The much anticipated Batman sans Batman show Gotham premiered Monday night and did what a pilot episode should do: set the scene, have enough sub-plots to carry on to the next episode and give us some idea what the season will revolve around (that being the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne).
The show stars Ben McKenzie as rookie Det. James Gordon, Donal Logue as Det. Harvey Bullock and David Mazouz as a young Bruce Wayne.
Like the first episode of Firefly, which premiered on the Fox Network before being juggled and canceled, Gotham’s inaugural was a lovable, but not awe-inspiring 40 minute program. You know in your soul that your favorite episodes lie ahead of you after we stand on ceremony here for a bit.
(Btw, don’t Gordon and Bullock have sort of a Mal and Jane thing going on?)
A NOT-SO-BRIEF ASIDE
Gotham arrived the same night Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. kicked-off a second season. News broke that Gotham was in the works immediately after Agents debuted this time last year, stealing a moderate amount of thunder from the Marvel property. My how time flies.
That in itself is a statement, since both DC Comics and Marvel will face-off on one time slot this season. Earlier, a monetary bullet was dodged when Warner Bros. moved 2016’s Batman v Superman to a release date away from Captain America III: The Search for Bucky, avoiding one showdown.
(That’s not the film’s real title but I hereby nominate it)
Take comfort in Monday’s having a nice clash of styles. All Marvel movies and TV shows share the same continuity while DC is keeping its TV shows separate from its films. DC is also keeping some TV apart from other TV and maybe will have a few movies separate from other movies. You follow?
Regardless, DC is making its presence known with The Flash, Constantine and season two of Arrow following Gotham this fall. It’ll be fun to see what flies, what falls and if one will fall and learn to pick itself up.
The lack of a single continuity also provides more freedom for viewers. To this day, I haven’t finished season one of Agents because 1.) I couldn’t relate to anybody on screen and 2.) I don’t always watch movies on opening weekend and wanted to avoid spoilers when they did crossover episodes.
Marvel is making Christmas lights, if you break one it all falls apart. DC is making stories.
THE EPISODE ITSELF
Coming back around, Gotham looks captivating. The city is dirty and full of litter, cops drive older cars and a couple of buildings even have gargoyles. Classic.
The pilot is a clear break from the Burton/Schumacher Batman movies and the Nolan trilogy. Gotham stands on its own and has a timeless feel with flip phones, fedoras and the aforementioned older police cars giving it a modern but not too modern appearance.
I can see the show taking cues from Batman: The Animated Series in that many characters get a chance to shine and the focus is on major crimes in Gotham City.
The pilot was not without faults. A couple of clichés were used with a suspect darting out of a large open window followed by a rooftop chase. Oh, and the scary killer who works in a slaughterhouse has to have a leather mask on. Has to.
The steady-cam fixed on Gordon during said chase scene felt out of place. Lastly, a montage of interrogation scenes needed to have more than three suspects if we’re really to believe our hero Gordon and anti-hero Bullock are scouring the streets for leads.
As with the Nolan movies, this series will live and die by the relationship between Gordon and Bruce. As the credits rolled, I felt that while McKenzie and Mazouz performed well separately the scenes where they share screen time needed work. Their first meeting especially needed some touch ups, namely Gordon not having to repeat every line of dialogue twice.
Back to the positive, Gotham demonstrates how to do cameos right. My favorite of the night being Edward Nygma (the future Riddler played by Cory Michael Smith) joyfully rattling off mind puzzles only to look down in shame when Gordon solved one.
Hopefully this cameo will serve as a model for the slew of other minor characters set to appear in Batman v Superman.
Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) at long last gets a live action treatment and a swell plot placement as she is suspicious of Gordon. This means Gordon will have to play both sides, navigating his way through an uneasy alliance with Bullock and gaining the trust of Montoya.
I see I’m approaching 1,000 words so I need to wrap things up. In regard to the remaining characters: tip of the hat to Robin Taylor as Oswald Copplepot, Jada Pinkett Smith’s original villain Fish Mooney and Erin Richards as Barbara Kean (Gordon’s fiancée).
Finally, in contrast to the Nolan trilogy I’m glad they pronounce mob boss Carmine Falcone’s name right.
WRAPPING UP
As I said earlier, this was a State of the Union-type start for DC’s fall season. Gotham was procedural, preceded by fanfare and set the agenda for a year.
There’s a built in fail safe in the DC world because it’s allowed to be flexible, allowed have more than one version of a character and isn’t tied down to what happens on other shows or a larger cinematic universe.
If one doesn’t like a certain take on a character that’s okay (i.e.: STOP COMPLAINING) because nothing is being canonized here. Some characters are stuck in the Nolan trilogy, others in the Arrow/Flashverse, the Gothamverse, the big screen continuity and some stand-alone films like (supposedly) the upcoming Shazam.
Thank God, because if we’re to have famous characters get the live action treatment they deserve to have origins that are multiple choice. A DC villain taught us that.
BOTTOM LINE: Gotham is a decent pilot episode that makes you happy to be a DC fan.
CORRECTION (9/23): I was wondering why the overnight ratings didn’t list Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., turns out I was a bit of a dummy and got the date for season two wrong. It begins tonight and does not air on Monday’s opposite Gotham. My apologies, but that’s what I get for not watching/caring about Agents.
So excited. "Agents of I.D.O.N.T.G.I.V.E.A.C.R.A.P." is on.
— The Batman (@TheBatman) October 9, 2013
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