kept the faith to hold on.  Ratings, and more importantly respect for the show, had fallen to where nothing, not even the lip-lock between the homosexual-in-denial Jared Franklin and the overt man-whore Peter Bash could revive something that had died.

I'm sad to say that I'm thrilled Franklin & Bash was cancelled.  I loved the first season's mix of heart and irreverence.  I grew to hate its stupid himbos with law degrees, its nonsensical cases, the leads' smug self-assuredness, sense of entitlement and juvenile thinking.  Pity, because if Falls and Chais had kept things a bit more grounded and realized it was the bromance, not the idiocy of the bromantic partners, that we watched, Franklin & Bash could have continued to be breezy fun.  Instead, it became sad to watch. 
 

BUST

 

I read the best comment about Franklin & Bash's demise, mocking the Season Four cliffhanger ending (which to my knowledge, was a Franklin & Bash first since it had never attempted a cliffhanger ending).   

We'll never know which one was Franklin and which one was Bash.

Franklin & Bash: The Final Thoughts

Sherlock: The Sign of Three Review

SHERLOCK: THE SIGN OF THREE

One Wedding and Two Murders...

Well, what do we have here but yet another unbalanced Sherlock episode.  The Sign of Three, like a lot of Sherlock, has some good things in it that kept it afloat.  It also, like a great deal of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' work, has things that contradict each other.  It's no surprise given that The Sign of Three has three credited writers (Moffat, Gatiss, and Steve Thompson), though at the moment I'm not sure exactly who wrote what.  At first I though the two cases Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) waxed rhapsodic about in his long and rambling toast to the newly-married John Hamish Watson (Martin Freeman) were written individually by two of them, with the overall story by a third.  However, like a lot of Sherlock, the details are bit muddled.

It doesn't help that one of the architects to this is Thompson, who has given us some of the worst Sherlock episodes (The Blind Banker and The Reichenbach Fall), as well as some of the worst Doctor Who stories in the entire run of that show (Curse of the Black Spot, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, and most recently, Time Heist).  Thompson's total average for his oeuvre (three Whos, two Sherlocks) is a dismal 2.4, so going into The Sign of Three we already started out badly.   In terms of story, The Sign of Three contradicts its own thinking.  In terms of performances, we see what potential Sherlock has for its characters.

Sherlock Holmes is facing a great crisis: writing the best man speech for Watson's wedding to Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington, Freeman's real-life longtime mistress).   If it means calling DI Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) from the arrest of his career, so be it.  Well, after that bit of comedy the rest of the story takes place at the wedding reception and in flashbacks.  Sherlock being Sherlock stumbles at what are called human emotions as he regales the guests with stories about John. 

The first one involves The Bloody Guardsmen, where Holmes and Watson investigate the case of Private Bainbridge (Alfred Enoch, who incidentally is the son of William Russell, one of the first Companions on the original Doctor Who).  Bainbridge contacts Holmes and Watson because he's convinced someone is stalking him.  As Holmes and Watson investigate, they find that Bainbridge is indeed murdered while showering alone in the barracks with the shower door locked from the inside.  While they didn't solve the crime, it was Watson's compassion towards the soldier rather than Holmes' cold investigative efforts that Holmes holds in high regards.

The second involves The Mayfly Man. As part of his duties as best man, Sherlock Holmes is required to take John on a beer crawl.  He has measured everything perfectly, right down to the amount of alcohol they can consume without being entirely intoxicated.  John, however, sneaks in a little extra alcohol, which results in Sherlock Holmes actually being drunk, getting in a bar fight, and getting locked up.  Their arrest isn't related to the fight though.  They had gone home and there were consulted by a woman who claimed to have dated a ghost.  The boys, still boozed up, make a right mess of things, in Holmes' case quite literally.  As John Hamish Watson tells the client that they are "cluing for looks", Sherlock Holmes first falls asleep and then throws up. 

The case continues as Holmes gathers a group of women who have similarly dated a figure who quickly disappears.  He continues to attempt to put things together, but things are still off. 

As Holmes continues his long and rambling speech he suddenly realizes that one of the guests is in danger.  The most likely target is Watson's old commanding officer, Major Sholto (Alistair Petrie), who is blamed for the deaths of young recruits early in his career.  Holmes discovers that both the Bloody Guardsman case AND the Mayfly Man case are connected, and they are connected to John and Mary's wedding day.  He does find the man who attempted to kill Major Sholto with a blade hidden in his buckle that delays the stabbing after its removed (which is how Bainbridge was murdered).  The murderer is the person masquerading as the wedding photographer, Jonathan Small (Jalaal Hartley), brother of one of the men killed under Sholto.  Holmes also makes the deduction that Mary is pregnant, and while everyone dances the night away, Sherlock Holmes (who confesses to the maid of honor that he secretly loves to dance) walks away, barely noticed in the revelry.

Here's the thing with The Sign of Three that EVERYBODY'S missed.  Appearing as a figment of Sherlock's imagination, his brother Mycroft (Gatiss) tells him that coincidences are to be rejected.  YET...it IS a coincidence that Sherlock is discussing the two cases in question!  What really were the odds that Sherlock Holmes would select THESE two particular cases to discuss in his curiously incoherent speech?  This is especially true with The Bloody Guardsman because that case was never solved.  Yes, he used it to point out John's compassion, but is it just me, or weren't there other cases that could have focused on John's humanity versus Sherlock's lack of?  Given how Sherlock Holmes hates being shown in anything other than the best light, to highlight a case where he was not triumphant seems a bit odd to say the least.

We also have the strange situation of Sherlock and John not noticing things that were so plainly obvious.  I can't recall if in the Granada series with Jeremy Brett (the BEST Sherlock Holmes...sorry, Sherlockians) Brett told his Watson that the latter was 'a master at observing the obvious'.  Here, it was so obvious that Tessa (Alice Lowe) the girl who first contacted them about her ghost, knew more than either realized.  She called John by his full name: John Hamish Watson.  Yes, you could make the case that because Holmes and Watson were so hopelessly plastered they failed to notice a stranger using John's rather unique middle name (though why Tessa would introduce the doctor by his full name is odd to say the least). 

