Fox unleashed their new American superhero television series Monday night and it has already scored a 9.8/10 IMDB rating. Bruno Heller created the show that centers around rookie detective James Gordon and explores the life before Batman in Gotham City.
People who give this show a chance because of its Batman connection are likely to be disappointed because in this series Batman a.k.a Bruce Wayne is eight years old and hasn’t fought his first villain yet. As a matter of fact, his parents were just brutally murdered in an alley when the pilot begins, but more optimistic individuals who give the show a chance despite it’s very batman-minus-batman promotion will find it quite interesting. The show might be our new Monday night crime-drama fix.
As the title credits fade, a female in black clothing scales from building to building until she lands in the middle of a town where she casually wreaks havoc stealing wallets and other acts of petty misconduct and floats by unnoticed. Initially, this scene seems like the direction the Gotham City Police Department will profile and pursue but quickly things arise that are far more interesting. The girl in all black leads us to the young Bruce Wayne and his parents as they walk along a dark alley with his parents laughing about a movie they had just seen. Suddenly a street mugger with a ski mask and a hand gun takes Bruce’s parents away from him in a flash, giving the Gotham City Police Department their new high-profile case.
Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue deliver great introduction performances. McKenzie as James ‘Jim’ Gordon, the new, anxious detective with curiosity and a hunger to prove himself, partnered up with Harvey Bullock, played by Logue, a longtime detective less concerned with honesty and truth and more content with just making it through the week and choosing easy cases with little importance to solve by the end of the week. It’s fun for viewers and is a classic man vs. man conflict.
James Gordon takes it upon himself to interact with the witness, Bruce Wayne, before Detective Bullock decides to take on the case (which he wouldn’t have). To Bullock’s dismay they are stuck with a high profile case of the most wealthy family in Gotham. To find the mugger Detective Bullock contacts an unlikely ally.
Jada Pinkett Smith immediately delivers a very strong, in-command, sassy, somewhat sadistic and confident gang boss and nightclub owner, Fish Mooney. Her opening scene includes her instructing one of her male workers to brutally beat a man with a bat while she watches. Her look resembled Halle Berry in Catwoman with an edgy, fuschia-tipped twist.
After very little investigation and a tip from Fish Mooney the duo found a likely suspect: Mario Pepper. After a bit of interrogation at Mario’s home, Mario panics and flees his house, quickly this turns into a full on chase. Bullets firing and missing their intended targets until finally Detective Bullock saves his partner by shooting Mario and killing him with a shot to the chest.
Later from Oswald Cobblepot, a worker and traitor of Mooney’s admits she had the pearl necklace and framed Mario Pepper. He called it a civic duty although it was obviously more sinister than that.
This secret bonds the two detectives because in fear of losing his job, Bullock warns Gordon about releasing the information that Mario Pepper was the wrong guy, after killing him in pursuit. After protests from Gordon, Bullock alludes to not being straight as an arrow like his partner, “This is not a city for nice guys.” Gordon is uneasy with this warning and does not take heed to it.
By the end of the pilot, James Gordon, a man of honesty and integrity reveals to Bruce Wayne that his parents were not killed by Mario Pepper, instead Pepper was framed by the corrupt police department working with the mob. Bruce isn’t upset and with his permission, James Gordon continues to crack the ongoing case that his partner Detective Bullock would rather leave as is, pseudo-solved.
By no means is Gotham the best new series of this year but it surely is a fun and thrilling fall release. It’s smart and has a lot of potential to expand into more plot twists and eventually a great installation to a crime drama lovers Monday night must-see.
