The 2014 PopFilter New Fall TV Challenge
ROUND FOUR
GOTHAM
VS
TRANSPARENT
(NOTE: This is Gotham’s first four episodes versus Transparent’s first four.)
One of the things I like about Gotham is the way it tows the DC universe lines. Now, the good folks at the Popfilter offices have pledged allegiance to the Marvel flag. With good reason, Marvel has been outshining DC going on two decades now. But growing up, Batman was my jam. The comics that created the city of Gotham had a special appeal to me. The black and white color saturation, the use of streetlights and shifty headlights and blacked-out buildings gave Gotham a kind of urban grit. It created an atmosphere that allowed peculiar criminals to slither out of the shadows and disappear as if they were smoke. Cliche as it may be to say this as a critic but Gotham is a character in an of itself, and one that is integral to the Batman story.
Gotham the television series knows where it came from. It translates the look of the comics to the screen impressively well. But I find myself wishing the show would take more time to develop the intricacies of the city’s identity. The darkness and grit are what makes Gotham Gotham. This show should be about the degradation, seediness, with the focus on the criminals. The latest episode’s introduction of a female singer that Fish plans on using as a weapon is enthralling. But so far the show has too many troubling issues. The campiness can be problematic. What at first I found kitsch I am beginning to find obnoxious. Gordon’s fiancee Barbara is a weak character and I can’t decide if its the acting or the writing. Gotham is falling short of the potential I saw for it in the beginning.
Speaking of plunging an audience into a mysterious world, Transparent is Gotham’s opponent in this round. Transparent lets the audience become familiar with a world that has only existed on the fringes of society since, well, always. At the same time, it covers familiar ground with as much depth as it allows the uncharted territory. The ground breaking nature of the show is in the subtitles. I had heard it said, but never really understood, that trans people and homosexuals get unfairly marginalized together. Transparent was able to show me just by Jeffrey Tambor’s Maura banging on her new neighbor’s wall with her shoe, screaming at them to turn down the music. This show is about the agony of finding a place to belong. Congratulations, Transparent, you are our first finalist!!
-Stephanie Rose