New Day Rising
Barnes rages in unrelenting fashion. Penguin and Riddler have emotional instability. Alice bores. There are no credible character choices or psychological complexity or moral conflict or emotional engagement. Bruce is completely convinced of his own righteousness. Alfred does a lot of angry talking and has no life of his own. I fundamentally loathe Bruce. This was all tedium and was spectacularly unsuccessful.
Are we supposed to believe Bruce will be a capable opponent to the growing rogues gallery? Won’t they all be old when Bruce becomes Batman? Bruce is an emotional vortex. Sensibilities and propriety have no place here. This ep leaves one wildly bored. Where is Mr Freeze? Barbara and her preening self-importance is joy-suppressing. Gordon is essentially grim. Nothing is satisfactorily resolved and this is of scant interest.
This a descent into banality. How do so many criminals pass unnoticed? Barnes is fantastically pompous. There is no sheer inventiveness. Mad Hatter is all theatrical self-indulgence with no larger consequences. The ill-defined clone Bruce does deeply troubling things. This was insignificant. Wrestlers attack. Lee does desperate rationalising of her awfulness. Bullock is an aggressor with no measured cautious approach.
Mad Hatter kills Alice. Penguin becomes Mayor. This was intensely uncomfortable. This show is a source of continuing frustration. It makes one weary. Bruce and Alfred fail to accept the ramifications of their decision to ignore the Bruce clone. Their deliberate callousness will have consequences due to their wilful complacency. There is a rip-off of ‘28 Days Later’. This was unashamedly crap.
Best Lines:
“Make Gotham safe again.”
“I rob here.”
~
A House Divided
Woz waves an axe. People mumble. Stahl has a vexed look and has moral outrage and bitterness. Woz has jovially antagonising behaviour. There are more bad decisions to come. Harlee lies. Christina is barely in this. Harlee’s friend does drugs. Tess’ domestic drama is AWOL. Linda bores. Julia is awful. Someone quits. Stahl whines, he is not benign and pleasant. How did he get an FBI job? Julia is not luscious and warm and gets shot. This was lazy.
Best Lines:
“Gotta stop making enemies.”
“You forced me to make an enemy tonight.”
~
Why We Fight
How did they tattoo numbers on Patriot cadet’s eyelids? It makes them go psycho-killer, Jason has one. Neville doesn’t seem concerned. Miles and Monroe whine and are all competitiveness, mocking and aggression. Men talk about their feelings. Jason is in peril, where did his killer instincts go? Bratniss snots, Rachel is inadequate and the mother/daughter combo has overheated smuggery. A useless woman rants. Miles is again reminded he made Monroe into a crazy killer. This was okay.
Best Lines:
“Discount empire.”
“Creepy Uncle Sam.”
“How about no?”
“Taking out every war clan.”
“Use your son any way I see fit.”
“Your bitchy frowny face judging me.”