However, when Sherlock was having his online conference with the women who dated the Mayfly Man, Tessa made the comment, "Enjoy the wedding".  AGAIN, this is so brain-numbingly crystal clear it surprises me that Sherlockians, who have this idea that they are among the intellectual elite, could not have seen this as a clear clue that Tessa knew about something that only those with invites knew: John HAMISH Watson, partner of Sherlock Holmes, was getting married.

How is it possible for me to accept that Sherlock Holmes is the brilliant deductionist and overall genius at everything (to where he is almost God-like) but not have him notice something that is so nakedly out of place?   I also think that the whole mystery was rather flat.  Throwing in the names of Major Sholto and Jonathan Small from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four does not make me think this was a brilliant variation on Canon.   It's almost as if there HAS to be some sort of crime because, well, it's Sherlock.

What did elevate The Sign of Three were the overall performances.  Benedict Cumberbatch really is a marvel as Holmes, his ability to find the humor in Holmes' inability with humans.  When he stares blank-faced to Watson asking him to be his best man is delightful.  His entire drunken sequence with Freeman was also amusing.  Not laugh-out loud funny as I imagine Gatiss, Moffat, and Thompson thought it was, but still amusing to see someone as controlled as Sherlock be simply too inebriated to put things together (such as when he can't form words to figure out the mystery presented to him).  Cumberbatch I think is generally too smart an actor to not get that Holmes' discomfort with others makes him unintentionally funny. 

"Gavin Lestrade," he tells Watson when Watson suggests a Best Man.  "He's a man and good at it."  While I imagine that the concept of a 'best man' is not completely foreign to Sherlock Holmes, it is Cumberbatch's way with the line, as if he is taking Watson literally when he is talking about a 'best man', that makes Holmes' apparent lack of comprehension more amusing. 

I keep saying amusing because I didn't find it all that funny (as I instantly knew that Holmes' texts to GREG Lestrade would end up as a punchline).  Still, everyone made an effort, so bless them.

However, for me it was the more quiet, intimate moments of Cumberbatch's performance that were the emotional and artistic highlight of The Sign of Three.  The best moment was when Sherlock confesses privately to Maid of Honor Jasmine (Yasmine Akram) about his love of dancing, even throwing in a few twirls.  THOSE moments, when we get to see past the strict, stiff veneer of this Sherlock to see someone who could possibly be, underneath all that, a real human being, with all the foibles, emotions, and delights that come with it, that for me are the parts I remember.  I can't figure out why Sherlock enjoys making Sherlock Holmes into this waxwork: a being so far removed from us that he deserves to get punched repeatedly.  IF Sherlock allowed those little lights of humanity to creep out more often, I might enjoy Sherlock more than I have. 

Not that weren't actual moments of unintended comedy.  In the Bloody Guardsman sequence, Cumberbatch and Freeman were sitting next to each other.  I'm sure it wasn't the intention, but to me, the 5'6" Freeman looked like he was the 6' Cumberbatch's puppet.  Having them sit side by side made their nearly half-foot height difference a bit jarring to say the least.   

As for Freeman, he was the slightly bumbling, not-too-bright Watson he's been before.  I wasn't overwhelmed.  I wasn't even whelmed.  Still, to his credit Freeman can appear to be the type of person who could think this cold fish really could be Watson's best friend. 

Both handled the comedy well (even though, again, I was more amused that straight-up laughing).

Gatiss played himself, and everyone else stuck to their usual routine (lovelorn Molly, sweet Mrs. Hudson, still clueless Lestrade). 

On the whole I think The Sign of Three in terms of both mystery and adaptation of Canon was second-rate.  In terms of performances, it was really good.  It's unfortunate that Sherlock simply can't balance the two.   The story isn't logical (it goes all over the place trying to find mystery and crimes because it feels almost obligated to do so).  In terms of human mysteries, The Sign of Three was a good sign that somewhere, underneath the hoopla and Sherlockian fanaticism, there may lurk a good show.

Just let Sherlock Holmes breathe a bit, not be a waxwork with no emotion.  "All emotions, in particular, love, stand opposed to the pure, cold reason I hold above all things," Sherlock Holmes in his meandering toast tells the wedding guests.

My Dear Holmes, I beg to differ.  I tell you Sherlock, let your heart dance free...

6/10

Next Episode: His Final Vow

The DISH Won't Turner Over

For a liberal, he's a shameless
Capitalist Tool...

I am a DISH subscriber.  As a result of that, I have lost Turner Classic Movies...and a bunch of channels I never watched. 

What is Boomerang?

Well, the struggle continues as of this writing, which will be brief.  We have two sides on this struggle. 

DISH says that it is because Turner Broadcasting is asking for too much money for its channels, including those that Turner insists DISH take in order to allow their more popular channels (like TCM) on the air.

Turner says DISH would not negotiate despite numerous pleas and concessions by Turner to DISH and thus had to reluctantly pull the rights to the channels for DISH subscribers.

And as always, it's the customer who loses out.

I'm not taking sides in this.  I will make my thoughts brief.

Hey Ben, how'd you like those midterms?

I blame both companies. 
I want Turner Classic Movies back on the air.
I won't drop DISH over one channel and am astonished Turner thinks I would. 

I say 'one channel' because TCM is the only channel I would want.  Maybe CNN.  I missed them in the most recent election because bouncing between the conservative FOX News and the liberal MSNBC I felt I was getting not so much news but either cheerleading or mourning.  Granted, it was amusing but something was missing, at least for me.

However, why would I want Cartoon Network or truTV, two channels I never watched or really wanted to?  Why doesn't Turner ask me if I want to get all those channels?

