BELT BEATING MYSTERY - BATMAN - Guardian of Gotham Part 2
Gotham is due to return for Season 3b on Monday and fans arebuzzing about whats to come. Star Chris Chalk, who plays Bruce Waynes friend and confidant Lucius Fox on the Fox original series, assured the International Business Times that the excitement and fanfare is well deserved.
Jeromes (Cameron Monaghan) new Jokeresque look has dominated much of the conversation around the Gotham winter premiere, but it seems thats just one of many bombshells creators Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon intend to drop on viewers in the latter portion of Season 3. Chalk revealed that in addition to some shakeups from Jerome, which tiedirectly into the winter finale cliffhanger, viewers should expect to see lucius continue to work with the gotham Police Department while doing his very best to serve Bruce.
I think what you should expect from Lucius is...because of his failing Thomas Wayne earlier, he will not fail Bruce Wayne, Chalk told IBT.
He explained that just because Lucius is no longer working for Wayne Enterprises doesnt meanthat hes cut ties completely: Every move he makes is meant to serve Bruce in some way. Chalk explained that it may not always be obvious, but said that Lucius will always have Bruces back.
His path has been altered by Wayne enterprises being corrupt, he said. Because of their corruption and him not being able to find the source of that corruption in an efficient manner, hes moved on to the GCPD to try and help Gotham as much as he can while always keeping an eye on Bruce. When Bruce needs him [Lucius] will be there for Bruce.
Gotham fans can also expect the remainder of Season 3 to feature many twists, turns and oh my goodness moments along the way. Chalk revealed to IBT that there were several times during filming that even he couldnt believe the direction the show had taken. He frequently texted with co-stars to discuss whats in store.
There are so many Oh my goodness moments that even I would text my castmates and be like, whoa, OK, so were doing that now? This is really cool, Chalk said. I think its an exciting end of the season coming up.
In addition to working on Gotham, Chalk has held true to his roots appearing in yet another historically significant role. The actor is slated to appear in the Untitled Detroit Project, a film directed by Kathryn Bigelow which tells the tale of the 12th Street Riot of 1967. The initial riot began as a demonstration of civil disobedience in response to the brutality locals were experiencing at the hands of police.
I think audiences will love it, Chalk said. Theyll learn, theyll be informed. I think Kathryn is great at giving information while still being entertaining not in an Abbott and Costello way. Gripping is more the word. The ones that know about the situation will maybe learn a little more and ones who dont will want to go pick up a book afterward.
Chalk noted the parallels between the issues tackled in Untitled Detroit Project between police and citizens, particularly those of color, and those taking place around the country to this day. He suggested that there is a need to acknowledge the unequal distribution of power in the United States before we can move forward and heal.
I think that if we do not acknowledge the imbalances in power in any demographic whether that be male, female, white American, brown skinned American, Native American then we are bound to see our past mistakes repeated again, Chalksaid. Because they were never truly corrected.
A release date for Untitled Detroit Project has not yet been set. In the meantime, catch Chris Chalk in Gotham Monday at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.
Chris Chalk teases the jaw-dropping remainder of Gotham Season 3 ahead of the winter premiere on Monday, Jan. 16, at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. Photo: Fox
Robin Lord Taylor , Richard Kind and Michael Chiklis in Gotham.
If you caught Sundays 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, you were treated to a truly delightful celebration of the finest modern TV has to offer; the stellar performances that genuinely moved us; the daring directing choices that continually wowed us; the tight, focused writing that made these talented, diverse voices sing. Hi, my name is Vinnie Mancuso and Im here to say: Never mindthat s**t, here comes Gotham.
Yes, ladies and gents, FOXs beautiful baby Bat-quel returned with its third, THIRD, season premiere, Better to Reign in h**l, which is a reference to John Miltons Paradise Lostthat has no connection, allegorical or otherwise, to the plot of Gothams third season premiere. Unless, of course, you equate Satans rebellion against G*d and subsequent fall from grace to buying a fitted black polo from Kohls and calling yourself a bounty hunter. Thats the driving force of Gotham now, by the way; Jim Gordon hired someoneto film him with the sepia filter onso he could surprise Leslie but double-swerve shes moved on to someone else. Jim, despite the fact that he let Leslie think he was rotting away in jail even after the miscarriage of their child, is just Hot Topic-d by this development into quitting the GCPD, throwing out every article of clothing he owns that isnt fit to brood in, and hunting the monsters plaguing Gotham City off the grid for 5 grand a pop.
And you know whatI love it. Thats the thing with this show; after three years together, Ive grown to enjoy it for its Captain Barnes head-sized flaws. Yes, Gotham is a series so tonally, narratively and straight up logistically inconsistent that Im genuinely shocked when the title is spelled correctly every week in the opening credits, but thats what makes it fun. Asking me to review Gotham at this point is like asking a legitimate food critic to review Taco Bells menu as if it was anything other than a choice between some old, boring nachos and a bloating sack of melted cheese, or like asking a respected political analyst to review the 2016 Presidential election as if it was anything other than a choice betweensome old, boring nachos and a bloating sack of melted cheese.
