There are mixed feeling when it comes to “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” but one thing can’t be argued, this film causes plenty of love and hate. Despite only having some trailers to judge the content of the film by, it’s undoubtedly not as widely anticipated as Marvel’s 2016 offerings. Is it because of the darkness of the “Man of Steel” film or is it super-hero fatigue in popular culture? 

I think the hype is real and I think the haters are the vocal minority. At the end of the day, we’re getting a film with the holy trinity and, everyone will see it even if they’re expecting the worst. For those detractors, I give you the final trailer for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”. The trailer shows The Batman the way everyone wants him to be seen. The homage in The Batman’s warehouse fight sequence  to “The Dark Knight Returns” is a spectacle that needs to be seen to be believed. With that in mind, check out the trailer below. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opens everywhere March 25, 2016.

The other day I wrote a little article recapping the first dozen episodes of “Supergirl,” and why you should be watching it. Yesterday we got one more reason: Grant Gustin’s Flash is going to be visiting Supergirl in National City. Here’s the official announcement:

Actor Grant Gustin, who plays Barry Allen/The Flash in the CW’s The Flash, will make his way into National City alongside Melissa Benoist, who stars as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, on the specialSupergirl episode slated for Monday, March 28 at 8/7c on CBS.

“We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making Supergirl,” said The Flash and Supergirl Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. “We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit (on top of his already immense workload) and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. and DC for working this out.”

The producers also took the opportunity to thank the many fans and journalists who “kept asking” for a crossover special.

“It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone’s enthusiasm and support,” said Berlanti and Kreisberg.

How will the two superheroes work together? Be sure to watch Supergirl Mondays at 8/7c on CBS to find out.

That’s really all we know at this point. 

It’s something we’ve been hoping for since they announced that Supergirl was getting her own series, but then when CW passed on it and she headed over to CBS, it seemed like it wasn’t going to pan out. Crossing heroes is one thing, crossing networks is another. And yet, the producer of both shows, Greg Berlanti, said that they were going to keep writing the two series so they wouldn’t conflict with each other storywise. Like…they could be in the same universe, even if that crossover never happened. Even if it’s just Barry Allen meeting Kara Danvers, they’re both so adorably dorky that it make for a fun episode. 

I don’t think this will result in crossovers as frequently as we get on “The Flash,” “Arrow,” and “Legends of Tomorrow,” but it would make that universe that much bigger. My son was geeking out on the idea of Cisco meeting Winn, and them having over-the-top geeky conversations. Or Diggle’s reaction when he finds out there aren’t just superpowered heroes, but aliens too. Or an inevitable race between Flash and Supergirl, that will somehow end in a tie. This means that Superman exists in the Arrowverse. It means that we’re that much closer to some kind of Justice League forming up. Which I don’t necessarily need or want. Each series is already chock-full of heroes and villains. Which I love. DC Comics on television is getting everything right. And with the (other) news that the Teen Titans series that TNT dropped out of may still have a life “elsewhere” (possibly CW?), that could potentially expand that Arrowverse one more time. 

Wow. This is a good week. 

This has been a great week for DC Comics news. One of the more exciting tidbits is that WB and Cartoon Network are ramping up a new animated series, “Justice League Action.”  Here’s what we know:

Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman lead the DC Comics Super Heroes against their most infamous foes in adventures packed with relentless thrills, fun and action. No need to wait for the good stuff to start, each eleven-minute episode jumps in with lightning-paced action and heroics. Whether defending the Earth, facing invaders from space, or battling the bizarre forces of magic, the always-rotating team of Justice League heroes, are up to any challenge.

The press release also let us know that Kevin Conroy (the voice actor who was Batman on “Batman: The Animated Series” and subsequent DC Animated Universe series) would be returning as Batman. Also Mark Hamill as Joker. 

The series is going to be in “quarter hour” (actually eleven minute) episodes. That’s how they’ve done “Adventure Time” and “Teen Titans Go!”, and there are times I like those shorter episodes. If it’s not that great an episode, it goes by quickly; we’ll see more heroes and villains, hopefully have a variety of tones. The current Teen Titans series is ALL LAFFS ALL THE TIME and I kind of can’t stand it. It makes me miss the better, more serious cartoon. And yet, it’s a consistent performer for Cartoon Network, so it keeps running. I’m hoping “Justice League Action” has more to offer. 

