Gotham Without Fish Mooney is a Success!

Comic book tv shows

By Nav K on October 28, 2014 • ( 3 Comments )

Today I figured out what my main problem with Gotham is, Fish Mooney. Her absence in today’s episode made me realise how good the show can be without her over-dramatic and ridiculous character. ‘Spirit of the Goat’ was definitely one of the strongest episodes of Gotham yet. It felt clean and smooth, with a nice level of drama and tension, without going over board.

If you have been keeping up with Gotham then I know you are quite familiar with the character Fish Mooney. She is a brand new character created for the show, and her premise seemed like she had the potential to be a great character. But boy I was wrong. I’m all for strong female characters whether they are good or evil, and to know that they were going to make one of the main players in the Gotham criminal underground a woman seemed interesting, but they completely ruined it! Fish Mooney is an awkward character whose prescence constantly makes me cringe. The dialogue they give her is awful, and coupled with Jada Pinkett Smith’s overly dramatic portrayal of the character, it was just not working for me at all.

So it was quite refreshing to know that her character was not going to appear in ‘Spirit of the Goat’. The plot of the actual episode was interesting enough. A serial killer from 10 years ago seemingly returns. The accumulating tension and suspense in the episode built up really well, it was quite subtle which was quite surprising considering how not so subtle some aspects of the show are like I had written about before (umm e.g. Nygma with his mug with a giant question mark on it…) however it was the character moments that completely drove the episode.

We open up to a flashback of Bullock and his old partner, and interestingly enough Bullock used to be quite the boy scout (the name he constantly calls Gordon now). Old Bullock was eager and naive, quite like how Gordon is right now. However things turn for the worse, and a certain event becomes the precursor for Bullock becoming the hard-ass he is today. So now that we know how Bullock was in the past, compared to who his new partner, Gordon, is today, it adds an interesting dynamic between the pair. Bullock becomes easily angered by Gordon constantly, as he is the reminder of who Bullock used to be and what that eager, naive Bullock ultimately caused.

‘Spirit of the goat’ also opens up to a conversation between Gordon and Barbara. He tells her that he will tell her everything, but she is already quite understanding to the fact that there are some things she just can’t know. Throughout the episode Barbara insists on standing by his side, no matter what she is hearing about him. Barbara’s character comes off as strong and secure, and really shows off her character strengths in the episode.

Then finally the growing tension and suspense builds up to a boil at the end of the episode. The Major Crimes Unit had been after Gordon for the murder of Cobblepot (who he obviously only pretended to kill), then when they finally get him we have a great scene of him being dragged into the GCPD. And then with a beautiful entrance comes in Cobblepot, who shocks everyone. Bullock of course gets a bit angry that Gordon lied to him about murdering Cobblepot and tries to punch Gordon and then bam! End credits! Woo such a good episode, and exactly what I’ve been waiting for.

Unfortunately Fish Mooney is back in the next episode, so fingers crossed she doesn’t make me cringe. If Gotham continues more character focused episodes such as this one, with the Gotham crimes as a backdrop, Gotham could become a very strong show. Anyways this was just one episode, let’s see if they keep the momentum up.

So did you watch tonight’s episode of Gotham? If so what did you think? And are you a fan of Fish Mooney’s character? Let me know!

Categories: Comic book tv shows

Tagged as: comic book tv shows, dc comics, episode review, Fish Mooney, gotham, harvey bullock, jim gordon, penguin, spirit of the goat, tv review, tv shows