Gotham Review: “Selina Kyle” (Season 1, Episode 2)

Last week’s Gotham series premiere showed promise, but wasn’t entirely satisfying for a number of reasons. Luckily, things have improved greatly in week two, as the series attempts to stand on its own two feet rather than use the sprawling Batman mythos as a crutch.

While the pilot seemed to suffer from a kind of schizophrenia that would land any of Batman’s enemies in Arkham Asylum, this week’s episode, “Selina Kyle,” is more focused, more evenly paced, and takes on an identity all its own that takes inspiration from the source material but is in no way dependent on it. The actors are more comfortable in their roles and are no longer over-acting, the city itself feels more dangerous and realized, and the story felt far more controlled.  It still wasn’t a perfect hour of TV, but this week Selina claws a man’s eye out with her bare hands. That has to count for something, right?

The episode may be named after her, but Selina Kyle – played by newcomer Camren Bicondova – doesn’t really factor into the proceedings as much as such the title would suggest. She certainly does more than the silent creeping and slinking she did last week, but we learned very little about her other than the fact that she likes to be called “Cat.” Because, you know, the obvious allusions to her future identity as Catwoman aren’t clear enough.