I don't, so as much as I might want TCM I'm not going to switch providers for that one channel when apart from the loss of TCM I'm generally happy with DISH.   This doesn't mean I may not let DISH know what I think of this mess which I'm literally paying for, but to go to DirecTV or cable for one channel?

It would take a great deal for me to do so.  Silent Sunday Nights ain't enough.

Worse, as time goes by (to coin a TCM-friendly phrase) I find that I actually can live without Turner Classic Movies.  No, this doesn't mean I wouldn't want it back, but it does mean that with this dispute going on three weeks I find that TCM is something I am slowly not missing. 

I could pre-dispute go to TCM and watch something I would enjoy.  With it now gone, while I don't have ready access to their lineup I find that I no longer feel the need to hit that channel.  If it keeps going on like this, I may not even notice it's gone, and that would be the worst of it.

BOTH parties are to blame.  I am not a happy customer, not at all.  There are many issues in this latest battle between network and provider, things like bundling and the higher cost of carry (which are then carried to the customers, who may not like what they pay for). 

I urge BOTH parties to settle this to something they can live with, to return our regularly scheduled programming, and to get Ben Mankiewicz to live up to his principles and apologize to the working-class people who pay his bills for putting us through this ordeal.

   

Not satisfied with killing At the Movies, one of them now wants more money to make pithy/snarky comments in between films...

Franklin & Bash: Red Or Black Review

FRANKLIN & BASH: RED OR BLACK

All Bets Are Off.  Hopefully This Show Will Be Too...

It's interesting that in Red or Black, Franklin & Bash's fourth season finale, the show goes where F&B has not gone before: into cliffhanger territory. Every season finale prior, at least if memory serves correct, pretty much ended whatever story threads going.  Last year's season finale, Gone in a Flash, was actually quite pleasant, a return to the frothy light-spirited nature of the show.  Red or Black however, appeared to be almost begging me to want to know what happens next season (i.e., keep wanting to watch).

It's rather odd that Kevin Falls and Bill Chais are making such a naked appeal given that ratings for Franklin & Bash have fallen, the quality of the show has fallen, fans have fallen away, and in general Franklin & Bash has turned into one of the worst shows on pay television. 

I'd gladly give TNT for TCM (I'm a DISH customer, but that's for another time).

Last time, Stanton Infeld (Malcolm McDowell) received a strange message.  Now he shares this with his two himbo attorneys, Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and His Royal Highness Elmo, Duke of Landingshire, formerly known as Jared Franklin (Breckin Meyer).  He's asked them to come to Las Vegas and bring him a package he keeps in his office safe (which is voice-activated by Stanton's whistling of Beethoven's Ode to Joy.   They were given specific instructions NOT to open the case, but their investigator Danny Mundy (Anthony Ordonez) opens it, to find money and passports.  Is Stanton going to make another run for it?

NO...he needs the cufflinks he left there because he is going to die.  When he was six a family seer named Bakti predicted his death.  "He foresaw my death in the City of Sin in my 66th year, at the mercy of a Noble Fish".   The big surprise from this prophesy is that Stanton Infeld is only 66 (in real life, McDowell is 71).  As all the other prophesies have come to pass (including when Bakti foretold that Stanton would end up killing his partner on a mountaintop, something not mentioned that first season oddly enough), he has decided that indeed he will die in Las Vegas by eating that Japanese fish that is poisonous if not prepared properly.

While Peter and HRH try to talk him out of this, they and Danny decide to make the most of their time in Vegas by hitting the tables.  To their great delight and surprise, they score big on the roulette table, even winning a rare Elvis-played guitar.  However, to their shock they are hauled into what is called The Blue Room and accused of counting cards via The Wong Method (one of them loses small while the others, benefitting from his tips, win big).  They are invited to plead guilty to a minor charge and never return to Vegas, but this means not being able to stop Infelds' impending death.  It is now up to Peter and HRH to get out of their dilemma and save Infeld from himself.

In the subplot, Anita Haskins (Toni Trucks) and Damien Karp (Reed Diamond) have decided to make their feelings public and ask Human Resources for permission to date.  This gets complicated when they find themselves on opposite sides of a copyright case where an artist's mold of his penis becomes the point of contention.   As Karp observes, this is a 'pervy Sophie's Choice' because while Anita and Damien want to cooperate, they find their own needs to win get in the way.  Anita tells her coworker Swatello (Rhea Seehorn) about Peter and HRH's trip to Vegas, snidely asking, "You think they'll finally get married?" (the first of two almost obligatory gay references).  In an uncharacteristic move, Swatello goes to Vegas, perhaps to stop HRH from possibly marrying Bonnie, the former intern he was hooking up with last time.

Peter is so desperate that he does the unimaginable: he calls KARP for help with his uncle.  In the end, Peter and HRH do find a way out thanks to Danny's former time at another affiliated casino (despite Danny's confession that he was indeed counting cards without them knowing).  Infeld is at first relieved that the prophesy has passed him by, and he also bonded with his nephew.  As he enjoys a rare respite, he begins chocking...on Noble Fish Nuts.

For their part, the boys have their own decisions to make.  Will Jared and Swatello really try to have an adult relationship?  That would be difficult, since HRH thought you gave mouth-to-mouth for poisonings and panic attacks which Peter was suffering from (the second semi-obligatory gay reference). 

Will their hijinks continue?  That is in doubt, for Peter just received notice that The Chive wants them to be their legal counsel, but that means moving to Austin.  In what can be called the only real twists of Red or Black, PETER wants to go and basically keep the party going, but JARED wants to stay in Los Angeles and be more establishment.  They put their future on the table: red means probably Peter only will go to the Chive (it doesn't look like Jared will go with him), black means they stick with the firm.  As the wheel starts spinning Jared tells Peter, "I love you, dude."  Peter replies, "I love you, too".

Screen goes black.

I gotta give Franklin & Bash credit for this.  Red or Black did acknowledge what I've been saying for some time: the suggestion that Jared and Peter share 'the love that dare not speak its name'.  There was Anita's comment about Jared and Peter perhaps finally marrying, and there was their declarations of mutual love. 

