Gotham S01E01 – Review

By: Bruno Heller (story)

The Story: There’s a war going on, and Gordon has to pick a side.

The Review: Sheesh, talk about when pouring when it rains—although not literally, because I’m in California and it never rains here. All told, DC’s got three new shows (Gotham, The Flash, Constantine) out this year, with a couple more in the works (I, Zombie, Supergirl), and Marvel has Daredevil and Agent Carter coming quickly down the pike. Excited as I am, it would take another of me to cover them all, so my goal for the next few months is weeding for the shows that have potential.

Looking at Gotham, I have much the same concern as I did with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Both shows stake themselves in the worlds of beloved franchises, yet are largely removed from them. They are the cousins of a celebrity family, torn between wanting to be appreciated for themselves yet dependent on the preexisting adoration for their more famous kin. Throughout its pilot, Gotham struggles with these dual motivations, thrusting toward the surface of something relatively original while chained to the mythos that provides its audience.

It’d be foolish to use the first episode as an example of what the rest of the series will be, but it’s an early red flag that the hour begins and ends not on the characters who will be carrying the show for the rest of the season, but on those who will take over after the series ends. The cold open of the Wayne murders has some genuine trauma to it—a bit of a miracle for a scene that’s veering from classic to trite—but it nonetheless sets our expectations for a Batman show when the purpose of Gotham is to be anything but.

Putting the shooting at the top of the episode also pulls our true protagonist, a young, smooth-faced James Gordon, into the Wayne orbit from which he and the show itself never quite escapes. Every time they manage to break free and head in an interesting direction, they stumble over a Bat-guest whose appearance feels almost obligatory. It’s not enough that Bruce is a major emotional fulcrum for the episode; you have Edward Nygma (Riddler) chuckling in the GCPD’s forensics lab, Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin) schmoozing after his crime boss, Selina Kyle (Catwoman) witnessing the Wayne murder from a fire escape, and Ivy Pepper (Poison Ivy)* calling James a bastard for framing her dad for the murder. The show is not shy about its source material.

In hindsight, the pilot probably could’ve afforded to pace these guests in favor of fleshing out the core cast and the troubled world they live in. James and Harvey Bullock get plenty of screen-time, but Renee Montoya is left trying to steal James’ fiancée from him (a petty move, regardless of gender) and Crispus Allen does almost nothing at all except grin devilishly at everyone. And despite the talk of police corruption and a city on the edge, you don’t get much of a sense of that.

Still, Gotham does manage to get across the vibe of The Wire in parts, particularly in certain choices of camera work: Bruce’s POV of gun muzzle pointed directly in his face, in focus against the blurred form of the shooter; the shaky, fish-eye view of James as he chases after the suspected Wayne murderer; the motif of a swinging lamp during the montage of James and Harvey’s interrogations. Even the superhero silliness adds a tang and spice to what is essentially a procedural/cop drama. I’m talking about Fish Mooney, whose appeal comes less her sassy lines and more from Jada Pinkett-Smith’s shamelessly purring delivery. When James inquires if it’s screaming he hears in the alley behind her boudoir, she replies, “Yes. My boys are watching a scary movie.”

James is unmoved. “Really.”

“No,” she says, smile instantly dissolved. “Actually, one of my staff has been stealing money from me—so we’re beating his punk ass.”

If Gotham can inject this kind of camp more sparingly and with greater precision, we might have a consistently entertaining show on our hands. There’s time for the show to reorient itself, although I can’t guarantee I’ll be reviewing it for the long-term.

Conclusion: Coltish and ungangly, uncertain whether to join the cool crowd or the geek clique and awkwardly trying to straddle both. If it can commit one way or another, it can always drift to the other side on occasion.

Grade: B-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I am not feeling Erin Richards’ interpretation of the future Barbara Gordon, who strikes you as a sorority girl struggling to grow up. Even when she’s being supportive, she seems a bit impatient and vacant, as if imitating adult behavior rather than embracing it. It’s actually not that difficult to imagine her having a (what I presume to be drunken) lesbian fling.

– A bit of Harvey wisdom: “Somebody takes a cop’s gun, you shoot him.” Not that cop, obviously.