(TV SERIES) Gotham Knights - The Superhero Series Focusing on Bat-Family that did not Exactly Lived Up to Expectation

This was another superhero series that I was interested in finding out, especially when I read the premise. And it was kind of surprising that it was available on HBO Go with few days difference from the time it was shown in the US. The final episode was just released few days ago and I started watching it on Wednesday & spent my holiday to complete the whole season. OK, I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

When Bruce Wayne was killed, his adoptive son Turner (Oscar Morgan) and the rest of Gotham were shocked to find out that he was actually Batman. The DA Harvey Dent (Misha Collins - Supernatural TV series etc) who was also close friend of Bruce, swore to capture the suspects which included Joker's daughter Duela (Olivia Rose Keegan - Days of Our Lives TV series etc) and the siblings Harper Row (Fallon Smythe) and her brother Cullen Row (Tyler DiChiara - Relish etc). 

While he was in mourning, Turner was consoled by his friends including Stephanie Brown (Anna Lore) who was dating their classmate Brody March (Rahart Adams) and another student Carrie Kelley (Navia Robinson - Raven's Home TV series etc). After unexpected turn of events, Turner had no choice but to work together with Duela and the others to find the people behind Bruce's murder.

So what would happen to them? You could find out in the series.

End of Brief Story Line

To be honest, I was actually hesitant to watch this series as I read it was already cancelled after one season. However, the premise and the fact that I love superhero series proved to be too tempting to resist. So I decided to give it a try anyway. Besides it was only 13 episodes which I could finish easily during the holiday. When I watched the pilot episode, I immediately understood why the series was trashed by critics. The early part was OK enough with the shocking story of Bruce's demise (it's not exactly a spoiler as it was the main premise of the series), but my problem was on the acting. I felt the inexperience of the young cast was a bit obvious in some scenes where their acting did not seem natural and they seemed to try too hard in portraying their roles. However, I thought the action was not too bad and still acceptable. 

After the pilot episode that did not satisfy me, I still gave it a shot as I want to see how it went. Unfortunately it did not really improve and there were a lot of cheesy moments in the second episode. But it ended with something that raised my curiosity and so I decided to continue watching. Luckily, the subsequent episodes felt better with the cast seemed to grow more confidence. There were also additional guest stars whose characters were interesting, like Ethan Embry (Last Seen Alive etc) as Stephanie's father Arthur Brown, Damon Dayoub and Lauren Stamile as Brody's parents Lincoln March and Rebecca respectively and Veronica Cartwright (The Witches of Eastwick etc). Plus there were some intriguing mysteries that gave a treasure hunt feel.

The story's development since episode 3 was getting smoother as well with the characters beginning to show their distinct difference, like Duela the obvious bad girl, Turner the leader, Stephanie the misunderstood rich girl and so on. But despite those developments, sometimes their youthfulness was still very apparent and the series felt like the standard CW teenage series. Yes, this one was indeed developed for CW network but somehow it was shown in HBO Go instead of Netflix like some of the other DC series. Btw, there was the familiar name of Greg Berlanti as one of the Executive Producer. Sadly this time his golden touch did not seem to be working with the cancellation of the series after only one season.

For me personally, the series did improve as it progressed. I found myself to be enjoying it better and I like the fact there were few twists along the way. Misha Collins performance as Harvey Dent (who fans of Batman would have known) was also something that I liked. The series title Gotham Knights referred to some of Batman's allies. So if the series was renewed, I think it would explore more on how these kids would become those characters. Good thing the series did not have a totally cliffhanger ending and only showed some hints of what second season would focus on, otherwise I would probably be more disappointed (though I could not blame anyone else if it did cause I was the one who decided to watch it in the first place). 

So if you are interested in looking at the young people who would grow to become Bat-family with some action that were not really spectacular, some crime fighting and a little bit of romance, then you could give this a try. As long as you can be patient enough to pass through first few episodes, I think they would grow on you. And do not expect this to be of the exciting and interesting Arrowverse series from Greg Berlanti. Now if you must have proper conclusion to a series, then better skip this altogether as you would not get it.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars