Gotham Season 2 Winter Premiere (Don't worry, no spoilers.)
I just finished watching the Gotham Season 2 winter premiere... and wow. I really love this show. Great villains, great heroes, great everything. It isn't your average comic book based show.
What I like most:
If you have watched any of this series at all, you'll know what I'm talking about here.
GOTHAM DOES VILLAINS RIGHT. Gotham does a really good job of making their villains sympathetic. For instance, Mr. Freeze (the newly revealed villain pictured above) doesn't just go around freezing people for giggles. The Penguin, isn't just some heartless baddy. No one is pure evil, and Gotham takes this to heart. Point to almost any villain they've introduced, and I bet you can point to a reason for their actions that will at least give you a moment's pause for consideration. Sort of like Walter White in breaking bad... wouldn't you consider doing what you absolutely had to do to look out for your family and your health? Gotham also does their heroes right... Jim Gordon, isn't just a straight shooting cop (in all senses of the words haha). He's human. He makes mistakes, and he pays for those mistakes. One of the hardest things in writing is making your villain sympathetic and avoiding making them flat. Watch Gotham and see how the writers have ingeniously portrayed the characters. All of them. They never stay the same. Each episode pushes characters further and further, they transform and become more complex. I've sort of equated -at least when I tell people about it- Gotham as "Southland set in Gotham City". Funny enough, Benjamin McKenzie who plays Jim Gordon, also played Ben in Southland... he just has a good "cop" look. See here:
So by providing sympathetic and well rounded characters, Gotham's writers have succeeded in producing characters who are easy to relate to. That doesn't mean everyone will relate to every single character... that would be impossible. But everyone will have at least one character on the show they can relate to.
Another thing the writers have done involves the city and the story. They capture the gritty/dark nature of the city -making it almost a character in its own right. The atmosphere fits the mood, in most cases rather bleak and unforgiving. But, while this is a show set in Batman's superhero universe, they manage to make the focus rest on the people living and working within the environment. It isn't just a show about people with weird quirks or super abilities, but rather the human struggle against overwhelming odds... not sure what else to add here without sounding overly pretentious... but... I wouldn't want to be a cop in the city of Gotham. Better yet, they're doing a sweepstakes:
Enter it here.
I may be slightly bias for Jim Gordon... I was him for Halloween!
Not to mention the people who run the show's Twitter are super awesome...
They actually replied! So, I provided the requesting pictures...
To which they replied...
So, not only does Gotham have awesome writers... they have awesome fan interaction. This is how you build a fan base folks... pay attention to your fans and they will love you forever. Whomever runs Gotham's social media, should get a promotion.Follow Gotham on Twitter here... and if you want, follow me here! I post about writing, Gotham, Warhammer 40k, and occasionally stream some video games with awesome friends.
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My Astra Militarum Army:After the interest in my WIP "The Heedless" (if you missed it click the link!) I figured I would show off some of the rest of the army! The "Renia Liberation Front" takes its name from the fictional capital planet in my Jax Jensen series (I call it the Jensenverse). Obviously, "The Heedless" gets its name from the first short story... "Heedless". It is a loyalist insurgent force, seeking to overthrow the corrupt officials who seized control of the planet. The planet is heavily urban, so that has influenced almost all aspects of the army. The Heedless is sandbagged up for the extra protection an urban environment demands... and my weapon teams are armed with missile launchers (super portable weapons, easily carried throughout the urban jungle -easy when compared to a lascannon :P ) and even have walls on their bases (See example below).  This is the most themed project I have ever undertaken. I got the paint scheme from one of the old Imperial Guard codex... let me find the exact image. I think it was the Storm Troopers/ Kasarkins (sp?). Found it, here.  Anyway, looks pretty good right? Right. So, I took it. I do love the storm troopers, and in my list I have 3 Scion squads (strike teams) that are used to deepstrike in and give my army some (much) needed reach and flexibility. For their scheme I reversed the rest of the standard scheme of my army. Pictured below is the Scion Command Squad. (Strike Team Godfather is what I call them, if you're curious. Any fans of "Generation Kill" will immediately recognize the reference). I'm still not too terribly sure on it (the paint scheme), but I think it works! I figure storm troopers would either be extremely tactically black/camouflaged... or blatantly ballsy and flashy. What do you think on the Scion colors? Yay? or... nay? (nayers will be executed). Here is the commander of the army (my kit-bashed Creed), Haaken Galowix, and his (kit-bashed Kell) No-name (still thinking of a first name) Shay. You can see that the urban influence has carried over even to the smallest bases... I am making an entire kit-bashed Aegis Defense line that is completely urban. I went with a Creed stand in, because I figure the leader of an insurgent force better be tactically savvy. Plus, gaming wise I like the extra warlord traits and feel like a 40k Sun Tzu if my commander is the fluffy equivalent. I gave him the extra servo-skulls because I figured he would have tools to help scan the battlefield. He has a helmet, because he ain't no dummy. (Even though it never really saves him. In my defense out of 4-5 games so far I have only lost my command once! The aegis is a very comfy nest...) Here is a gallery of pictures I took for this post... if you have any modeling or painting questions let me know!Sound off below! Let me know what you think. Would any of you like me to post my entire army list, and give an overview of my unit choices? I know people say the Astra Militarum is underpower... and they no doubt are when compared to the Eldar. But smart play can reward more than an overpowered codex! Plus, the challenge is always fun... and who can relate to a 8ft+ tall super soldier anyway? Not I. (sorry Spess Mahreens). Comment below with any questions, or comments! |
