YES, THERE ARE SPOILERS: With Arrow and Flash on small breaks and just a few eps of Gotham left this season, it’s time to take a look at the state of DC TV as we head toward the home stretch …
1. Gotham is easily the best of the three shows. Now that it’s found its footing, it’s the best-written, best-acted and most clever of the bunch.
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2. The Flash is the most fun. I appreciate that we’re getting payoffs sooner rather than later. The cast remains likeable and I’m even warming to Iris some. I still think, DC canon to the contrary, that Barry and Caitlin are a better fit.
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3. Arrow has great moments but I’ve grown tired of the leaps in logic the show asks of us. They promise an end to secrets and lies … only to give us more. And this business about Thea having any regrets about Malcolm‘s ultimate fate is forced.
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4. Best mid-season character introduction: Morena Baccarin as Leslie Thompkins. Hands down.
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5. But Barbara‘s still gonna have to get pregnant …
Detective Comics #359
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6. Felicity and Ray Palmer are so right for each other that I feel compelled to tell the Olicity shippers that they have it wrong, though I don’t want to hurt their well-meaning feelings. But you Raylicity fans out there should start getting worried if the Atom‘s crazy lawyer friend Jean shows up …
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7. I’m not the first to say this but Arrow has really turned into a Batman show without Batman. This season’s Ra’s al Ghul storyline has had so many elements of the original, classic Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams saga that it’s really exciting … but also a little disappointing. And now Ra’s even wants Ollie as his heir …
Batman #232
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8. Boy, Tom Cavanagh has some odd speech patterns sometimes, doesn’t he?
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9. I smile a lot when I watch The Flash. I really like its escapist, blink-and-you’ll-miss-the-Easter eggs-attitude. Reverse-Flash is my favorite Flash villain and it was so smart to make him the first season’s big bad guy. I wonder if that’ll last into Season 2.
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10. I really, really worry that they’re risking the Golden Goose — not just with Supergirl coming but with this other new show in the works, that’ll evidently feature the Atom, Captain Cold, etc. etc. At some point, the backlash is going to start in earnest …
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11. Take Firestorm. That was a fun little storyline but it went on too long.
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12. That actor who played Kid (Maybe) Joker? Sign him up now. I know the producers really want to play around with the whole multiple options thing but Cameron Monaghan was terrifyingly great. He wins.
H/T pintasfun.tumblr.com
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13. I so want an episode where Jim Gordon goes undercover with a mustache and starts thinking about growing one after Leslie compliments him on it — or Bullock breaks his onions over it. Or both.
Batman: Year One, art by David Mazzucchelli
March 3, 2015
I have to say I disagree with you with Gotham being the best of the three. I think the writing is poor and that leads to stiff acting. The episode with the Joker(maybe) was just terrible. It may have been one of the worst episode of the season so far.
As for the Flash and Arrow I am extremely enjoying those. I like the different direction Arrow is making from last season. Flash has been really fun.
March 3, 2015
Gotham’s not for everyone but I think it’s a show that just keeps getting better and better. Thanks for your opinion though! That’s awesome.
March 3, 2015
***SPOILERS***
– GOT HAM (as I like to call it since they separate the lettering too much in the opening sequence) is an ok show that started sloppily but found it’s footing.
– I love ARROW but there are some things in it that make me go “HuH!?!” such as how Merlyn survived his battle with Arrow at th end of the first season but is able to hand Arrow’s ass to him on a regular basis the rest of the time, how Oliver survived his fight with Ra’s, why Canary (trained by the League of Assassins) was supposdly a great fighter but always got her ass handed to her by lowly thugs of Starling City, the constant “trust-me / why-did-you-lie-to-me” moments that litter the show. I like that they’re not beholden to DC Comic canon. Why should they? Mixing things up is nice. The action on this show in undeniable, probably the best I’ve seen — comic-related or not.
– FLASH is a fun show that is beautifully written, paced and cast (except for Iris Allen. She seems wooden to me and her chemistry with Barry is, at best, forced). I love how they throw easter eggs throughout the show as they often lead to big plots later on (such as seeing the torn cage of GRODD and his recent team up with Zoom was a nice twist. This show keeps getting good and is refreshingly positive show amid the other gritty and dour shows.
– One other DC show I’m surprised you didn’t mention is CONSTANTINE. I watched this show for a number of episodes but had to stop. A show like this needs to be on a cable network to really push the envelope of acceptable horror. Its on the same network as HANNIBAL which has probably the most greusome images on TV that, for some reason, are allowed. The writing is ok, not great. Main character is a great fit but his supporting cast leave me cold. They don’t do anything for me. The stories are not engaging or imaginative. Many of them have been done better by other shows like DR. WHO and BUFFY. I’ll be surprised if it gets picked up.
– As for SUPERGIRL, only time will tell if this is a hit show or not.
– The BRAVE AND THE BOLD type series they’re developing at CW has me intrigued since it involves some producers, writers and cast members of ARROW & FLASH. This has me very excited to see what they can do. If the SUICIDE SQUAD is a sample of the direction they’re going, I look forward to this new mid-season show.
March 3, 2015
Excellent points all! I didn’t mention Constantine for two reasons. 1) I kinda-sorta see it as a separate animal. 2) I don’t watch it!
March 4, 2015
Yeah, I really thought we were going to get the Jim Gordon mustache during Movember, but now we’d have to wait til next year