Whoa boy. Call this recap a poo-scented hand-cream because this s**t just got topical. But if youll allow me to get serious for a moment
Better to Reign in h**l, for all its amazingly Gif-worthy moments of chubby low level gangsters angrily swiping bottles off of tables, was not much more than a game of catch-up, an hour to explain where everyones been since the season two finale while setting the stage for things to come. Episode writer John Stephens accomplished this by loading exposition into a nuclear bomband firing it into the sun. A SANDWICH? I half-expected someone to yell, at any point. You know I havent eaten a sandwich in SIX MONTHS, roughly since the conclusionof last seasons events! So, as long as were treating subtly like the time Bullock legit almost murdered Jim in season one bypretending it doesnt exist, I too will quickly explain where we find our major players, and how we got here:
JIM GORDON: Like I said, Jim is in a rough place, as is Gotham itself. Crime is rampant, Godzilla is robbing pharmacies, Leslie is living with someone who looks a h**l of a lot like Jim in shadowy lighting, in an idyllic suburban house with windows definitelylarge enough so that this does not count as being conspicuous:
So, yeah, Jimbos not doing so hot. Hes making great money though, charging top dollar to catch Hugo Stranges basket of deplorables or whatever that are running around tearing apart the city. Like me, hes doing the same exact thing he was doing for the last two season of Gotham, except way drunker.
BRUCE WAYNE AND ALFRED: These two return from a quick sojourn to Switzerland, because apparently its easier to research a shadowy, all-powerful cabal whenyoure wearing clogs. Bruce wastes no time calling a Wayne Enterprises board meeting to, essentially, challenge the Court of Owls to fight me IRL. I could genuinely watch Sean Pertwee scold the smirk off businesses executives for a full 40 minutes, so no complaints here, and the on-screen chemistry between this pre-Batman and an unsure-about-all-this Alfred remains rock steady.
Meanwhile, Bruces doppelgnger is lumbering around the streets of Gotham, eating garbage (I assume) and just generally looking like Edward Scissorhands circa freshman year of high school.
FISH MOONEY: Fish is pulling a Theo and galavanting around Gotham wearing a costume I assume was in the original sketchesfor X-Men: Apocalypse before Bryan Singer told his designers to dial it down around 15 to 20 notches.
OSWALD COBBLEPOT: Penguin, who in my reality is played by 15-time Emmy winner Robin Lord Taylor, has offered $1 million for anyone who can bring him Fish Mooney, dead or alive. Hes obviously not strapped for cash, because in addition to high-value bounties hes also been fueling fanfiction flamesacross the country by sending Eddie Nygma biscuits and sweaters in Arkham Asylum.
BARBARA KEAN: Along with Tabitha Galavan, and despite the constant interference of Butch Gilzeans ever-present erection, Barbara has opened a new nightclub named The Sirens, proving Gotham City will in fact hand out a liquor licenses to a clinically psychotic, convicted serial killer and a leather-clad super-assassin that may or may not moonlight as a dominatrix. It took my uncle, like, two years to get that thing in New York City.
NATHANIEL BARNES: The captain of the GCPD now has a b*m leg, a result of that time Theo Galavan rightfully mistook Barnes for a Halloween pumpkin and attempted to carve him up.
SELINA KYLE: The entirety of Selinas dialogue is still being written solely by this man.
IVY PEPPER: Ivy fell into a sewer pipe, which spoilersis going to double her age because Gothams producers were uncomfortable with you getting seduced by a 14-year-old, ya bunch of freaks.
There we have it, Gotham season 3. Going forward: Bruce was taken by the Court of Owls, Jim is barely a couple steps ahead of a prying journalist in his search for Fish Mooney, and Captain Barnes is assembling yet another special force to be slaughtered next week. Captain Barnes loves assembling special forces that get slaughtered the next episode. If Michael Chiklis ever approaches you to join so much as a softball league, you f*****g run.
As always, lets run down every reference, fact, and nugget of Bat-history brought up in the season 3 premiere, Better to Reign in HellGOTHAM CITY SIRENS
Jessica Lucas and Erin Richards.
The name of Barbara and Tabithas nightclub is a nod to Gotham City Sirens, the title of both a 2011 comic series and the books titular group of villainous, slightly insane femme fatales Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Theres some opportune timing here, as well. I mean, Selina Kyle is still making terrible cat puns and chugging milk every other scene, but Tabitha Galavan basically has the wardrobe, presence and overall deadly slinkiness of an adult Catwoman. We already know Poison Ivy is on her way, as soon as Ivy Pepper crawls out of whatever sewage plant that causes you to fly through puberty. As for Harley Quinn? Well, Gothams producers already promised a forerunner to the role recently blasted onto a big screen by Margot Robbie. For a textbook example of what a forerunner to Harley Quinn would look like, look no further to the mood-shifting, high-cackling way the scene-stealingErin Richards plays Barbara Kean throughout Better to Reign in h**l.