I’m particularly pleased because ever since “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” went off the air in 2011 and “Young Justice” in 2012, there hasn’t been anything featuring the larger DC Universe that was fit for kids. DC has focused on their direct-to-video movies, which have been hit and miss, but are all too dark/violent/adult for children. I’m fairly liberal with what my 11 and 13 year old sons watch, but about half of these movies cross that line enough that I don’t watch it with them. Or at the very least need to preview it before I let them watch it. So. Excited for this new offering. Hoping for the best. 

With twelve episodes under the cape, “Supergirl” has a lot to be proud of. And here, halfway through the first season, it might be good to step back and see how far the series has come. 

I started the series with high hopes. Not just for myself — I’m a hardcore DC Comics geek, I would watch it no matter what. But I want it to be a series that my sons enjoy. That my wife would watch. And for the last twelve episodes, we gather together every Monday to watch it as a family. There aren’t many shows we do that for. “Supergirl” is working for all four of us in different ways. 

A lot of people (including geeky friends) who watched the first two or three episodes and thought “you know, it’s a bit too weepy, a bit too much domesticity, a bit too much sisterly squabbling.” Some of that has gone by the wayside as the writers have figured out the voices of the characters, the actors have settled in, but also that the character of Kara Danvers (AKA Supergirl) has grown in confidence and in her abilities. I’ve liked Melissa Benoist as Kara from day one, and the series hinges on her–and she’s been great in the role. Playing a combination of hero and nerd and strong and feminine is a thankless task, but she (and the writers and directors) is finding that sweet spot. A balance that makes Kara a hero, but also very human. 

Some of the characters who I didn’t like at first (almost everybody BUT Supergirl) have evened out to where I like their characters and their storylines. Callista Flockhart’s Cat Grant — a character who I’ve never liked in the comics and who I didn’t think would work on this series — has become a great character. Funny (in a scathing way), but over the course of the last three episodes also more complex and layered than she ever should have been. Alex Danvers (Kara’s adopted sister and a Department of Extraterrestrial Operations agent) has become more interesting, and the relationship between Alex and Kara has gotten easier to swallow. Alex’s boss Hank Henshaw has had some secrets of his own exposed, and become more exciting and less dickish as a result. I still like Winn Schott, and recent episodes have highlighted his character; James “Jimmy” Olsen is still just bland handsomeness to me. He’s cool. But so cool that he’s irrelevant. He started out as a tenuous link to Superman, and able to tell Kara “this is what your cousin would do”…but he himself isn’t much of a character. 

As a lifelong DC Comics fan, I love the roster of villains we’ve seen already in the first half of the first season. It’s reminiscent of the way “The Flash” ran (hahaha! sorry) their first season. Most of the villains are taken from Superman comics, but there are a few wild cards in there. So far we’ve seen:

• Vartox
• Astra (Kara’s Kryptonian aunt, pissed because Astra’s twin sister locked her up)
• Non (Astra’s wife, not nearly as cool as the mute Non from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies)
• Reactron
• Livewire (she’s awesome and I want her back)
• General Sam Lane
• Red Tornado (as a villain, I’d love to see him return as an ally)
• Jemm, Son of Saturn
• White Martian
• Maxwell Lord
• Toyman
• Bizarro Supergirl
• Black Mercy

Next Monday’s episode “For the Girl Who Has Everything” is a take on a classic Alan Moore Superman story from 1985 — Superman’s infected by a plant that puts the psychic images into his head that Krypton never exploded, and he’s been there and happy all his life. In the story (and the “Justice League Unlimited’ episode) the Black Mercy plant was a gift from Mongul the Conqueror. I’m assuming that’s not the case here, but wow. That would be cool. If

I were to pick a single episode to have you watch, it would be episode six, “Red Faced.” It’s the one with Red Tornado, but it’s possibly the best one of this season to look at Supergirl’s character, and how society doesn’t want women to express any negative emotions. To be a strong woman is to be seen as a “bitch.” They draw a parallel between Kara needing to bottle up her frustration and rage with James Olsen (an African American) needing to suppress his own anger — because if anything’s more threatening to “people” than a powerful angry woman, it’s a powerful angry black man. It’s an interesting social commentary, some strong action, great geek moments (I seriously love Red Tornado you guys), and helps us to understand what it’s like to be a superhero, and to be human. I can’t ask for more. 