On this point I find it a bit odd and sad that two men cannot share an intimate bond without others thinking it is an intimate sexual bond. I tell my best friend Gabe that I love him without thinking anything of it many times, and he tells me he loves me too.  We're two happy heterosexual men but for my part I have never found telling him that I love him difficult or uncomfortable.  Why Peter and Jared's declaration of mutual affection after a lifetime of friendship might be seen as a great ending is therefore a bit lost to me.

In short, Jared and Peter telling each other that they love each other just when they might actually be ending their longstanding association isn't as dramatic or moving as Red or Black wants it to be.

I also have to give them credit because when I heard Infeld was going to be killed by a 'noble fish', my first thought was that Damien Karp was somehow going to accidentally kill his uncle.  Karp has killed someone accidentally before, but at least Red or Black didn't go that route, so that's a plus. 

It's curious that Red or Black though kind of limps along a bit in doing what other F&B episodes have done before.  The boys come up with an absolutely idiotic strategy (blame Vegas itself for inducing gambling!) only to have a most fortuitous turn give them their out (The Desert Opal Casino where Infeld is staying and putting the boys up happens to own the Golden Oasis Casino as well, where Danny was known as a gambler, thus showing that the D.O. knew what kind of figure Danny was and let him play there anyway, undercutting their 'shocked' reaction to the card counting).  Even the bit about Danny's real name being Eliezer Mundy (Dan being a nickname) is something that Franklin & Bash has used before. 

In Waiting on a Friend from Season Two, we discover that Jared's real name is Elmo.  However, the 'Elmo' bit has pretty much never reemerged.  However, we get to find out Danny's real name is Eliezer.  Now THERE'S a shock!  How many times are we going to get name changes on this show?  It's curious thought that while Danny is named in court as "Eliezer Mundy", HRH is called "Jared Franklin", not "Elmo", and that apart from maybe one episode no mention has been made that he now is suppose to be His Royal Highness the Duke of Landingshire.  I know this is Franklin & Bash, but would it be too much to ask for a little continuity?

In regards to other matters involving Red or Black, does it seem so remarkably rushed that HRH and Peter can't really discuss what their choices will be regarding whether to Chive or not to Chive?  This is a major decision for both of them, and while I wouldn't put it past them to decide based on where a ball lands does it still feel like it was put there for no other reason than for 'drama'?  I did find it amusing and accurate when Peter said the Chive wanted them because they "have the perfect emotional makeup for the company". 

Read anything you want into that statement. 

Sadly, there is no mystery when it comes to the Ellen Swatello storyline regardless of whether Franklin & Bash is picked up for a fifth season (which if it is, I suspect will be its last).  Seehorn (an actress who I think has been one of the few standouts in this dismal season of a very weak show) is already in greener pastures (and must be kissing her agent's picture the way others kiss images of saints): she is currently filming the Breaking Bad prequel/spinoff Better Call Saul, and if anyone wants to tell me why Seehorn would dump the AMC show based on the critical cult hit for something like Franklin & Bash, I'm all ears.   Looks like there will be no Ellen, Duchess of Landingshire anytime soon...

I was also put off by the fact that Jared and Peter weren't too perturbed that Danny was counting cards (or that they were really too stupid to not realize their winning streak was too good to be true or wouldn't attract any attention).  What, haven't they seen 21 or Casino or Las Vegas any other Vegas-based show/film where those who are winning big are usually hauled away because the casino suspects they're cheating?  I guess Falls and Chais have, otherwise we wouldn't bother with this cliché.   
 
It's also curious that in a small role, Fernando Rivera as a valet greeted HRH by telling him, "Welcome back," to which a puzzled HRH claimed never to have seen him before.  If the valet had greeted DANNY, we would have had a clue earlier that might have absolved the boys from the charges, but why have the valet greet JARED. 

Even as the show is crashing about them, Jared and Peter seem tone-deaf to their own egos.  "Two godlike figures of sharp tongue and immortal charm will try to distract you from your destiny", Bakti's prophesy continues.  Apart from Jared and Peter, who really sees Peter Bash and His Royal Highness Elmo, Duke of Landingshire as 'godlike figures of sharp tongue and immortal charm'?

I see them as a couple of himbos with law degrees who are really sad and not the amusing figures I knew four years ago.

Even the subplot of Anita and Karp was lacking because the entire story was predictable. To their credit, Trucks and Diamond made things as interesting as they could.  Trucks came out best and I'd rather watch a show/episode about them rather than Jared and Peter.  They made what little they had work, which is something I can't say about poor Ordonez, who floundered with a character whose only characteristic is 'quirky'.  In his defense, not many actors could do much with what Ordonez was given, so it's not a slam on him. 

For me, the big surprise in Red or Black was that, given how these two are, their behavior in Las Vegas was remarkably tame.  In all other respects (the lack of intelligence, the lack of enjoyment, and just lack of everything), we get what we're now used to.  A bad episode where few people really care whether the ball lands on Red or Black. 

I do have some advise for Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar.  Boys, ultimately you forgot one of the best pieces of advise ever given...

3/10

Next: The Complete Fourth Season Review

On Sherlock vs. Elementary Shipping Part II

In a previous post, I gave my thoughts on the fixation Sherlock fans have towards 'shipping' (or romantic/sexual relation-ships hence the term) a whole slew of Sherlock characters.  I compared this with Elementary, the 'rival' Sherlock Holmes television program. The shipping between the female Doctor Watson and male Sherlock Holmes on Elementary was neither as prevalent or intense as that between the male Doctor Watson and male Sherlock Holmes on Sherlock, yet many Sherlockians were incensed that Elementary could possibly have actual sex between Joan and Sherlock when they themselves fantasize constantly about actual sex between Sherlock and John.  I made a few snide remarks and ended by saying that with all this shipping going on, at least no one was shipping Sam and Dean Winchester on Supernatural.

