NCIS: New Orleans is NCIS. Same editing, same overly hard-boiled dialogue, very similar case structure. The actors and character archetypes seem ported one-to-one. I mean, it seems fine if you like this kind of thing. I don't think I'd watch any more. I don't think any of the CSI spinoffs, NCIS, or the NCIS spinoffs have really had the same vibrance of either the first few seasons of CSI or JAG in general. It's just... it's not really something with impact. Bakula is fine, though--I can say one thing about this show, everyone feels like they're a seasoned pro. I feel like there's a commonality between soap operas and long-running franchise procedurals in that what they need is not really strong actors or performances, but professional week-in week-out show-up-and-get-it-done type workmanlike performances, and the cast definitely satisfy that. So, yeah.
Forever, and I think I mentioned this a while ago, feels a lot like Elementary. A little too clever, a little eye-rolly, but light enough to be good background distraction. I think I'd prefer Elementary, but this isn't terrible. I'd maybe catch up on it some summer if I have nothing new to watch.
Gotham is actually not terrible. I'm not a comic book fan and I have no interest in Batman or a TV series based on Batman. But Gotham is a significantly better pilot and feels like a significantly better potential for a show than Agents of Shield or Arrow. Both Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue are good actors and play the roles appropriately in the pilot. The initial case is pretty neat. I actually feel like a police procedural with a sort of quasi-heightened-reality feel would be a pretty neat thing.
The pilot is not without flaws, though. The virtual set extensions and chromakey are generally poor in part because they are used inconsistently. In the police precinct they're used to create a tonal thing--sort of like a hardboiled 1920s soft-focus feel. But then in exterior shots, for example the shots with the monorail in the background, they're used for a sort of modern realism style. The clash just makes it feel like a cheap limitation of budget. Furthermore, the pilot is shot a lot like most comic book stuff--which is to say with unnecessarily rapid camera cuts like a music video. This makes the pilot feel crammed full. No moment is allowed to linger, the pacing is too fast. Load up a random scene and every time the camera cuts, say "cut" out loud. You'll notice you're saying "cut cut cut cut cut cut cut". Smash cuts between scenes are also too fast; for example, the scene where Gordon gives a drink to his girlfriend is far too rushed and the smash cut to the next scene too abrupt. Also, the final scene and the smash cut to the GOTHAM title card is too fast.
I think this probably happened because they were over their length/time. That's probably because they wasted an inordinate amount of time dropping fan-favourite characters. Catwoman is not used at all. Ivy's few moments are neat, but unnecessary. Riddler's one scene is useless. Besides these three and Penguin, we also meet three other villains. Really, seven villains introduced int he pilot? A focus on just Penguin and maybe the burlesque club owner would have given the episode quite a bit more breathing room.
Finally, I don't think the focus on Bruce Wayne added much. The kid isn't a strong enough actor for the material. I assume as the series go on his relationship with Gordon will be earned, but in the pilot it isn't. Are we to believe that Gordon is so principled, he goes to Wayne Manor to... err.. offer his resignation to young Bruce while asking Bruce not to accept it so he can catch the real killer??? And then Bruce's reaction is like "yeah ok" and he stands up and leaves the room. The whole seem doesn't play well.
I did appreciate the rougher portrayal of Alfred. That was neat.
Those complaints make it seem like I thought it was bad. I didn't. It was much more engaging than the boring Agents of Shield or stupid Arrow pilots. It basically feels a little more sophisticated in its story, its tone, and its ambitions. That bodes well. It's possible I'll watch a few more episodes of Gotham, and that's not something I expected at all when I was going into the show, so in that respect, huge success.
