My favourite male DC character is Batman. I’ve got quite a collection of comics and graphic novels featuring the Dark Knight.

When the prequel series, ‘Gotham’, first started, I was sceptical about it and it wasn’t until it was a few episodes in, did I decide to give it a look-see. Together with my boys, we watched with an open mind and before the end of the first episode, we were hooked.

Before I go any further, as the series ended this April, this post does contain SPOILERS.

Now that the series has ended, I can say I really enjoyed the treatment of all the characters – young Bruce Wayne; the no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners Alfred Pennyworth; the flawed Jim Gordon; the cheeky but vulnerable Selina Kyle…

I absolutely loved the character of Harvey Bullock in this, especially the dynamic between him and Gordon. Similar to his comic counterpart, he loves his drink, but in ‘Gotham’, despite his scruffy appearance, he’s not portrayed as a drunk slob; there’s good depth to his character.

What they did with Barbara Kean was, in my opinion, brilliant. When we first meet her, she seems confident enough, but inwardly questions herself and her place in Gotham. She becomes deranged before turning into a tough-as-nails crime boss. Her character remains one of our favourites, the woman is such a hoot!

Jerome/Jeremiah Valeska, the ‘Joker’ character (if I remember correctly, the show couldn’t use that moniker because of copyright issues) is genuinely scary because he really doesn’t give a toss about anything or anyone, willing to go to any lengths to get to Bruce, even if that means the destruction of the entire city.

Ed Nygma/The Riddler brings much-needed understanding and sympathy to what always seemed to be a 2D character, even in the comics.

I’m not saying every rendition was spot-on perfect. There were wasted characters and others who were plain annoying. Some of the plot points didn’t make much sense, and the writing could be clunky, not to mention some of the dialogue.

The one character portrayal and development that stood out for me was that of Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin.

In the comics, he was too much of a cartoon character. In the films, he never did much for me either; I found it hard to take him seriously.

Robin Lord Taylor (Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin) at NY PaleyFest 2014 (Wikipedia)

But in ‘Gotham’, in the hands of Robin Lord Taylor, Oswald Cobblepot is a very believable character. He’s a psychopath, a scheming killer, forever double-crossing anyone he comes into contact with, his eye firmly fixed on the prize of being Gotham’s number one crime boss.

That’s not our first impression of him though. When we first meet Oswald, he’s literally the umbrella-boy of Fish Mooney, brilliantly played by Jada Pinkett Smith. He’s constantly bullied, ignored and treated like the lowest of the low.

Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Oswald

It’s this constant degrading treatment that feeds his growing ambition. As we see his character develop, we understand the reasoning behind his burgeoning Machiavellian nature. Not to say we condone it and cheer him on, but his character makes sense to us. I think what tempers it is his need to be recognised by those he looks up to, by those he views as friends.

One thing the boys and I always said – despite the awful things Oswald did, we didn’t want him to lose though sometimes he deserved it. But we did care what happened to him; not easy when he takes obvious pleasure in killing.

Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor)

In playing his double-crossing game, he’s thinking long-term. Jim Gordon ends up owing him more than once. Even though the detective comes across as detesting Oswald, sometimes it seems as if Jim respects him, albeit grudgingly. Most times, I got the impression Oswald genuinely viewed Jim as a friend and cared for him.

The one person Oswald loves the most is his mother, Gertrude Kapelput, played by Carol Kane.

Oswald and his mother, Gertrude (Carol Kane)

There were times, especially early on, he’d come across as a ‘mummy’s boy’ or he’d be annoyed by her behaviour and be almost dismissive. But a subtle, continuing thread that culminates at the beginning of the final season shows the depths of his feeling for her and the lengths he’s prepared to go to in her name.

The relationship I enjoyed most was the one between Oswald and Ed Nygma, The Riddler, played by Cory Michael Smith, literally a love-hate relationship. Each time they were together, the screen lit up. Their exchanges were funny but poignant also.

Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) and Oswald

We don’t see the familiar Penguin persona until the very end of the last season, when ten years have passed. Even then, there is nothing comical about it. After ten years in jail, Oswald’s limp has become more pronounced and his girth has expanded. Dressed as he’s always done in waistcoat and tails, with the addition of the monocle, the transformation is complete.

His ten years in prison, where he’s been nursing an intense feeling of betrayal, has made him very bitter. He’d wrongly believed, after all they’d been through together, Jim Gordon would treat him as an ally, keeping him on side to make sure the criminal underworld ‘behaved’. Instead, Jim had had him sent to prison. Which, of course, he deserved.

I think that says a lot about this version of Oswald Cobblepot – he honestly wants to build meaningful connections with people he feels drawn to. Yet, for someone who wants to be the ultimate crime boss, surely that can only be a weakness that inevitably leads to one’s downfall.

On the one hand, I’m glad ‘Gotham’ ended when it did, and the makers of the show didn’t fall into the trap of dragging it on in the name of more profit. Yet, I am sad I won’t be seeing these versions of the characters again.

'Gotham' Has The Best Penguin!