We haven’t seen many “super” allies for Supergirl yet, beyond the DEO people that she’s working with now. We also met Cameron Chase a few weeks ago, a government agent who shows in the comics, and who’s played by “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” veteran Emma Caulfield. I’d like to see more of her. The biggest and most unexpected ally? Martian Manhunter. J’onn Fr’igging J’onnz. Cornerstone of the Justice League. Last survivor of Mars. Eater of Oreos. It’s a pretty big deal. The character showed up on “Smallville” a few times per season in the later part of that series, but not quite like this. We’re seeing him in the open, seeing all of his “Martian powers” on display, we’ve seen some of the holocaust that befell his civilization. We’re learning more about him than we did about the “Smallville” version more quickly. I’m hoping he becomes a regular part of the series. 

If for some reason, you’re not watching “Supergirl,” you should give it a shot. If you’re a fan of DC Comics in general, but not the character of Supergirl, you should give it a shot. There’s a lot of “Justice League” and “The Flash” in this series’ DNA, and I love the unapologetic way they’re doing comic book stuff. Toyman was using oversized ABC blocks in a trap (and explosive dolls). Livewire can transport via electrical wiring. Bizarro Supergirl has freeze vision and fire breath. Whether as Supergirl or Kara, this is a hero who’s mostly optimistic. She’s not tortured, she’s not thinking the worst about her friends or her enemies. She believes in redemption, not punishment. She’s Supergirl. This is a fun show that’s not as weepy as the first few episodes made it look. It’s not the same as “The Flash.” But it’s inspired my sons to think of Supergirl the way I thought of Wonder Woman growing up in the 1970s — that she’s every bit the hero that Superman is, and she just might be able to kick his ass. 

She wouldn’t. Because they’re cousins and friendly and all.

But she totally could. 

Wow.

Adding to the long list of “D-List DC Comics Characters I Never In a Million Years Thought I’d see in Live Action,” we’ll be getting Vixen. Mari McCabe’s heroine with animal powers is someone I only knew by name until seeing her as a regular on “Justice League Unlimited,” and she quickly became a favorite. She’s been a member of the Suicide Squad and on at least two different Justice League teams. Most recently, she’s been the star of her own limited animated series (very limited, like, six four-minute episodes) on CW Seed — set within the CW Arrowverse, with cameos by Oliver Queen, Cisco, and the Flash, voiced by those actors. You can binge watch that entire season here; CW just announced a second season of six teeny tiny episodes for later in 2016. Cool. 

Now she’s making the jump to live-action, with the actress who played her in the animated series reprising her role. Megalyn Echikunwoke will be appearing up in episode 15 of this season, “Taken.” And she looks amazing. 

If these guys can make Vibe someone I care about, I’m excited to see what they’re going to do with Vixen. They’ve only announced her single episode appearance, but hey. They thought Felicity was going to be a one-off too. Bring it on. 

‘Legends of Tomorrow’ Episode 1.1 “Pilot, Part 1” (8 out of 10) Directed by Glen Winter, Written by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim. Starring Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Arthur Darvill, Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh, Ciara Renee, Falk Hentschel, Amy Pemberton, Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Casper Crump. Guest starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Peter Francis James. First broadcast January 21, 2016. 

It’s an enormous roster for a superhero show. Headed up by Rip Hunter, the “Legends of Tomorrow” team also has (deep breath) Atom, White Canary, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Firestorm, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave. Once you consider that Firestorm is a gestalt being made of two different characters who combine, that’s nine different characters on a team, that we’ll be at least checking in with in every episode. That’s a lot. That was my biggest concern going into the pilot episode. With that many characters, can the writers tell a story that gives any of the heroes enough meat to care about what happens to them? The short answer is yes. But they’ve got to be careful.

Over the last two years, we’ve been introduced to eight of those nine characters on “Arrow” and “The Flash.” We know Sara Lance (White Canary) best of all, but also know Atom, Professor Stein, and Captain Cold enough to know their history, motivation, some family members, some broken hearts…we know them. Heat Wave more superficially, because so far he’s just pure id — he sees something, he wants to burn it, drink it, or kill it. Sometimes all three. We’ve just met the new Firestorm host, Jax, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl were introduced in the “Arrow”/”The Flash” crossover in November. So the newcomer here is Rip Hunter, and he’s the key to the episode.

