TMC
04-26-2019, 08:28 PM
https://tv.avclub.com/for-better-or-worse-batman-looms-large-over-the-series-1834287430
Following a penultimate episode last week that felt like a series finale (https://decider.com/2019/04/18/gotham-they-did-what-recap/), Gotham said goodbye Thursday after five seasons with an episode titled "The Beginning..." that felt more like a season premiere. "It always had to end this way. There was no way around it," Kyle Fowle says of Gotham's ending, adding: "After the events of the penultimate episode, which saw the villains and heroes come together to save Gotham—that’s the series finale that would have been most in line with what Gotham has been doing for four seasons, by the way—the show didn’t have many options for moving forward," says Fowle. "Bruce left Gotham to save it from his presence, and to train to protect the city in the future, so naturally Gotham had to flash forward. After years of watching Bruce Wayne take small steps towards becoming Batman, the last thing the series finale needs is scenes of him training to become Batman." He says the flash-forwards were the series finale's biggest problem. "'The Beginning...”'is basically a paint-by-numbers procedural, a case-of-the-week episode that feels out of place as a series finale," he says. Fowle adds: "This is a show that’s explicitly designed to tease the appearance of Batman without ever delivering the payoff, and that doesn’t make for the best TV. Or, to be more specific, Batman looms so large over this series that it’s pretty much impossible for the show to be about anything else, but the show needs to be about something else because this isn’t the story of Batman, it’s the story of what created Batman."
ALSO:
Gotham's series finale broke a rule of Batman (https://www.tvguide.com/news/gotham-series-finale-review-batman/)
For those who stuck with it, Gotham's end result was a spellbinding blend of genres, tropes and characters (https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/gotham-series-finale-review-season-5-episode-12-the-beginning-spoilers-1202127804/)
Producers deserve credit for extracting five seasons out of a Batman prequel premise (https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/entertainment/gotham-series-finale/index.html)
Gotham's series finale gave fans what they've always wanted with the Jim Gordon character (https://decider.com/2019/04/25/gotham-series-finale-jim-gordon-mustache-ben-mckenzie/)
Executive producer John Stephens on making a movie-like series finale (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/gotham-series-finale-explained-1204558): "Audiences are used to the 100 million dollar big screen version of Batman, what he looks like, what he can do"
Executive producer Danny Cannon says the series finale was exactly how Gotham was envisioned when pitching the pilot (https://deadline.com/2019/04/gotham-spoilers-series-finale-batman-interview-danny-cannon-john-stephens-fox-dc-comics-1202602146/)
Could there be a Catwoman spinoff starring Lili Simmons? (https://tvline.com/2019/04/25/gotham-recap-season-5-series-finale-bruce-becomes-batman/)
Following a penultimate episode last week that felt like a series finale (https://decider.com/2019/04/18/gotham-they-did-what-recap/), Gotham said goodbye Thursday after five seasons with an episode titled "The Beginning..." that felt more like a season premiere. "It always had to end this way. There was no way around it," Kyle Fowle says of Gotham's ending, adding: "After the events of the penultimate episode, which saw the villains and heroes come together to save Gotham—that’s the series finale that would have been most in line with what Gotham has been doing for four seasons, by the way—the show didn’t have many options for moving forward," says Fowle. "Bruce left Gotham to save it from his presence, and to train to protect the city in the future, so naturally Gotham had to flash forward. After years of watching Bruce Wayne take small steps towards becoming Batman, the last thing the series finale needs is scenes of him training to become Batman." He says the flash-forwards were the series finale's biggest problem. "'The Beginning...”'is basically a paint-by-numbers procedural, a case-of-the-week episode that feels out of place as a series finale," he says. Fowle adds: "This is a show that’s explicitly designed to tease the appearance of Batman without ever delivering the payoff, and that doesn’t make for the best TV. Or, to be more specific, Batman looms so large over this series that it’s pretty much impossible for the show to be about anything else, but the show needs to be about something else because this isn’t the story of Batman, it’s the story of what created Batman."
ALSO:
Gotham's series finale broke a rule of Batman (https://www.tvguide.com/news/gotham-series-finale-review-batman/)
For those who stuck with it, Gotham's end result was a spellbinding blend of genres, tropes and characters (https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/gotham-series-finale-review-season-5-episode-12-the-beginning-spoilers-1202127804/)
Producers deserve credit for extracting five seasons out of a Batman prequel premise (https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/entertainment/gotham-series-finale/index.html)
Gotham's series finale gave fans what they've always wanted with the Jim Gordon character (https://decider.com/2019/04/25/gotham-series-finale-jim-gordon-mustache-ben-mckenzie/)
Executive producer John Stephens on making a movie-like series finale (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/gotham-series-finale-explained-1204558): "Audiences are used to the 100 million dollar big screen version of Batman, what he looks like, what he can do"
Executive producer Danny Cannon says the series finale was exactly how Gotham was envisioned when pitching the pilot (https://deadline.com/2019/04/gotham-spoilers-series-finale-batman-interview-danny-cannon-john-stephens-fox-dc-comics-1202602146/)
Could there be a Catwoman spinoff starring Lili Simmons? (https://tvline.com/2019/04/25/gotham-recap-season-5-series-finale-bruce-becomes-batman/)