Gotham: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References In "The Blind Fortune Teller"
02/16/2015 09:30 pm EST
It's a heck of a week for Gotham; we got the first appearance of Dick Grayson's parents as well as the introduction of a character who, according ot advertising and producer interviews, may be The Joker.
So...what else can you fit into an episode like this?
Not as many winks and nods to DC continuity as is often the case in Gotham. Still, the recurrence of a name dropped earlier in the season in connection with the Wayne Enterprises corruption investigation Bruce is conducting is worth a note, as is yet another GoodFellas reference.
Check it out below for what we saw and let us know what we missed.
Killer Croc?
I'm not sure I buy this one, but we had commenter Cory Turner below point out (and one of my editors agree) that the Godzilla-like monster trampling buildings at the top of Bruce's notepad looks a bit like Killer Croc.
There's certainly a resemblance; that's not what I'm disagreeing with. Just not 100% sure I buy it was intentional.
If we're going to read too much into that sketch, I'll say that the bit of broken building in front of Croc's jaw on the bottom left looks a bit like Mike Mignola's Batman -- broad shoulders, tiny ears on the "head." Again, I have sincere doubts that was intentional but there it is.
Welzyn
There's no comic book counterpart to this subsidiary, but it was referenced once before, in the episode "Viper." This time, we see it in Bruce's notes.
Paul Cicero
The titular blind fortune teller is named after the role played by Paul Sorvino in Goodfellas. This is the second role -- after Frankie Carbone -- in Gotham to be named after a character from Goodfellas.
The Flying Graysons
Of course, it goes without saying that one of the acrobats seen here and his on-again, off-again girlfriend -- John and Mary -- will one day have a child who will go on to become Robin and then Nightwing.
Haly's Circus
In the comics, Haly's Circus is indeed the name of the circus that employed the Graysons up until the death of John and Mary. Dick Grayson recently hooked back up with them in the New 52 to help them solve some crimes in which his old friends and loved ones were embroiled.
Monster Cereal
Recently, General Mills revamped the look of their line of "monster cereals," including Count Chocula, Frankenberry and Boo Berry, handing the design tasks over to DC Comics artists including DC Co-Publisher and frequent Batman contributing artist Jim Lee. The box here, however, appears to be Fruit Brute -- which was discontinued shortly before the redesign happened.
Is that The Joker?
In spite of being a socially-awkward redhead who is fixated on his mother's promiscuity, the character seen this week is in fact not Rorschach from Watchmen. Instead, Gotham executives and advertising have led us to believe that our killer this week is The Joker -- an impression that the actor certainly did his best to sell during the not-quite-a-confession scene.
After all, we get the abrupt break in his facade, going from a grieving son to a cruel, dismissive fiend. We get the change in voice, taking on a tone and timbre that feels more than a little bit like Jokers from the past (in a short period of time, it felt like he was trying to channel Hamill, Romero and Nicholson). And, yeah, the dead eyes and creepy smile.
Is this The Joker? Well, they've stopped short of confirming it but they have promised that they would be scratching the surface of the character soon. Look out for follow-up interviews from showrunners this week which, as they did following the midseason finale of The Flash, might give a bit more insight into the writers' intent.
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