Rip Hunter is a “Time Master,” and a longtime DC Comics character…who no one knows or cares about. Until now. The Time Masters are impassive observers of history. They’re not supposed to love or marry, they’re not supposed to interfere with the timestream. When Captain Rip Hunter breaks those rules, falling in love, having a son, he proves vulnerable to Vandal Savage, who brutally murders Rip’s family in 2166. Hunter begs the Time Masters ruling council for a timeship so he can go back and change time. When he’s denied he steals the Waverider and takes matters into his own hands, going back in time to collect this team of heroes and villains. The goal: stop Vandal Savage before he takes over the entire planet. It’s a long game, because Vandal Savage is immortal, having lived for over 4,000 years. These “legends” will be popping into the timeline at key points, thwarting Savage in small ways, hoping to stop the worst of his deeds while keeping the rest of the timestream intact. 

I’m liking this take on Rip Hunter. I’ve read comics with him before, but he was always pretty bland. He would team up with someone, and if they were fun, it was a good read, but he himself–there wasn’t much to him. Giving him more of a back story and some personal motivation in stopping Savage helps, and liking Arthur Darvill helps too. It is funny to see Darvill (whose most famous geek role until now has been Rory Williams, one of the companions of the eleventh Doctor on “Doctor Who”) as a “Time Master,” essentially being the one driving the TARDIS now. I like the actor, and I’m already liking the character. Besides his back story, we find in the course of the episode that he’s not being as honest with his newly formed team as he was first saying. He asked them to come and help him because they’re godlike “legends” in his time…in reality, none of them is remembered for anything. This crushes them when they find out…they’re nobodies. Eventually this motivates them — they have a chance to make a difference, and they’re going to take it. 

The point of this episode is really just to get the team together. To introduce them and the premise. They do head to 1975, where they meet the professor we saw in a grainy videotape recording in the “Flarrow” crossover. This Dr. Aldus Boardman has a personal connection to some members of the team, and there’s a sweet story within the story that adds some poignance to the episode. But not much, because of all of the sprinting, the characters, the running, the flying. Everyone gets a little bit to do, but no one really shines except for Hunter. 

A few things that I geeked out over:

First, the Waverider. This timeship will be the HQ for this team. Their Arrowcave, their S.T.A.R. Labs, their Hall of Justice. It’s pretty cool. We haven’t seen all of it or what it can do yet, but it’s zippy, and it glows, and it time travels, and it’s got a cool interior. It’s not quite the Millennium Falcon, but what is? “Waverider” is a character in DC Comics, a time traveling superhero in his own right. He was the central character in the “Armageddon 2001” and “Zero Hour” crossovers. So naming the ship after him is a nice shoutout. Waverider’s artificial intelligence/operating system is “Gideon,” which is the same name as the futuristic A.I. on “The Flash,” but with Amy Pemberton’s voice instead of Morena Baccarin. Sad. Cool ship, and it will open the door for different kinds of adventures than staying home in Central City or Star City would. 

Even though Vandal Savage is the Big Bad for the series, we only saw him for about two minutes of this particular episode. Instead we saw a time traveling bounty hunter, Chronos. Chronos is another longtime DC Comics villain, one of the archenemies of the Atom (which I never quite understood). “Legends of Tomorrow” has badassed him up a bit, giving him armor and a helmet, and he’s been dispatched by the Time Masters to bring in Rip Hunter. And judging by the way he’s trying to kill them all, that whole dead or alive thing doesn’t matter much to him. I’m assuming we’ll see a lot more of him. 

In all, not the best pilot ever, but a solid team, and a solid foundation to build stories on. “The Flash” is my favorite of DC’s superhero television shows right now, and this has a lot of the same DNA that makes that show an exciting series, but also a lot of fun. Of all of the series, this has the most potential to be as crazy as they want it to be. They’ve got good actors, great showrunners, and the whole history of DC Comics to pull from. Let’s see where they take us. 

Last night after ‘The Flash,’ there was a special preview of Warner Bros/DC Comics’ upcoming movies, including ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and ‘Suicide Squad,’ both coming this year, and ‘Wonder Woman,’ coming in 2017. The Wonder Woman footage was all-new, interspersed with short clips from interviews with director Patty Jenkins and actors Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. 

Here you go:

Even as I’m uneasy about the overall tone and story of ‘Batman V Superman,’ and I’ve never been the biggest fan of ‘Suicide Squad,’ I’m loving everything I’m seeing with the ‘Wonder Woman’ movie. It looks different. It should be different. They seem to be heading in the right direction. I love the World War I setting. I love that they say Wonder Woman should not only be the strongest female superhero, but also the kindest. Gal Gadot, who got flak for not being Lucy Lawless (pretty much), looks like she’ll be a great Diana and Wonder Woman. I’m excited. 

