After Hours

The show is put together very well. The writing is on point, the dialogue, the acting, it's very grounded. It captivated me from the first scene. Colin Farrell steps into this character and brings him to life and makes us believe it's real.

The city of Gotham feels realistic and gritty like it should. The supporting cast all deliver great performances. At no time is the immersion broken. All other show runners of Superhero/Star Wars/Fantasy shows should sit back and drink it in. This is how it's done.

The only thing I can recommend that could be improved is that characters don't have to say everything. For instance, there is a point that Oz takes Victors license and says: "I'm keeping your ID". He doesn't need to say that. It's more impactful if he just puts it in his pocket. Actions say things better than words sometimes, and there are a few moments in this show where dialogue could be said better with actions.

If there was ever hope that storytelling after The Sopranos and Breaking Bad would return, here it is.

This first episode had me locked in from start to finish. The many layers it slowly unravels opens so many doors for these storylines and scenarios to be unveiled.

I have never been so satisfied with a pilot as I have with this episode, in several years, and many attempts.

This captures the rawness and dark elements of what makes DC so surreal and ominous yet so emotionally impactful.

I can't say enough about how blown away I am by all the performances. The cast makes me anxious for another episode because it truly seems that they have got it right, and that is a lasting affect.

The setting is brilliant. The colour schemes that MAKE it Gotham. The tiny nuances and appreciations that they give us, the viewer, has me beaming and thriving with respect.

I have to reitterate what a great job was done by the casting department as well as the cast themselves. Everything here just seems to click.

The perfect elements and the right amount of everything at just the right time, to tie you in emotionally. Its downright gripping.

I am ridiculously excited for the next episode.

Very, very few shows have ever left me with such anticipation after the first episode. And this one seems to do it so effortlessly, but that is the magic of all that was put into this affair.

(Just an example of some shows that had incredible debuts/pilots and went on to become some of the most intense and revered shows in television history: the aforementioned The Sopranos, Justified, The Shield, Breaking Bad, The Americans, The Walking Dead, and all these shows went on for several seasons and absolutely crushed it. The Penguin is next on the list of greats, bank on that)

It's got everything you could ask for from a pilot episode. It ties in perfectly to The Batman, it builds the character of The Penguin further and does it really well, it establishes the supporting cast (or at least some of it) well...heck, it even humanises The Penguin/Oz pretty well by giving us a look at his relationship with his mother.

The cast are really well chosen, with Colin Farrell especially showing why he was such an inspired choice for this role. It shows again why this, far more grounded, take on the Batman mythos is so badly needed.

I eagerly await the rest of the series now, and hope they can continue to keep the quality this high.

The idea of this show was delivered with a lot of promise when it was first announced. This is not just a DC show or a spinoff to "The Batman," but a show that potentially shows how DC is going to do on HBO and if they can keep up the quality that we usually connect with that kind of reputation. The show has been compared to a lot of great crime shows, but it's also exciting to see how it will stand out, and this first episode does a great job of setting up this underdog story with a formidable performance from Colin Farrell.

More than anything else, the thing that immediately stands out is the show's tone. It feels very similar to "The Batman," with the exception that it has been given a TV-MA rating, which enables them to use profanity and more graphic violence. That may take a few people off-guard, but it also sets the stage for a more gritty entry into this world. And the grit is certainly there, as the opening minutes of the episode features quite a shocking event that is very violent, yet also surprisingly comedic in a very dark way. The show brilliantly balances that grit with dark comedy, definitely setting its own tone very smartly from the very beginning. It's difficult to properly judge where the show is going, but it is setting up a very formidable character in Oz and perfectly expanding on his role and his ascent to the top of the food chain. Farrell is still eclectic in this role and totally disappears beneath the incredible make-up work that's being done to make him into this Oz, but he gives it his all as well, totally changing his voice to sound so fundamentally different from what we're used to hearing from him. At the same time, Cristin Milioti also enters the stage as Sofia Falcone, in an unpredictable and suspenseful performance that fits so well with what Farrell is doing that we constantly want to see more with them. The budget is noticeable, but the pull of the episode's plot is enough to keep you fully invested.

"After Hours" does a great job of selling the show's premise and giving it a unique tone that makes it stand out among other crime shows. The character is so fascinating and his journey is relatable, and Farrell continues to amaze as this character, especially in his scenes with Milioti as Carmine Falcone's semi-psychotic daughter.

Although is just a TV show , the quality is outstanding with amazing shots and amazing scenery that blends it all together to create the Gotham that we love . Acting performances are also Movie-level . I can see they have put their time on it ,At first i thought it was going to be a slow burn as time passed it became more and more interesting, Perfect example of pacing... We got a perfect introduction of the Penguin and the other new characters. Everything was pure Quality and not bland.

I loved how good it was connected to the Batman movie. What i mean by quality, the fact that if this was the start of the Batman 2 , u wouldn't even notice . Can't wait to see more ...