NOTE: This and other TV reviews will not be a straight-up recap, as I'm not interested in simply recounting the episode verbatim. Instead, I will discuss events which occur in each episode, providing my opinion of that week's installment as well as the show as a whole. Each review will be separated into two parts, the first without spoilers and the second with. I hope you enjoy.
Gotham - "Pilot" (1x01) FOX, Mondays, 8 p.m.
Of all of the new shows set to debut this fall, FOX's "Gotham" interested me the most. It doesn't hurt that Batman has always been one of my favorite comic book characters. Christopher Nolan left an indelible mark on the franchise with his "Dark Knight" trilogy, so any new version, even on television, has a high bar to meet. Fortunately, at least through the first episode, "Gotham" does quite well.
Set in the fictional city of Gotham made famous by nearly a century of "Batman" comics, the series is striving to do something different. Instead of depicting the brutal deaths of Martha and Thomas Wayne, who leave behind a scarred young boy in Bruce Wayne, only to then quickly time jump forward some 15 years to the birth of the Caped Crusader, "Gotham" stays put after the couple's murder in a dirty alley.
Centering on Gotham newcomer, Det. James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, "Southland"), the pilot episode follows him as he discovers the seedier side of his adopted city, including that of his partner, Det. Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, "Sons of Anarchy").
During their pursuit of the Waynes' murder, we come across mobster Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), a young Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), an equally young Ivy Pepper (Clare Foley), forensic scientist Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), mob underling Oswalt Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) and even major crime detective Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena).
Fans of the comics, or the various film incarnations, will recognize most, if not all of those names, Fish Mooney being the most obscure. Carmine Falcone (John Doman) also plays an important role in the pilot episode.
Having only seen the first episode, it is hard to decide whether in the long term this is going to play out as a case-of-the-week cop drama, with the comic-book themes story lines running along side, or if it's going to be more serial in nature. Either way, it should be an interesting ride, and already has a darker, grittier feel than most of the other television comic book adaptations out there.
But ultimately this is going to be a ride that can't end too happily, with Gordon leading a charge to clean up his department and the city, because if the side of law wins the day, there will be no need for Bruce Wayne to become Batman.
I knew there was no way Gordon was going to solve the Waynes' murder in the first episode. I though Falcone's explanation that his organization wanted the murder "solved" as quickly as the police made logical sense from his perspective, and made me think Falcone is going to be an interesting character to follow, much like Elias in "Person of Interest."
While the cast was solid from top to bottom, the acting nod for this episode has to go to Taylor for his work at the one-day Penguin, even if his character hates the moniker. I thought Harvey having Gordon walk Oswald to the end of the pier to shoot him without following a bit cliche, and one of the few nitpicks I had with the story. The other being Harvey's insistence that they would lose their jobs if the truth of Mario Pepper's innocence became known. The guy had a knife and was about to stab Gordon. Regardless of whether Harvey is a dirty cop or not (he is), it appeared to be a clean shooting.
Speaking of Harvey, Logue gets the second-place nod on the acting, making the detective feel three dimensional, especially with his interactions with Gordon.
As I said in the spoiler-free section, it's hard to figure out after one episode just how the show is going to work long-term. I think case-of-the-week episodes, with Easter eggs from the vast Batman mythology can work pretty well, especially with McKenzie and Logue as the leads.
On the other hand, we already have several overarching threads beginning to develop, including just who killed the Waynes (with the extra question if it turns out be a contract killer, who hired him) as well as a revenge-seeking Oswald, whose continued breathing could (and probably will) spell trouble for Gordon in the future. We also have the question of the connection between Barbara Kean (Gordon's fiance) and Montoya, who just happens to have been a lesbian for most of her comic book run.
Overall, this was one of more solid pilot episodes I've seen in awhile, one in which it feels like the series already has a firm grasp of its tone and direction. Only time will tell if it can actually pull it off.
Gotham - "Pilot" (1x01) FOX, Mondays, 8 p.m.
Of all of the new shows set to debut this fall, FOX's "Gotham" interested me the most. It doesn't hurt that Batman has always been one of my favorite comic book characters. Christopher Nolan left an indelible mark on the franchise with his "Dark Knight" trilogy, so any new version, even on television, has a high bar to meet. Fortunately, at least through the first episode, "Gotham" does quite well.
Set in the fictional city of Gotham made famous by nearly a century of "Batman" comics, the series is striving to do something different. Instead of depicting the brutal deaths of Martha and Thomas Wayne, who leave behind a scarred young boy in Bruce Wayne, only to then quickly time jump forward some 15 years to the birth of the Caped Crusader, "Gotham" stays put after the couple's murder in a dirty alley.
Centering on Gotham newcomer, Det. James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, "Southland"), the pilot episode follows him as he discovers the seedier side of his adopted city, including that of his partner, Det. Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, "Sons of Anarchy").
During their pursuit of the Waynes' murder, we come across mobster Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), a young Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), an equally young Ivy Pepper (Clare Foley), forensic scientist Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), mob underling Oswalt Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) and even major crime detective Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena).
Fans of the comics, or the various film incarnations, will recognize most, if not all of those names, Fish Mooney being the most obscure. Carmine Falcone (John Doman) also plays an important role in the pilot episode.
Having only seen the first episode, it is hard to decide whether in the long term this is going to play out as a case-of-the-week cop drama, with the comic-book themes story lines running along side, or if it's going to be more serial in nature. Either way, it should be an interesting ride, and already has a darker, grittier feel than most of the other television comic book adaptations out there.
But ultimately this is going to be a ride that can't end too happily, with Gordon leading a charge to clean up his department and the city, because if the side of law wins the day, there will be no need for Bruce Wayne to become Batman.
BEYOND HERE THERE BE SPOILERS
I knew there was no way Gordon was going to solve the Waynes' murder in the first episode. I though Falcone's explanation that his organization wanted the murder "solved" as quickly as the police made logical sense from his perspective, and made me think Falcone is going to be an interesting character to follow, much like Elias in "Person of Interest."
While the cast was solid from top to bottom, the acting nod for this episode has to go to Taylor for his work at the one-day Penguin, even if his character hates the moniker. I thought Harvey having Gordon walk Oswald to the end of the pier to shoot him without following a bit cliche, and one of the few nitpicks I had with the story. The other being Harvey's insistence that they would lose their jobs if the truth of Mario Pepper's innocence became known. The guy had a knife and was about to stab Gordon. Regardless of whether Harvey is a dirty cop or not (he is), it appeared to be a clean shooting.
Speaking of Harvey, Logue gets the second-place nod on the acting, making the detective feel three dimensional, especially with his interactions with Gordon.
As I said in the spoiler-free section, it's hard to figure out after one episode just how the show is going to work long-term. I think case-of-the-week episodes, with Easter eggs from the vast Batman mythology can work pretty well, especially with McKenzie and Logue as the leads.
On the other hand, we already have several overarching threads beginning to develop, including just who killed the Waynes (with the extra question if it turns out be a contract killer, who hired him) as well as a revenge-seeking Oswald, whose continued breathing could (and probably will) spell trouble for Gordon in the future. We also have the question of the connection between Barbara Kean (Gordon's fiance) and Montoya, who just happens to have been a lesbian for most of her comic book run.
Overall, this was one of more solid pilot episodes I've seen in awhile, one in which it feels like the series already has a firm grasp of its tone and direction. Only time will tell if it can actually pull it off.
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