Oh, but I spoke too soon.  I never figured that there would be such a thing, but I didn't count on the crazy.  While looking for my own amusement whether there was any Sherstrade shipping (relations between Sherlock and Inspector Lestrade), I came upon Wincest: sex between the Winchester Brothers.  I found that there are fans of Supernatural who have created artwork and written fanfiction celebrating a sexual relationship between two males of the same family.

Bet you won't see THAT at Comic-Con!   

Now, I'm a pretty old-school type of guy, and there is a lot I don't generally understand about the world.   Shipping as a whole puzzles me, for when I watched television shows like The A-Team or Street Hawk, sex between characters was not on my mind.  Even when they were opposite-sex pairings like Saved by the Bell, really explicit sexual fantasies about two or more characters with each other were a bit foreign to me.  I figured Slater & Jesse going on and having a romance was part of the story.  I just never imagined Slater and Zach going at it.  One thing is certain: I NEVER imagined Alex P. Keaton and Mallory in throes of sexual ecstasy with each other. 

No sex please.  We're British.

The most I ever wanted to do was join them in their adventures, not their bed.  I first discovered Sherlock Holmes on the Granada Television series with Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwick.  Watching it then and now the most I thought of was to be part of the team investigating the strange crimes that came their way.  Both as a child and adult, I never imagined that Holmes and Watson were lovers, and I certainly never wanted to have sex with either of them.  If any shipping opportunities were open, it would be here since Brett was bisexual.  However, no one ever wrote fanction with either of them indulging in the pleasures of the flesh, let alone with each other.

Now it looks like television shows elicit the strangest things.  I know a bit about slash fiction when encountering what I thought were rather peculiar writings involving Constable Benton Fraser and Detective Raymond Del Vecchio of Due South.  Even then, as graphic as some of that writing was, having two brothers become fodder for romantic, let alone purely erotic, ideas is something that I could not contemplate or imagine, let alone share with the world.  The whole Wincest, Johnlock, Sheriarty et.al. leaves me less shocked and more confused.

Then again, I perhaps shouldn't be, given how sex-obsessed our current society is.   Given how sex in all its forms (apparently) and deriving mere physical satisfaction for oneself rather than having sex be an intimate situation where your aim is to GIVE pleasure to the other rather than receive pleasure is now the goal, things like shipping (even Wincest or Sherlock's version) shouldn't be surprising.

I know I sound excessively moralistic, and as a flawed human I recognize that we are all subject to several temptations of the flesh, be it drink, drugs, food, or sex among others.  However, this isn't to lecture but to try to understand what motivates things like Johnlock or Wincest.

Yes, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are good-looking men, and we know they are not really related.  However, given that the fanfic isn't about Ackles and Padalecki but Sam and Dean, I don't think that's splitting hairs.  The fact that people create stories where brothers get sexual pleasure from each other I think is dangerous.  Sex should never be about pleasure.  It should be about intimacy, two different things.  The introduction of incest as a viable sexual expression is, well, wrong in my view. 

I know people might tell me, "oh, it's all fantasy, don't take it all so seriously".  I don't see it that way.  What I see are people seriously finding some form of erotic release or escapism by imagining siblings having sex.  I do not think that is right or healthy, and it worries me that I run the risk of being called either bigoted or stupid for saying as much.  If there is now nothing wrong with creating scenarios where brothers Sam and Dean can have sex with each other and enjoy it (under the guise of 'it's all in good fun and we know it's not real'), what then is there to not create fanfic/art where Gotham's Bruce Wayne and James Gordon find themselves in fits of passion with each other? 

It's all in good fun and we know it's not real, right?

If family status isn't a hindrance to sexual satisfaction, why then would age be one?

A slippery slope I think.

I imagine that in reality, the author is imagining him/herself in the place of either Sam or Dean, but that begs the question, 'why not make YOURSELF a character and write about having sex with either Padalecki or Ackles?'  Why make it incestuous?'

This leads me to what I think is the nadir of Sherlockian shipping. 

Supernatural has Wincest. 
Sherlock has Holmescest.

Well, I would say having sex with Mycroft (or Mark Gatiss) would be a crime against humanity.  Unlike Ackles, Padalecki, or Cumberbatch, I don't think Gatiss inspires any lust in anyone apart from his longtime partner.    Still, I am at a loss to understand two things.

First, why are some (not all) Sherlock fans seriously creating scenarios in their minds or on paper where Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes become lovers?

Second, again, why are some Sherlock fans so outraged that on another show, there is a vague possibility, however slight, that the two leads will end up in bed together when they are the ones that are more fixated on the idea of sex between their two leads?

The majority of Elementary fans I know detested Joancroft, when Joan Watson and Mycroft Holmes literally had sex with each other.  If Elementarians found sex between Joan and Mycroft idiotic, I wonder what they'd think if someone came up to them and suggested Rhys Ifans' Mycroft and Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock be the ones that ended up in bed together.  Given what I see of Elementary vs. Sherlock in terms of shipping, Elementary is almost virginal compared to Sherlock. 

Given how there's strong indication that BBC's Sherlock is a virgin, while CBS' Sherlock has been with several women (most famously Irene Adler), irony abounds! 

Oddly enough, I haven't come across any Holmescest when it comes to Elementary.  Or Sherstrade.  Or Sherbell (Sherlock/Marcus Bell shipping).  In fact, I haven't seen that much shipping in general from many if any Elementary fans. Just from Sherlock fans.

Curious that...

"Were we shipped, Benny?"
"Like you wouldn't believe, Ray.
At least we were sharing oxygen that ONE time..." 

