**This review contains minor SPOILERS**
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
“Gotham Knights” was a show that nobody asked for. With a premise that sounded like a lesser version of the video game with the same name, a cast of made up of primarily unknown actors playing obscure DC characters (and others created for the show), and a yet another universe centered around a Batman that takes a backseat, this season had failure stamped on it before it aired. Yet somehow, this motley crew of characters that I couldn’t care less about began to grow on me, and even with the subpar plot I found myself a bit disappointed that we wouldn’t see what happens next when the series ended after just this one season.
The plot just what the trailers told us it would be: Batman was murdered, and a group of kids are framed and must try to clear their names and find the real killer. It wasn’t too surprising to find the Court of Owls revealed as the ones behind it, but selling the idea that these teenagers could succeed where the World’s Greatest Detective failed seemed pretty implausible. It didn’t help that none of these characters were well-known comic book characters and that the lead was the newly created adopted son of Bruce Wayne. Making things worse is that fact that the show takes place in a new universe with its own Batman mythology. (Harvey Dent still hadn’t become Two-Face, and it was unclear if Carrie Kelly was the first Robin or if the other Robins already came and went.) Despite the deck being stacked against the characters, the writers made it almost plausible that they could take on the Court and win.
As far as these characters go, if any of them were killed off in the first few episodes they wouldn’t be missed. Turner was the probably the most generic character in the show. He’s just some rich kid that had a deep, loving relationship with Bruce Wayne. And considering we never actually get to see this and had to take their word for it, it’s hard to swallow. As the show goes on, Turner begins to indulge his dark side a bit, and he ended up at a point where he could’ve either turned into an interesting character or stay around as a clique’. Stephanie Brown also fell short, never quite becoming more that the team’s hacker, and still being a long way from possibly becoming The Spoiler. Harper Row was fairly grating at first and came off as just the “tough runaway” stereotype. However, as the character began to bond with the rest of the team, her vulnerable side was revealed and gave her more dimensions. While her brother Cullen really didn’t evolve much throughout the season, he did have his moments to shine. Meanwhile, Carrie Kelly/Robin is the closest thing the team had to an actual superhero. While her gadgets and expertise helped her standout early, she seemed a little redundant once everyone else started to level up their various skills. A bit more of a wildcard was Duela. Initially coming off as just doing an imitation of Alice from “Batwoman,” she also benefits from letting her guard down. While her unpredictable nature and over-the-top antics often make her feel like the most expendable character, she does earn her place in the end. But the show’s biggest A-Lister is Harvey Dent. He’s given an odd mix of baggage and tragedy in his backstory and doesn’t come off as anything more that an above-average DA for most of the season. It’s only in the back half that we finally start seeing the “real” Harvey start to make himself known.
As far as the bad guys go, the Court was just okay. Not having a face to represent them for too long made them feel less of a threat. Once they begin to unmask, things pickup. But there’s a couple twists that don’t quite work, and while it’s cool to see a Talon in action, he just comes off as a generic Michael Myers-type killer. This leads to some fairly stiff-looking action sequences on a show that already was mediocre in the action department.
Ultimately, the premise of kids on the run for supposedly killing Batman doesn’t justify this new universe. But somehow, despite these kids not being up to the task of saving the day or carrying this show, they almost manage to do both.
**1/2 out of *****