3. Stop Winking At The Camera And Start Having Confidence In Your Own Material
This is one of those weirdly subjective and kind of personal flaws where, if youre at all a fan of Batman or even just mildly acquainted with his general mythology, the shows tendency to belabor certain verbal or visual points to act as Easter Eggs most likely falls somewhere between lame and annoyingly precious. Alternatively, for those of you who arent quite as Bat-saavy, these heavy-handed allusions are probably less annoying as they are simply puzzling and distracting: whats up with that scientist guy constantly talking about riddles? And why is that little girl always covered in dirt and yammering on about plants? Theres no reason that a show called Gotham thats set in the world of the Dark Knight cant have its share of throwaway references or nods to the fansjust look at how well a balance Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has managed to strike between drawing from the broader MCU for much of its larger narrative direction, while at the same time taking extreme pains to make sure that, episode to episode, its the shows characters and their interpersonal drama that are serving as its main dramatic fuel, as opposed to the series merely existing as just a 42-minute infomercial for Marvel Studios each week. Whereas S.H.I.E.L.D. approaches its Easter Eggs as one might, say, supplemental material, Gotham treats its own allusions with considerably more emphasis, yet decidedly less intent. One of these shows works; the other doesnt. Care to guess which one is which?
