2014 Fall TV Review: Gotham

Before there was Batman, there was Gotham.  The dark and seedy city, where crime and corruption thrive.  Our hero in FOX's take on the DC comics classic city, is not the Caped Crusader, but rather Detective James Gordon, played by Ben McKenzie.


We are brought into Gordon's world because he and his partner, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), get called to investigate a murder.  Thomas and Martha Wayne were mugged and murdered on their way home from the movies. Their young son Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) witnessed the entire thing.  For some reason, they also have Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), a.k.a. Catwoman, witness this awful crime.

So Gordon and Bullock are given the case that 75 years of Batman history has never solved:

Find the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents.

Sure, you've got your Joe Chills and your Red Hoods, but the entire point of that "unsolvable" case, is that it creates the Dark Knight detective.

Gotham really wants you to know that it is a Batman show.  The not so subtle nods to Catwoman, The Riddler, The Penguin, and Poison Ivy in the first 20 minutes are groan worthy.

We get it, you want to appeal to nerds, fine, but if that is where you're trying to go`, remember this:

A Batman show without Batman, is not Batman.

Confusing?  Let me lay it all out.  Essentially, we are looking at a crime drama set in the fictional DC universe, right?  The way Gotham is set up, is to place it before Batman's arrival, because Bruce Wayne is just a child.  You with me so far?  My point is, we don't need any characters other than Gordon and Bullock to carry this show.  I don't need to see The Penguin as a lackey to know he's crazy.

Gotham is a world where the writers can do anything they want, make all new bad guys to take down, and show us the perfect blend between comic books and detective work.  Instead, they are giving us fan service with useless characters.  They did create Fish Moody, played by Jada Pinkett Smith, which has to be one of the dumbest character names in the history of TV.

I pretty much love Donal Logue, I even watched every episode of The Knights of Prosperity, but I don't really like him in this show.  Something is off about the whole pilot.  Ben McKenzie is not an actor I'm very familiar with, but I don't believe him as a "good guy."  Everyone is telling me that he's a good guy, he defends his honesty, but I don't see any of that in him.

I've never really been sure about this concept, and after watching it I am even less sure.  The only reason I checked it out was because Bruno Heller, creator of The Mentalist, is the show runner on Gotham, and I love me some Mentalist.  That says it all, a guy who loves The Mentalist couldn't get into this show.

So I'll tune in next week to give it a shot, but there is a huge possibility that I will not be watching any after that.  I already watch a bunch of shows I barely like, and Gotham just doesn't feel like it will get much better.