‘The Flash’ Episode 2.10 “Potential Energy” (7 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Jesse L. Martin, and Tom Cavanagh. Guest starring Shantel VanSanten, Keiynan Lonsdale, Teddy Sears, Aaron Douglas. 

“The Flash” is back after the 6 week winter hiatus, and I’m not sure if it’s just the debut of the supervillain the Turtle who has things moving slowly. Everything seems kind of sluggish, with too many storylines to really invest in any single one of them. This season has been more scattered than the first, with requirements to spin off “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” introduce Wally West, have a new love interest for Barry, get across the concept of an Earth-2, and still tell an entertaining story with an arc starring the supervillain Zoom as the season’s Big Bad. And all of that is just in the first ten episodes of the season. With “Legends of Tomorrow” premiering this week, I’m hoping some of these distracting tangents will calm down and let us enjoy the main storyline. You know, about, you know. The Flash.

Even with as messy as this season and episode has been, it’s still the best, most fun superhero series on TV. This episode introduces us to the character usually held up as the worst of the Flash’s villains: Russell Glosson, AKA the Turtle. His meta-ability? Slowing down time in his immediate vicinity, so everyone around him seems to freeze, and he zips into (just strolls, really) into the room and steals whatever precious item he’s taking. Intriguingly (and borrowing a Mr. Freeze storyline from ‘Batman: the Animated Series), he’s not taking things that are of monetary value, as much as things that are personally valuable to the victims. That may include things like diamonds and paintings, but it’s really about hurting the people he’s stealing from. 

Evidently Cisco has been tracking the Turtle for some time, but with the Flash being busy with Zoom and Reverse Flash and other more salient threats, this minor villain has been on the back burner. Cisco has a whole backlog of these villains, so we’ll be meeting more of them in the future. As for the Turtle himself, I loved how they made his powers work on TV. The effects made his powers understandable and even formidable, and the dude is creepy as hell. I’m glad they rounded him up and put him in the pipeline…not sure if we’ll see him again. Because of spoilery events in the episode itself. 

Much of the episode has nothing to do with the Turtle, a strategy the writers often use when they need to move multiple storylines forward. And it usually works. This time, those stories include Barry and Patty’s relationship, Joe West trying to build a relationship with his newly-discovered son Wally, and Caitlin finding out that Jay has an incurable disease. His life can only be saved if he gets his speed back from Zoom. Of these, the Barry/Patty storyline will have the most immediate impact. 

Barry’s been having nightmares about Zoom kidnapping and killing Patty, and it’s kept him from getting closer to her. I mean, they’re close, since when he wakes up from his nightmare they’re in the same bed. But he still hasn’t told her that he’s the Flash, and she knows there’s something big between them that he’s keeping to himself. After a few run-ins with the Turtle, and then being kidnapped by the Turtle, she’s ready to leave Barry. He tells the S.T.A.R. Labs gang that he’s going to reveal his secret identity, and just as he’s about to do so, she drops the bomb — she’s leaving Central City. And him. 

Part of me likes that she’s strong enough to do this–the way she explains it is that she’s finished the job she was there to do–get justice for her father’s death. She wants to go back and finish her training as a CSI in Midway City, she’ll be a stronger person for this, getting back on track. But we all know that the catalyst is the problems with her relationship with Barry. Would they have been solved knowing he’s the Flash? Would they have been compounded? We don’t know. I really, really liked their relationship. They’re both just…cute. Goofy. A bright spot in the series. She’ll be missed. I haven’t read any behind-the-scenes stuff to know if she comes back or not, but I’d welcome her back. On the other hand…it frees up one of those storylines that can slow down an episode. 

The stinger at the end of the episode has Reverse Flash popping onto a suburban street in autumn. He pulls back his cowl to reveal not Harrison Wells’ face, but Eobard Thawne. With next week’s episode titled “The Reverse Flash Returns,” we’re in for a wild ride. 

The newest trailer for “Suicide Squad” is here and it’s amazing. Set to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” the trailer has a completely different tone than we get from “Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice” and I have to say I’m loving it! Check it out below and then watch it again and again and then at least one more time. 

