#new where you know everything that's gonna happen? that's boring and not what GK is about. GK is about

[found--family]

Helluva name for an ep! I'm thinking it's a trifecta: 

Steph dealing with her father - again, though hopefully less heartbreaking than last time; maybe something happens and he comes around to her way of thinking ie. her mom needs professional help. (I hope Steph gets someone on her side) 

Duela's mom visits her for her birthday - she got out of prison, maybe escaped? Or maybe Duela goes to visit her for her birthday. Either way, Duela's mom reveals The Joker is not her father. (I'm still on the Duela Dent train but I don't know if they'll reveal that as well; if Duela's father is fugue!Dent, her mom might leave clues for her to figure it out for herself which would mean a second reveal maybe at the end of the season, maybe just before or after Harvey's Two-Face incident leaving a cliffhanger for season 2.) 

Harvey encounters his father. The way it's worded - 'collision course' - is intriguing. Will he encounter fugue!father? Will fugue!Harvey encounter his father? Did he think his father was dead? We've only had scraps of his past and whatever the comics say, GK is doing it's own thing so who knows what could happen. If his father is alive and it's a surprise maybe fugue!Harvey will kill him? But there's still the possibility that fugue!father is in league with the owls somehow (how else would they know about the piano trigger? Unless fugue!Harvey himself gave it to them..) 

I love the crew's passion for creating this story! They care about good storytelling, they care about the details, they want to entertain and surprise us! They're taking the best bits of the DCU and giving us something new! I'm very excited for the possibilites of this ep. This story continues to keep me guessing, has me caring about the characters, and keeps me invested in how things will unfold. 

[found--family]

✨ let's play 10 Qs for GK! 🎆

1- fave character besides harvey/twoface? 2- fave harvey/twoface scene? 3- fave dynamic between 2 characters? 4- best character development? 5- most memorable line? 6- fave plot twist? 7- what did you think of twoface? 8- something you loved about the creation/design? 9- anything you would change about the season 1 plot or characters? 10- what did you think of the season 2 setup?

💌 thanks for sharing the love! #GothamKnights 🦇💋

(i've been thinking on these for a few days..) 

1. fave character besides harvey/twoface? 

Duela 

I was intrigued by all the characters' backstories and wanted to see where their journeys went.. but Duela's story was just a cut above the rest for me. Put it this way: I don't tend to watch shows without queer rep front and centre. I'd watch spinoffs for Harper, Steph and Cullen but as much as I enjoyed the actors and their arcs and dynamics, I'd be tuning in for the queer stuff more than anything else. Whereas with Duela? I'd follow her story anywhere (and she's not queer, far as I know; maybe the comics say different but in GK she's hetero with a snarky/flirty side). 

I love a mysterious backstory. I love complex badguys who turn out not to be so bad. ORK's portrayal was like watching a star get their first big break. She's such a talented actor - the kind who steals every scene without trying, the kind who you want to see in more scenes. She's award-worthy and aside form Misha she was the best casting choice imho in that she has big talent and I'm grateful we had her in this little dc show. 

And I just want to point out Duela's reverse parallel storyline to Harvey's because I love it: she started out as a badguy while Harvey started out as a good guy, and over the season they switched roles with Duela wilfully becoming a Gotham Knight and Harvey becoming the killer Two-Face. The more I think about these characters both individually and how they relate to each other, the more I swoon over what the writers have crafted for us. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Duela's character development and would've loved to see her journey continue in season 2 as she carries on without Turner and her dad and then finding out they're both still alive; what would she think about Turner training to be a killer following in his parents' footsteps? Would she try to honour Harvey's promise and bring him back to the driver's seat or would she find a strange kinship with this new villain Two-Face? That would've been such a rich confrontation given that she grew up with The Joker as her father figure and everything that happened with her mom. Just.. top tier potential. 

2. fave harvey/twoface scene? 