Gotham: Spirit of the Goat Review

GOTHAM: SPIRIT OF THE GOAT

For this Gotham episode, it is not the usual suspects (James Gordon, Bruce Wayne, or Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin) who dominate.  Rather, it is Harvey Bullock and Edward Nygma who are the primary focus of Spirit of the Goat.  That not only allows for more screen-time for Donal Logue and Cory Michael Smith, but also manages to do something that Gotham hasn't done all that much with the characters: give them both a backstory and a life where we see them grow and evolve.  In short, we are getting to know Bullock and Nygma in ways that are not fully expected.  This isn't to say Spirit of the Goat short-shifts the other characters, and we do get perhaps one of the most Oedipus-centric moments in all of Batman-related storytelling, but in almost every way possible, Spirit of the Goat is Gothic horror and character exploration brilliantly mixed in what I think is a simply brilliant debut season. 

Gotham: Ten Years Ago.  A serial killer who goes by the name of The Goat has been targeting the first-born of Gotham's wealthy.  Detectives Harvey Bullock (Logue) and his senior partner, Detective Dix (Dan Hedaya) have tracked both the killer and a potential victim to the Cannery district.  Dix calls for backup but Bullock is determined to rescue the abductee.  Dix warns Bullock of Gotham's Number One Rule: No Heroes (which, as a side note, is better than Doctor Who's Number One Rule: The Doctor Lies, because, well, he didn't until Steven Moffat took over and bastardized the show, but now I digress).  Bullock does indeed rescue the girl and shoots the Goat down, but at the cost of Dix's health (he fell through the floor during the chase, leaving him in a wheelchair).

Cut to today, and an older and more bitter Bullock is facing what at first appears to be a copycat killer.  His coworker, GCPD forensics member Edward Nygma (Smith) is not helping with his insistence on having Bullock solve his latest riddle.  Both, however, are surprised and amused that James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), the Boy Scout as Bullock calls him, is not there at work.  Gordon is still attempting to mend his relationship with Barbara Kean (Erin Roberts), his WASP girlfriend who wants in her words, "half of what he's carrying".  After some struggle, Gordon agrees to tell her all he can.

Good thing, for Barbara's ex-lover Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) and her Major Crimes Unit partner Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones) have found a witness stating he saw Gordon murder Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor).  Ozzie, for his part, is very much alive, bonding with his mother Gertrude Kapleput (Carol Kane).  This includes a little chat (where Oswald insists there is no 'painted lady' luring him into sin) and some bath-time (where Mother Kapleput gives her little boy a touch of a scrubbing...not creepy at all).

Bullock now is haunted by this resurgence of The Goat, especially after confirming that this was not a copycat.  He reluctantly goes to see Dix hoping that perhaps the hidden detail accidently slipped through his lips.  Dix hasn't told anyone about what confirmed that the Goat appears to have returned, and he also offers Gordon another side to Harvey, one where Bullock and Gordon are closer than the former is willing to admit and the latter can see.

Nygma, for his part, is having both good and bad.  The good? He helps in narrowing down the suspects in the new Goat investigation thanks to his amazing abilities with puzzles.  The bad?  He fumbles his attempts to win the favor of Kristen Kringle (Chelsea Spack) the records department head whom he clearly likes but can't get anything but open irritation from, especially after he attempts to 'help' her with records without her permission or consent.  Dix believes the Goat is a conspiracy against the wealthy of Gotham, but Bullock dismisses this.  However, after he and Gordon basically repeat history with the capture of the suspect, Bullock realizes the connection between the Goat from then and now.  It comes when he realizes the power over the mind that Dr. Marks (Susan Misner) holds over others.

As the case of the Goat comes to a successful conclusion, Gordon finds himself under siege thanks to the relentless Montoya.  Barbara warns him and offers to flee with him, but the upright Gordon refuses and is arrested for the murder of Oswald Cobblepot.  At the police station, Jim's arrival causes an uproar among the force.  Sergeant Essen (Zabryna Guevara) will not allow her officer to be arrested, and Bullock stands up for his partner.  Gordon is desperate to communicate to Bullock that he DIDN'T kill Cobblepot, and the ensuing arguing attracts the attention of everyone, including Nygma.  However, when Oswald Cobblepot makes his grand entrance, announcing who he is, the silence gives way to an enraged Bullock.

It's interesting that Spirit of the Goat gave one of the best aspects of Gotham almost nothing to do.  David Mazouz's Bruce Wayne is unconcerned with the Goat targeting the wealthiest first-born of Gotham and calmly says he'll stay in the city.  Why would the Goat target him, he tells Alfred (Sean Pertwee).  After all, he's got no one to be taken from.  The only thing he has apart from his continuing investigation on Gotham's corrupt core is a brief scene where Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) breaks into Wayne Manor and sees Bruce sleeping on the couch of the study.  She steals a silver box while an unsuspecting Bruce continues to slumber and she observes him sleeping.  It's a silent scene and perhaps superfluous, but boy was it also one of my favorite scenes.

This little bit is a great nod to the complex relationship Batman and Catwoman will have: a mixture of antagonism and desire.  There is something almost cute in seeing these two mythic figures as children, knowing that in the future they will be battling the other while being drawn to each other at the same time.  What did Selina think of this lost boy sleeping?  What would Bruce think of seeing this pretty girl so close?  Speculation granted, but for myself while I recognize it adds nothing to the story I would not have had the heart to cut it out.

Spirit of the Goat continues with Gotham's simply astonishing cinematography.  The episode looks like it was made for a horror film, the shafts of light making things more spooky.  The sequences of when Bullock takes the Goat down (twice) have a Gothic horror feel, and when the Goat suspect is in the holding room, with the flickering lights and eerie sounds, it looked like the holding cell scene was directed by David Lynch.

However, where Spirit of the Goat excels is in giving us enough about Harvey Bullock's backstory without overwhelming us with information.  We see that before Gordon, Bullock was in many ways like him: determined to rush into danger if it meant saving someone, and we learn that Bullock is paying for Dix's stay at the retirement home.  This information, along with Dix's assertion that Bullock is some sort of white knight, surprises Gordon and gives us a more complicated idea about who Harvey Bullock is.  Now, Harvey is no longer the sleazy, corrupt cop whom Gordon has to endure.  He's a haunted man, worn down by all that he's seen in this mire of a city called Gotham.  He captures what Dix said about Gotham's Number One Rule.  Harvey Bullock I don't think wanted to be a hero, but he did initially start out wanting to do the right thing. 

