There Will Be Light

“Ugh.”

My leading thought every time someone asked me my opinion on the upcoming premiere of Gotham, the Jim Gordon-centric, Batman prequel that is now…  28 hours old.

 

Gotham title card

When first announced, Gotham was to be a Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) focused show that took place after Bruce Wayne had donned the cape and cowl.  I was stoked.  Like through the roof.  It was to be reminiscent of a comic series titled Gotham Central, written by Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka. It makes sense, right?  Batman deals with Two-Face and Ra’s al Ghul while Gordon and the crew handle the small-time stuff (i.e. regular criminals, mafia, less grandiose super-villains like  Ratcatcher, Cluemaster, or the Ten-Eyed Man (yes, those are all real villains.  Also, can I use parenthesis inside parenthesis? Well, I just did.).)  I could not wait.

 

Gotham Central #1

Then it was announced that the show was to be set in a pre-Batman Gotham City.  My only problem with that is it ruins the Year One version of Jim Gordon’s backstory that I personally prefer.  In the 1987, Frank Miller written story Batman: Year One, the Dark Knight’s first calendar year as Batman is retold.  Equally, or perhaps even more so, the story tells Gordon’s origin literally from the time he comes to Gotham City, having transferred from Chicago, and joining the police force.  Bruce becoming Batman and Jim Gordon coming to Gotham City occur concurrently, which is the way I prefer it to be, but it seemed, at the time, that Gotham would take the Nolan-inspired version from Batman Begins-The Dark Knight-The Dark Knight Rises of having Gordon around when (literally, like at the crime scene) Thomas and Martha Wayne are gunned down.  Which is fine.  I guess.

 

Jim Gordon comforts young Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins

Then, it changed again.  Not only was this going to now be a prequel, but 8(ish)-year-old Bruce Wayne was going to be a recurring/main character?  I can’t hang with that.  I mean, how stupid?  Anakin Skywalker built C-3PO/Obi-Wan doesn’t remember having owned any droids/Jar Jar Binks levels of stupid.  So, I shut down and stopped caring about the show.  I didn’t watch trailers, I didn’t read (very many) articles, nothing.  I.  Did.  Not.  Care.  And I’d like to add that I’m not typically one of those guys.  You know, the ones that nitpick everything that is different from the comics and the movies/television shows.  I actually hate it when people do that.  But, I always said I’d at least give it a try.  So the premiere was last night and, due to a heavy schedule, I didn’t get to watch it until tonight.

I’d like to take a quick break so everyone who knows me personally can go grab a calendar.  Got one?  Great.  Now get a highlighter or a felt pen or something.  Okay, ready?  Find September 23^rd, 2014.  Circle it, highlight it, draw a unicorn, just do something to signify the date.  Okay.  Here goes:

 

I WAS WRONG.

You’ll likely never hear me say that again, so take it for what it’s worth.  On to the show.

Despite everything I’ve said to this point, I tried my best to go into the show with an open mind.  I caught myself at times being harsher than I needed to be, but that’s just kind of how it is sometimes.  I don’t want to go too spoiler heavy (if Bruce Wayne’s parents getting killed is a “spoiler” to you, please never speak to me again), so I’ll just graze over some of the key points in a very “stream of consciousness” way:

Fish Mooney, a mid-level mob boss portrayed by Jada Pinkett Smith, is not a character adapted from comics, but is an original to the show.  Similar to Daryl Dixon of Walking Dead fame, Mooney has the potential to be a breakout character simply due to not being tied to any particular destiny as the rest of the characters on the show are.

 

The newest addition to the Batman universe, Fish Mooney

I’ll chalk this up to not inundating myself with information on the show prior to watching, but I had no idea Carmine Falcone (pronounced “fal-kone-E”, not “fal-kone” as they were in the show) was going to be in the show.  Falcone will, seemingly, serve as the “Big Bad” of the show for at least the foreseeable future.  Similarly, the appearance of GCPD Detectives Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen, who have a tenuous working relationship with Gordon’s partner, Harvey Bullock, was a pleasant surprise.  Also, Montoya and Jim Gordon’s fiancée Barbara (that’s Batgirl’s mom for those keeping score) seem to have a past of a… Romantic nature.

 

Detectives Crispus Allen & Renee Montoya on Gotham

Compared to their comic counterparts

Villains galore.  Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot as Fish Mooney’s lackey/umbrella holder/foot massager.  I believe Robin Lord Taylor will bring a “love to hate him” feel to the character.  Edward Nygma (AKA The Riddler) as a forensic something-or-other in the GCPD.  Cool little cameo in the first episode that saw one of his riddles shut down immediately by Jim Gordon much to Nygma’s chagrin.  “Ivy Pepper” who is clearly based on Poison Ivy.  Dumb and I don’t even want to go into it.  Selina “Catwoman” Kyle.  She’s actually the first character we see on the show.  Young Ms. Kyle goes from jumping from rooftops and stealing milk and wallets to witnessing the crime of the century (at least where Gothamites are concerned) in the murder of the Waynes.  She also reappears at the funeral and again at Wayne Manor at the end of the episode.  Next week’s episode is actually titled “Selina Kyle”, so we’ll no doubt get some backstory on the future Catwoman.

 

Slightly stalker-ish pre-Catwoman

Oh, and the guy giving a private stand-up comedy routine for Fish Mooney in her club?  This guy?

 

Joseph Kerr

Yeah, that’s the f***ing Joker.

I’m not sold on Alfred yet.  The actor (Sean Pertwee) did a great job, and he got a laugh out of me in one particular scene, but I may just need to see more of the character to become a fan.  Also, although Pertwee's isn't as overt, Alfred is not supposed to have a Cockney accent.  Michael Caine (who beautifully portrayed everyone’s favorite butler in the Dark Knight Trilogy) is the exception, not the rule.

 

Mr. Pennyworth

The scene with the Wayne’s murder, followed up by the scene with Bruce and Jim Gordon, moved me to tears.  Don’t know why, I guess the stars were aligned or something.  It was truly the best interpretation of the inciting moment of Batman’s career that has ever been put on screen.  Also, Bruce shows his inherent detective skills from the get-go as he provides Gordon with some clues to the identity of the killer.

 

An iconic image

The premiere pulled a 3.2 Nielsen Rating, which is not exactly Walking Dead numbers, but it’s nothing to sneeze at, especially for a network (as compared to cable) show.  The only programs to do better Monday night were the Bears/Jets Monday Night Football game (5.2) and the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory with an outstanding 5.4 Nielsen Rating.  I think the real indicator will be how Gotham fares next week after the premiere buzz has faded away.

All in all, I thought the show was good, the pros outweighed the cons, and my interest has been piqued, so I will be tuning in next week.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

Sources: excerpts from primary source interviews; Wikipedia; Nielsen.com

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