For those that don’t know the squad consists of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Katana (Karen Fukuhara), Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman), Deadshot (Will Smith) Enchantress (Cara Delevigne) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) who are teamed up to fight the battles the US government cant be part of. It will be a nice change of pace to see some humor in a DC movie and if it does well maybe we’ll see some of that unique humor between Batman and Superman that Justice League fans love so much.

“Suicide Squad” hits theaters August 2016.

“Gotham” 2.10 – Son of Gotham (8 out of 10) – Written by Bruno Heller and John Stephens, Megan Mostyn-Brown Based on characters created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Howard Chaykin, Frank Miller, Greg Rucka; Starring Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Sean Pertwee, Morena Baccarin, Erin Richards…; Rated TV14. Aired on Fox 11/23/15.

Gotham is gearing up for the fall finale episode next week so “The Son of Gotham” was full of fights and death. Overall it was an entertaining episode with little bits of ‘are you really surprised by that’ moments. Galavan trial is about to begin and everyone except Gordon are thinking he’s going away for a long time, however when the moment of truth come the old Mayor says he lied about Galavan and that Penguin was the one who tortured him. Galavan goes free and in true super villain mode publicly disgraces the hero, in this case Gordon by baiting him into punching him in the face.

The Galavan/monks of Saint Duma, who comic fans will recognize as the order that Azrael comes from, was anticlimactic as far as the rest of the episode goes. The nine deaths they need with Bruce being the last happened very quickly and seemed pretty random. I would have liked to see them kill descendants from the families of those that pushed them out in the first place for the other eight deaths. Having only one of those deaths, even if it’s the final one seems very un-cult like and just sloppy.

What I did liked about this arc was the fact that Galavan beat the crap out of Gordon when they finally had a chance to go toe to toe. This made sense seeing how Galavan has been trained by assassin monks to redeem Gotham. True to comic book fashion he leaves the actually killing of the hero to his thugs and leaves before the job is done. Penguin shows up and saves Gordon’s life which only puts Gordon futher into his pocket but that’s okay I really enjoy the Gordon and Penguin relationship. I’ll assume the other monks that Gordon fought and beat were new recruits and like the GCPD rookies they are the ‘red shirts’ of the Gotham universe.

Seeing Riddler and Penguin struggle as roommates offered a little bit of humor in a pretty dark episode. I’m interested to see where this goes from here. Will Riddler eventually come out of the good guy closet and join Penguin in the fight to be the King of Gotham’s underground?

Alfred goes looking for Bruce for reasons I’ll go into in a minute but this leads him Galavan’s apartment where he runs into Tabitha. Because she’s crazy they fight and seeing Tabitha go against someone who can actually defend themselves was awesome. It gave us a little more of the Tigress character that Gotham is creating and let Alfred prove to the audience that he is more than capable to train Bruce, or at least start he’s training. The fight ends with Alfred running away wounded with a knife gash in his side and a knife lodged in his back. He falls into a garbage truck to make his escape which given his wounds should cause some problems.

The best part of the episode though had to be Bruce teaming up with Selina to trick Silver into giving up the name of the man who killed Bruce’s parents. Seeing Tommy Flanagan (SOA) as a thug threating to cut off kids fingers was amazing and I liked that Bruce took a few hits to really sell that idea that this guy was going to hurt them. The name Silver gives is M. Malone which made me smile because it seems like a tip of the hat to Matches Malone who is a thug in the comics that Bruce uses as an alias from time to time. Silver giving up the name and then trying to recover once she’s caught in her lie was great for Bruce and Selina to move closer together and further their characters into the people we know they become. Silver even tells Bruce “this isn’t you” and he’s reply “you’re wrong” then walking out was a great glimpse of the composure that Batman has.

The episode ends with Galavan and Bruce facing off and Galavan admitting he wants to kill him. Next week it seems will be race to safe Bruce before he dies to which we all know what the outcome of that will be but I hope we see Galavan either meet his end in a really cool way or get arrested with enough evidence to put him away for good. I think the idea of him on death row and Bruce struggling with wanting him dead and the morality that goes with that could give good insight into the hero Bruce will become.

I liked the episode as a whole and I’m really excited for the fall finale next week. I hope the tie up the Galavan thread and introduce a new threat. Maybe some more villains from Indian Hill or another thread into the corruption of Wayne Enterprises. Gotham season two has been heads and shoulders over season one and I hope it just continues to climb from here.