Meet In The Middle

Every Harvey scene was gold but the dream sequence where Misha plays both Harvey and dark!Harvey was amazing because not only did we get to see both Harveys interact we saw Misha exhibit how he can make you believe you're watching twin actors portray two different characters?! (and if you're a fan of that you should check out Supernatural because he plays like 8 different versions of Cas through the years and they're all distinct. I love this talented dude!) 

3. fave dynamic between 2 characters? 

Sharper  

Steph and Harper going from rivals to allies to tentative friends, Harper thinking her feelings were one-sided, Steph dealing with her parental mess. They were such a good contrast to each other while also having the common ground of tech-engineering to geek out about and compete over. From the jump we were shipping them wondering how the show would go about it - because we didn't know! It was textual but the see double ew cannot be trusted for positive queer rep. The writers laid the groundwork without being obvious - the way too many queer relationship are these days, just boring from the start because you know they're gonna end up together - and then when the show actually followed through?! Euphoria! (the feeling, not the other show). 

4. best character development? 

Duela, Brody 

I'm torn between these two. On the one hand Duela's entire character arc had me glued to the screen and her gradual shift from lone wolf to pack member was so nice to see. But on the other hand I'm glad they did something to shift Brody away from the rich jerk dude into a caring, helpful, immortal?! member of the team. The issues they both faced with their parents (all the batbrats and their parents, really) makes me think we could've seen a friendship form between them in season 2, which would've been interesting. 

5. most memorable line? 

"Two-faced" 

There's a few jokey comments I can't remember off the top of my head, but I do remember Lincoln and Jane (and others?) referring to Harvey as "two-faced" and I just loved how it suited the narrative they were telling but also worked as foreshadowing. Made me giggle every time! 

6. fave plot twist? 

Duela Dent 

I saw it coming but I still loved it. I think I loved it because they teased the possibility of it in dialogue and unrevealed details through the season and then followed through on it. Follow-through is everything! I'm so sick of movies and shows teasing one thing then doing something else because they want to surprise the audience; a good story isn't about pulling a twist out of nowhere it's about laying the groundwork and trusting your audience to pick up on clues and subtext. 

Speaking of which: I was so surprised by Rebecca being the head of the Court - I didn't see that coming! But there's hints in the subtext and in Lauren's portrayal if you rewatch. I loved evil af Rebecca and was so glad to be done away with the demure meek damsel. 

7. what did you think of twoface? 

7.5 / 10 

All in all, I loved him. I loved his scenes and the way Misha took on a more menacing quality for him. I loved that the first thing we see Two-Face do is kill someone, and then he uses the coin to kill again without hesitation (for his daughter! Which is also a great callback to The Joker losing interest when Duela could fend for herself, because now we have Duela grown up and capabale and now she's safe but Two-Face wants Jane to pay for 'hurting her' - the villain has a heart! He's a two-time killer but we love him!). 

Sadly my score isn't perfect because of the prosthetics [minus 2]. As cool and creepy as the scarring is, the design reminds me of Freddie Kreuger in that 80s plastic monster look - which isn't bad, it's just that it looks fake because it doesn't fit the timeline of events: it's only been a few days at most since the acid attack so the skin should still be peeling and wet and bloody and gross, but it looks healed. It looks how I imagined Two-Face would've looked in season 2 set six months later - which I love, but. Basically it looks like a scar instead of an open festering wound. 

I think the make-up department did a stellar job, and I love how they pulled Misha's lips back and gave him a milky eye and made sure to scar all the way back over his skull! I just wonder why they didn't rough and gummy it up a bit more? Probably because it was on the see double ew so they couldn't have it look too gorey? 

The acid-burn effects when Harvey first gets hit is amazing! I don't know if they used cgi or prosthetics but it looked real af - and that's how you know it's good, if you can't tell the difference. Given how amazing that scene fragment was it actually raised my hopes for Two-Face's face, so I was let down when the final scene wasn't on-par with the visceral believability of the attack scene. 