This is Donal Logue's best performance in Gotham.  Logue makes Bullock into someone who appears to have given up but who still has moments of clarity (mental and moral) and who is also a good cop.  When the new Goat tells him that no one can stop the Spirit of the Goat, Logue as Bullock shouts out, "Will you stop saying THAT?", almost less a plea than a command to get his own sanity back.  It is also Bullock, not Gordon, who realizes who is the mastermind of the Goat and his confrontation with Marks allows Logue a chance to show he can be as competent a detective as the upright Gordon.

He even has yet another moment of comedy but makes it so natural.   When he is complaining about how he already had solved the case only to have it return, he says, "How the hell did this copy-goat know about this (the clue kept out of the press)?"  Logue's use of 'copy-goat' for 'copycat' struck me as both funny and revelatory of Bullock's persona.

Spirit of the Goat also gives us Cory Michael Smith's best work as Edward Nygma.  We didn't have to go home with him to see that Nygma is not yet the criminal master soon to be known as the Riddler.  Instead, he is a slightly bumbling man, attracted to a woman and struggling to bring her into his world.  He also is highly pleased to have helped track down the most likely suspect in the Goat investigation, even giving a toast to Gordon and Bullock as they go after the suspect...with his question mark coffee cup.  Nygma appears to be a good forensics expert but someone who is not comfortable apart from his work.  I'm glad that Smith is being given more to do and hope that perhaps next season we will see the Rise of the Riddler.

In other terms, Dan Hedaya is excellent as Dix, the more jaded officer who knows that deep down inside Harvey Bullock is (or at least was) a good man and good officer.  Whether he knows it is Harvey who is supporting him (or why) is unknown, but we do get a greater insight than we've gotten prior.

We even get some insight on Oswald and Gertrude.  First, there simply cannot be too much of Carol Kane, and hope that she will make yet another return appearance on Gotham, and much longer too.  We see with RLT that Oswald has wanted respect, and now his criminal enterprise is his effort to be respected, to get past the bullying he's endured, the dismissiveness of others overlooking him.  As brief as RLT's appearance was throughout Spirit of the Goat (since the story didn't revolve around him in any way) he still made the most of it. 

If I were to find fault in Spirit of the Goat, it might be that the cliffhanger is almost a repeat of The Balloonman, with Penguin appearing dramatically framed to make his bold return.  I do wonder why his storyline is going so fast, for I figured he would remain in hiding for a few more episodes.   However, this is a minor point in what was a strong Gotham episode where we got to see two characters and actors become just as important as the ones that have dominated the series so far.

Robin Lord Taylor, Ben McKenzie, and David Mazouz to me are the standouts of Gotham.  For at least one episode (and hopefully more), they were joined by Donal Logue and Cory Michael Smith.  Gotham has shifted into one of the best series of this season, and a fine addition to the Batman mythos. 

Two Sides of the Same Coin...

        


9/10

Next Episode:  Penguin's Umbrella

Gotham: Viper Review

 

GOTHAM: VIPER

I'm not well-versed enough in Batman lore to know every little intricacy woven into Gotham, so some bits of Viper went over my head.  That, however, allowed me to go into Viper with a cleaner slate and found myself enjoying the ability of the series to both grow in its own universe while including the Batman mythos that must have intrigued, even thrilled Batman fans.  It wasn't until Viper wrapped that I saw that we get foreshadowing of yet another Batman villain.  As it stands, however, Viper does a good enough job spinning its own tale that the connection, while present, isn't hampering another excellent Gotham episode. 

A new drug has hit the streets.  It's called Viper, and it gives its users virtual super-strength but also depletes them of calcium.  Eventually, the need for calcium becomes so great that they literally crumble into nothing.  Detectives James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) are on the case, the latter most reluctantly as it interrupts his lunch hour.  As they continue investigating, they find a link to of all things, Wayne Enterprises.  Out of the loop is Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), but that doesn't mean Master Bruce isn't aware that something fishy is going on.  Putting his mind to work, he at first wonders how the Arkham deal managed to go down, and in his hunt for the truth he comes up against Wayne Enterprises' middle-management, which may be doing something a bit crooked.

The investigations are unwittingly tied, for in fact Viper is indeed the offspring of WellZyne Labs, a W.E. subsidiary that had been stopped by Thomas and Martha Wayne from continuing, but now with them nicely dead it was started up again.   The drug's creator, Stan Potolsky (Daniel London) has attempted to bring Venom to the world's attention by passing it out free to the lowest members of society.  However, that hasn't helped, so now he decides the only way to get the world's attention is to strike at the 1 Percent.  Among those who fit the bill is a young orphan asking too many questions...

In the subplot, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), who clearly dislikes his nickname of "Penguin", confesses all to mob boss Maroni.  This promptly gets him smacked down as Maroni wants to be sure this wild story about Cobblepot having worked for Fish Mooney and coming back from the dead is true.  With that he 'invites' Gordon for a chat, where Jim in a calm voice confirms everything by telling the truth (a Gotham City novelty).  Maroni, satisfied, lets them both live, but now thinks that Gordon may be beholden to Maroni.

Penguin is playing a very long game, and now Maroni has taken Oswald under his wing with the successful raid on Falcone's casino.  That isn't to say all is going well for Mr. Cobblepot: one of Maroni's henchmen, Frankie (Danny Mastrogiorgio) clearly dislikes Penguin and doesn't trust him.  For the moment though, Maroni is not Falcone's biggest problem.  There is dissention in the ranks after the Arkham deal, with Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Nikolai (Jeremy Davidson) battling it out as to the right course of action.  We find though, that this is all for show, as Fish and Nikolai are literally in bed together, Mooney pledging to help Nikolai push Falcone out as she goes all Fifty Shades on our Russian mobster.

