TV Review: Gotham

At this point in time we have to conclude that the origin story of Batman is our culture’s Iliad and Odyssey. The tale has been told, retold, re-imagined, re-booted, and translated into every language on Earth.  So while most of time it is safe to call yet another remake a lack of creativity, in the case of the new TV series Gotham it’s more like another caveman gathering us around a campfire to tell the tale for posterity.

Gotham has been described as “Batman without Batman,” which is both fair and unfair. Fair, if the pilot episode is any indication, because the series is going to endlessly tease us with references to what young Master Bruce Wayne will become someday. Unfair because by now the town known as Gotham City has evolved into an entity in its own right, as vibrant and realistic as New York City or Oz. Why shouldn't we be clued in on its origin story as well?

It main character is a neophyte detective named Jim Gordon, who we know will one day become Commissioner Gordon, the man who turns on the big spotlight with the bat symbol on it.  Ben McKenzie, fresh from Southland, plays Gordon with an intensity that was missing from the Commissioner Gordon on the 1960’s series. The dialog tells us he is a war veteran whose father was a crusading District Attorney.  Either that was a long time ago or he didn't crusade enough, because now Gotham is an utterly corrupt metropolis, with the police department barely feigning any interest in fighting crime.

The corruption is embodied by Gordon’s partner, Harvey Bulloch, played with his usual scruffiness by Donal Logue. Before Bulloch can show is new partner “the ropes” they are stuck with a big case, the murder of Thomas and Martha Kent in an alley, in front of their son Bruce. Instead of seeing it as a career making case, Bulloch is annoyed that it will be so high-profile he won’t be able to sweep it under the rug. Gordon makes a promise to Bryce Wayne that he will find the killer, but the audience knows that things won’t be resolved that neatly.

The series looks great, with Gotham alternating between grim dayscapes and even gloomier night scenes (this city must get maybe one day of sunshine per year). Of course it is filled with colorful characters, like Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) as a crime boss, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) whose odd gait and bad teeth make people call him a penguin, and Selina Kyle (Cameron Bicondova) who moves around with a certain feline grace.  Nudge nudge, wink wink.

The pilot does an excellent job of setting up the players, making it clear (but not too clear) whose side everyone is on, The acting is first rate (for a show based on a graphic novel), and heaven knows the Batman mythos is deep enough to expand upon.  The challenge will be to bring out the interstices in the Gotham mythology while not violating the story line the world is so very familiar with.

Gotham is off to an excellent start. But then I also thought Arrow got off to an excellent start, and while it is enjoying continued success I grew weary of it halfway through its first season. It is one thing to start off occupying a known space; it is another to find new ways to make it interesting. Gotham benefits from the long exposure it’s had in the public imagination, but that just means it will need to contribute to the mythology and not just feed off it.