VICKI VALE
Jamie Chung as Valerie Vale.
Vicki Vale, played here by Once Upon a Times, has been a character since 1948 when DC writers decided Superman had a newspaper reporter girlfriend so Batman needed one, too. Since then shes morphed into much more of a badass, figured out that Batman was actually Bruce Wayne roughly twenty times, and notably lasted several decades as a journalist in Gotham City without ever being suspended over a shark tank by a crazy person in tights.
HUGO STRANGES MONSTERS
I applaud the fact that Gotham, never one to shy away from a cheap comics nod, seems to have simply made up their own gang of weirdos for the Arkham Asylum escapees. Theres Marv, the fountain of youth in reverse, that guy with the goggles that Im sure serve some purpose, and what appears to be a massive walking ice-cream cone. The only monster in Hugo Stranges basement crew who is familiar is the only one Jim Gordon manages to capture; thatscreeching, flying dude is clearly a precursor to Man-Bat, a character that is pretty much exactly what he sounds like:
Oh, and that one guy I am 1000 percent is a Jawa from Star Wars.
Last time around, Gotham touted the Rise of the Villains in a season title that was both apt and not. The bad went worse, to be sure, but this city has never been home to sunshine and rainbows. In the end, that title was revealed to be somewhat ironic. The most powerful villains in Gotham took hold long ago and conduct their business in secret. Or at least they did, until their cover was blown by a major jailbreak.
When we last left that dingy metropolis, the monstrous denizens of the Wayne-Industries-funded mad-scientist playground Indian Hill escaped the just kidding! bomb their creator Dr. Hugo Strange kept as insurance and took off into the night. Fish Mooney 2.0 was their de facto leader and still is when we see her again. Master Bruce was made aware that the shadowy Court of Owls is the invisible hand that guides his parents company, though he doesnt know much more about the organization than its name. And Jim Gordon tried to leave his depressive, swimming-against-the-current existence behind in order to find Lee and try to have to a happy life.
That happy life is out there, but Lee is living it with someone else. Even through a windowpane, Lee looks like she belongs in a tastefully decorated living room more than she belongs at the mercy of every gangster and weirdo in Gotham and the father of the child she lost could not look more out of place on her suburban doorstep. Honestly, its like an extra from Donnie Brasco wandered onto the Pleasantville set during lunch. Still, Gordon doesnt even give Lee the chance to see he tried. He leaves, and over a period of time Gotham skips over, reinvents himself as a methodical bounty hunter living off the GCPDs per-goon fees.
NowGordon hangs around the precinct with Harvey, like the dropout who still swings by to smoke a homemade cigarette on the bleachers after school. With the help of Lucius Fox now employed by the department as a scientific analyst of sorts Harvey and Jim begin to note the pattern in the robberies carried out by Indian Hill escapees. Theyre on the hunt for medication and are quite obviously desperate for it. Jim thinks this sounds an awful lot like police work and excuses himself.
Oswald Cobblepot continues to be Gothams strongest character, and I like him best when he and Gordon are working towards some version of the same goal. This particular goal is a throwback to their shared mission in season 1; at least, Oswald would like it to be. The Penguin waddles into the GCPD in the middle of a press conference to demand the capture of Fish, his former boss and forever rival. Gordon is a more effective ally than the cops in that regard, or at least thats what Barnes and the mayor are trying to downplay in front of the press. Oswald knows it. But Gordon isnt about saving Gotham anymore; Fish has to be priced right for him to get involved.
GOTHAM | Tribulations from "Wrath of the Villains: Mr. Freeze"
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Get prepped for Monday night"s return episode. By Eric Goldman
IGN has the exclusive debut of the complete Gotham Stories, the new motion comic from FOX, Warner Bros. TV and DC Entertainment that bridges the first and second halves of Gotham: Season 2.
If you"ve missed the previous installments, you"ll see the entire story here, as new player in town Mr. Freeze confronts Penguin, leading Oswald to turn to an unlikely place for help. Check out how the tale ends, leading into Monday night"s Gotham midseason premiere.
Got feedback on our player?
We want to hear it.
The storyline for Gotham Stories was outlined by Gotham Producer/Writer Rebecca Cutter and Senior Writer/Producer, FOX On-Air Promo Creative, Bart Montgomery, with a script by Tony Bedard and artwork by Matt Haley. The series is produced by VP, FOX On-Air Promo Creative, Julio Cabral.
Gotham cast members Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin), Camren Bicondova (Cat), Nathan Darrow (Victor Fries), Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon) and Donal Logue (Harvey Bullock) all lend their voices to Gotham Stories.
DC will also be creating a custom cover for a special collector print edition of the complete Gotham Stories.
Gotham returns with new episodes Monday, February 29th at 8:00pm ET/PT on FOX.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.