Misha's Two-Face voice was (almost) perfection! (I do wish he'd obstructed his mouth a little more in the dubbing session so it would've sounded more believable as a guy with half his face melted off --I minus 1/2 for this reason-- but..) It had a tinge of Jack Nicholson in there which leant this unsettling vibe; there was malicious intent and deadly swagger in the way he moved and spoke, you knew he was dangerous - you can see how terrified Jane is - but he also has a slight penchant for theatre. That final shot of him faux commiserating with Jane over the coin flip before shooting her point-blank was like: there he is, there's the iconic villain cemented. 

8. something you loved about the creation/design? 

Lighting + Wardrobe 

a] GK proves you can shoot night scenes without underlighting the setting and your characters. Whether it was nighttime in the Belfrey (that blue clock glow), or a Court of Owls meeting (golden candlelight), a fight scene on the streets (orange and blue streetlights), or countless other indoor settings like Steph's house, Harvey's office, the main Belfrey, the inside of a van, nighttime in the woods - the lighting team didn't trade detail for criminally underlit aesthetic, they gave us the atmosphere while letting us see what was happening! There's this insane notion in big budget fantasy/sci-fi productions that they have to let scenes be almost pitchblack to set the tone, but it's bullshit because all you get is audience members squinting and trying to up the brightness (and still failing to see anything because the contrast is so low). GK shines a light on each and every scene by upping the power from various in-world light sources (streelights, halogens, lamps, moonlight) so not only does it feel in-line with setting and aesthetic but we can we actually see the story unfolding, we can see the faces of the cast and the details on and around them that make up the environment of the scene. 

b] JMN didn't just weave meta details into the costumes for every character, she shared behind the scenes insight into how and why the pieces were chosen and crafted. She engaged with fans excited about the process which made for an even more rich and layered viewing experience! We didn't just get a peek on-set or in fittings, we got the chance to interact with someone who loves the intricacies of storytelling as much as we do! (Same goes for Nat and the rest of the crew, sharing so much love for fans and glimpses into the making of this wonderful show.) 

[sidenote: the lighting and wardrobe detail reminds me a lot of spn; we're meta mad over that show for many reasons but a lot of it is because there's so much going on in the details and the beauty of the scenes] 

9. anything you would change about the season 1 plot or characters? 

Brody + Minor Characters   

While I do like Brody's character growth I don't like that they started him out as the rich jerk bully stereotype. They could've changed tack with him in the early days just a bit to not be annoyed by him from the jump and glad he's not in more scenes. 

I was also hoping to see a few more scenes with the various minor characters we only saw briefly: Harvey's assistant could've been sus, Harvey's campaign manager could've dumped him after the Duela Dent reveal, the police chief wasn't in it enough.. The main cast being so big makes it difficult to give lesser characters more screentime but it would've helped to expand the world a little. There were times when it felt like they were either on the belfrey soundstage or in the streets with not much else going on. More locations would've been good - every genuine outdoors scene helped ground the narrative and we didn't get many, like Harvey at the lake, or the court in the woods. 

(Second seasons tend to expand the world so I can imagine more locations and even new side characters coming in like an intrepid reporter..) 

10. what did you think of the season 2 setup? 

9 / 10 

I liked the stuff with Turner's parents and the trainer dude, but I wish they'd threaded a few of those details through the season because it kinda came out of nowhere; it makes sense, and I like it, but I would love to be able to look back at early episodes and be like ohhh! (tbf maybe the clues were there and I just missed them because tbh Turner's broody teen angst was annoying and I kinda tuned out when he was the focus of a scene). 

The Gotham Knights becoming legit (thanks Duela!) was a nice capper and setup for the months ahead - working with the cops to take down bad guys including some newbie making waves.. who they eventually find out is Two-Face?! Meanwhile Duela is grieving both her parents and later (mid-season or towards the end) finds out Harvey is still alive but he's fucked up so now what will she do?! I look forward to fic writers giving us many second seasons that the see double ew denied us.