As for the main investigation, thanks to forensics expert Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), the drug is as I mentioned traced to WellZyne, and Gordon finds Potolsky's mentor Isaac Steiner (Peter Maloney), a philosophy professor who encourages his protégé to strike at those wreaking havoc with their poison.  Gordon realizes where Potolsky will strike as does Bruce's valet Alfred (Sean Pertwee), who quickly saves his charge and now has a softening in Bruce's fixation on investigating what is going on. 

From the moment we see the street musician Benny (Kett Turton) call out the shopkeeper with the warning, "Do not vex me, mortal", right down to the rapid rescue of the Wayne Enterprises' mid-management, Viper doesn't flag in the tension and excitement department.  We get a great many pieces with almost all the cast.

Of particular note is McKenzie as Gordon.  His monologue detailing the truth about what happened on the docks with Maroni was simply McKenzie's best moment in Gotham so far, his calmness under extreme pressure mixed with the threat of death and Gordon's own honesty a great performance.  In fact, Viper may be McKenzie's finest hour on Gotham.  The open contempt he has for Taylor Reese (Margaret Collin) the WellZyne Public Relations director/general counsel who has no interest in the victims of her mad drug but only in protecting her company is brilliant.  McKenzie's Gordon is clearly irritated and dismissive of Reese's lack of cooperation but hides it behind an obviously fake smile and words that drip with open disdain.

Another excellent performance is of Logue as Bullock.  His character I think has become more complex than what perhaps the comic books may have thought of him as.  He certainly is slovenly and extremely jaded (he, for example, has no desire to interrupt his lunch of the best burgers in Gotham just because there's a burglar alarm going off within earshot unlike the Boy Scout-like Gordon).  However, Bullock isn't going to take someone killing others lightly.  Bullock may not be anywhere near Gotham's 1 Percent, but he isn't going to let mass murder slide by.  He has no qualms about threatening an old man who is withholding evidence.  Hearing Professor Steiner's scheme and mocking of them that they can't do anything to him because he is dying, a clearly angry Bullock tells him with growing anger, "I'll help you die quicker, you terrorist."  To me, it shows Bullock DOES have something of a moral code, which makes both the character and Logue's performance a richer and more nuanced one than we've seen in the past.  Bullock may be lackadaisical, but he is still a cop. 

Logue even manages to bring a touch of comedy to Bullock.  Steiner (who took Viper to try and kill them both), makes grand pronouncements to them.  "Empty altruism will not erase what they've done.  They must pay!"  After he and Gordon are forced to gun down Steiner, Gordon keeps trying to find out where Potolsky was going.  Bullock, meanwhile, shouts out to the corpse, "What's altruism?"  Gordon's rather puzzled reply to his partner, "Charity", lent the scene some much-needed lightness, but it wasn't a throwaway line.  It actually helped Gordon put things together.

Later on, when Potolsky jumps to his death, Bullock takes a swig from his flask and offers a quip.  "You really can have too much of a good thing".  Somehow, it fits. 

One of Viper's highlights is in giving Mazouz's Bruce both something to do (his growing obsession with investigation showing that Batman is lurking in him somewhere) but it also does what I have wanted for some time: get him out of Wayne Manor.   His scene with Sharon Washington's Molly Mathis (the Wayne Enterprises' middle manager up to her neck in duplicity) is again excellent.  Mazouz is clearly all business but also shows that Bruce is still a little boy, one who is growing in his confidence about discovering the truth while not fully aware of how Mathis is being slightly patronizing to this child.  She is, however, taken aback when Bruce continues to push the issue, his chutzpah amazing her.

I also was so happy to see Smith's Nygma get a slightly more expanded role to play.  He's still the investigator working for the Gotham City Police Department, but his fear and fascination with Viper's effects shows that perhaps the seeds to him becoming a master criminal of Riddler proportions are being planted.  Smith makes the most of his brief time, but for me, any Nygma is good Nygma. 

As good as Smith is and as much as his Ed is growing, RLT continues to surprise and delight as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin.  Part of RLT's brilliance is that Oswald is still feeling his way to being a master criminal.  When he is beaten and threatened by Maroni one almost feels for Taylor's weepy, frightened Cobblepot, but make no mistake: behind the fearful kid is a monster slowly emerging.  Cobblepot is not going to let a little thing like a mobster's smack-down take him down.  RLT is simply Gotham's best performer, which given the caliber he's working with (McKenzie, Logue, and Mazouz in particular giving excellent performances, and Smith coming fast on their heels) is saying a lot.

As for the crime-of-the-week, again it sticks close to Batman mythos without having to be overt on it.  Once I figured Viper had been perfected as Venom, I figured this could be reintroduced in the future.  For now, it worked without having to know much if anything about the 'bane' of Gotham's future. 

If there was a flaw, it was with Pinkett Smith's Mooney.  No, I still won't accept that her take on the character is camp (though I know quite a few people who dislike this character as being 'over-the-top).  It's that the whole "people who are fighting in public are sex partners in private" story isn't all that original.  Granted, her wild scheme to get at Falcone by bringing a classy potential mistress his way is something I wasn't fully expecting, but like her former protégé Penguin, Mooney is playing a long game herself.  Gotham Season One I think will be a battle between the two to see who can outlast and outwit the other.

My money's on the bird...

With great performances by so many (McKenzie, Taylor, Mazouz, Logue in particular), storylines growing within the text of the episode itself (O Mio Babbino Caro was never so dangerous) and the mythos expanding (is it a good thing that Edward Nygma is so thrilled with Viper), Viper is another excellent episode in a series that has already found its place in the Batman story.  Perhaps not strictly Canon, but certainly a fresh and intelligent take on Batman.

All Hail Kiri the Kiwi Diva...

    

8/10 

Next Episode: Spirit of the Goat