It’s a scene that has played out across pop culture for nearly 75 years now, in the pages of comic books and in animated adaptations and on the big screen. An alleyway in a crumbling city. A well-to-do couple and their young son. An anonymous mugger with a gun. A string of pearls in a pool of blood. It’s where the story of Batman always begins.
But instead of jumping forward to the Caped Crusader leaping across rooftops, the new FOX series Gotham uses that pivotal moment in the life of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz, “Touch”) to dive deeper into the origins of the other cogs in the machine that is Gotham City, to explore why this metropolis will eventually need a hero like Batman to take up cape and cowl. The pilot is a solid beginning as it builds a stylized yet believable world for our heroes and villains to inhabit as they wage war for the heart of the city.
Our entry point into that conflict is James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, “The O.C.”), the man who will be police commissioner. Gordon starts the hour as an idealist who believes in the system. But as he seeks justice for the Waynes, he soon learns that it’s a rigged game on both sides of the law that will make it hard to do right by Bruce, by the city, and by himself. On the flip side of the coin is Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, “Terriers”), a jaded veteran who’s made a jagged peace with the realities of being a cop in Gotham, but who can’t help sticking his neck out when his partner gets in over his head.
The pilot smartly sets up a mission statement for Gordon that will give the show plenty of procedural and serialized fuel moving forward. It also dots in some personal and professional conflicts that I found intriguing. McKenzie and Logue are perfect fits as straight-laced upstart Gordon and snarky seen-it-all Bullock. And, almost more importantly, they have a clashing but comfortable chemistry with each other.
Among the criminal lot, mob kingpin Carmine Falcone (John Dorman, “Damages”) is eager to keep the underworld status quo intact. He rightfully fears a Gotham where the freaks run the streets. But others are smelling blood in the water. There’s Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith, “Set It Off”), an up-and-comer in the organization who sees an opening for herself. But more of a danger might be Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor, “Accepted”), who’s tired of holding Fish’s umbrella and who ends the episode with a motive to go after her and Falcone.
Though the pilot goes a bit overboard with the winks to the Dark Knight’s rogue gallery, the evolution of Oswald Cobblepot into the Penguin should make a sturdy plot thread on the bad guys’ side this season and Taylor was great fun to watch. Pinkett Smith was also particularly impressive, playing original creation Fish with a flirty theatrical flair that sets the table for the franchise’s more colorful characters. I’m also looking forward to seeing more of Selina Kyle (newcomer and possible Michelle Pfeiffer clone Camren Bicondova), who doesn’t get much to do here, but makes a mark anyway.
With its talented cast and its clear sense of where it wants to take its story, Gotham is off to a great start.
View the Promo below
Gotham premieres Monday September 22nd at Mondays 8/7c on FOX
