“Selina Kyle” Heroic Analysis (2 of 100) of James Gordon & Young Bruce Wayne from “Gotham”

Spoilers ahead:

In the second episode of what is supposedly Gordon’s show, we start off with young Batman, Bruce Wayne, burning himself on a candle. Then we cut to young Catwoman among a mass of street kids being given free sandwiches from a couple of the Dollmaker’s goons. Two very interesting stories (One is even relevant), but even though they are quick I am already questioning why the show’s primary protagonist Gordon isn’t the initial center of attention, or even the secondary, but is the tertiary viewpoint character we get in the first few moments in a show that is about Gordon.

But eventually we get the tie in. Gordon and his roguish cop (well, if all but a few cops are crooked, doesn’t that make the good cops roguish, anyway...) are talking to Mackey (Kyle Massey) about the opening scene where the street kids are kidnapped. If you know about Batman lore, you may know who the Dollmaker is, but if you don’t this is yet another reference that goes over your head – or under your batwing. Gordon and Harvey are talking with their CO and then get assigned to look into the case. We get further development of Edward Nygma as an ally, and contrary to popular opinion I still think that Cory Smith is giving us an underrated performance – the dude, and the writing in his scenes, are brilliant.

In fact, I think the producers of the show really should have just made a show about the villains of Gotham. Oswald’s characterization continues to make him darker, yet more likeable. Nygma has fun moments that characterize him perfectly, and I can see how he will inevitably will want to “Burn it all down,” in the same vein as that guy from “Office Space.” Fish Mooney, another major shadow for Gordon, is also someone to watch as her struggles with Carmine Falcone (John Doman) and a rising struggle to be the most powerful crime lord in Gotham really serve to make Jada Pinkett an actress to watch again – much like how she portrayed her characters perfectly in such films like B.A.P.S. and WOO. I digress. I also consider the mayor a Threshold Guardian because he has different goals from Gordon and wants to lock up kids to “get them off the streets.” This gives Gordon a slight opposition that doesn’t seem to be explored intimately in the show.

Gordon, as the hero, doesn’t really get much treatment in this episode. Neither does Harvey, his partner. The strongest moment we have for them in this episode is a unique one, though. In the beginning of the episode, Gordon is resistant to doing things outside of the law, such as how Harvey wants to beat Mackey up. Later, the beacon-of-light Gordon has a tougher time listening to the angel on his left shoulder when letting Harvey go bad cop on the perpetrator who may have information on the missing kids. This shows viewers that as straight-laced as Gordon is, there are things he is willing to go outside the law for. This is a really interesting set up because later when he has a daughter (if he has a daughter in this iteration, and if the show lasts that long, which I think would be cool) we’ll see how Gordon is more lenient with Batman as a vigilante when it comes to saving her. Gordon clearly has a soft spot for kids. Good to know.

So much happens for Bruce in this episode, even though we see him for so little time on screen. For starters, the show opens with him “testing” himself by burning his hand with a candle – and man does he really burn it. This is somehow a perfect capture of what I always imagined young Batman would be like. David Mazouz, for such a young actor, is incredible with his face work and emoting with his tone (Not to mention, also, that Sean Pertwee as a stressed Alfred really works well for me). Alfred and Gordon are set up as mentor figures for Bruce, and I think it will be interesting to see how Alfred, Bruce, and some other characters, in turn, become mentors for Gordon. As it is now, Gordon is lacking a traditional mentor, but has a good enough character to fit the role through Harvey and the assorted villains. But back to Bruce, we get a fun moment where Alfred yells at him to not sneak up on people, and if you know that he becomes Batman then this is the funniest moment of the episode.

To touch on the titular character for the episode, Selina Kyle, we don't really get much other than expository information. She' a street kid that was "hardended by her life on the streets" it would seem, and even then this is information that the show does not give us. She is smart, and uses "Cat" as a nickname and a fighting style, that poor nameless villain.

Overall, this episode is probably just a random trial for Gordon and a set up for the future involvement of the Dollmaker. Gordon and Harvey’s relationship doesn’t really change much. We don’t see much interaction between Gordon and Bruce, or Gordon and Barbara, or Gordon and the other two seemingly-good cops Montoya and Allen, etc. We basically only got Gordon and Harvey, and we didn’t get much of that. I’m happy that we got a decent interaction between Gordon and Kyle, but I don’t think that will help him much in the future during a potential batman spinoff. However, in that spinoff if Gordon doesn’t know that Catwoman is Selina Kyle, he’ll be one of the daftest heroes. We also learn in this episode that the Waynes were going to open up Arkham Asylum… and that is also a nice nod, though I don’t know if the Waynes did this in the future. It would be neat to see Gordon work with Bruce to open Arkham.