A day late, but I finally got to see the first episode of the new television series Gotham. Leading up to the debut of the show, I was excited to finally get a Batman based television show. Yes I know "Birds Of Prey" existed for almost a whole season on the former WB Network, but Batman never made an appearance, even if only as Bruce Wayne. In fact the only allusion to Bruce Wayne in a live action series since "Batman" from the '60's was in Smallville in a Lex Luthor flashback to his teenage days when one of his fellow students was named Bruce. Finally as a DC Comics fan, I finally got to see a Bruce Wayne on television--that wasn't doing a Bat-Toosie.
Unfortunately, I came away with both hope and anger from the pilot episode. I'll start with the negatives and wrap it up with the positives. Also I'm using the picture below to divide the intro of this blog from the pros and cons so I don't spoil anything for anyone who has yet to watch the show. So if you have yet to watch the show, do not read past this...
The Cons:
I'm not exactly sure where to start, so I'll go character by character.
Oswald Cobblepot has a significant role in the pilot episode...but as a lackey to Fish Mooney. By this point, he should be an established boss himself. His family was one of the First Families of Gotham along with the Wayne family, the Kanes, the Elliots, and the Crownes. He is from a family of wealth and shouldn't be rubbing feet of local gang bosses and running around like a butler. The writers also heavily emphasized that he is nicknamed the Penguin, which in the show, the character hates. It almost happens so much, some of the characters almost seem to go out of their way to call him that. Cobblepot in the comics wasn't ashamed or angered by his Penguin nickname, but so far in the show he is. Hopefully he will adopt it.
Selina Kyle is introduced in the pilot as mainly an observer. She is an hidden witness to the murder of Bruce's parents which is unlike the comics. If she witnessed the murder, I wouldn't have expected her to try to interfere, but just her presence seems a bit off. Selina also appears to be wearing an early version of a Catwoman costume, but she never took on that persona until she was an adult in the comics. The actress who plays her, Camren Bicondova, is fifteen years old in real life and it appears so far that is the age of her character. In the comics, she is slightly younger than Bruce Wayne, yet appears to be at least three years older that Bruce in this show. Lastly, most of the developments that turn her to becoming Catwoman, happened in her early adult years. Unless Gotham skips some years into the future or the show goes on for at least four or maybe five seasons, I don't see how you can properly develop her character as a prominent character in this show.
Ivy Pepper is a big spike to the heart for me. First off, this is the character that is supposed to be Poison Ivy, but Poison Ivy's name in the comics is Pamela Isley (Lillian Rose originally). She appears to be no older than seven to eight years old, which would make the age about right in comparison to Bruce, but she never becomes a villain until she's at least in college. Pamela grew up in an abusive home and the Mario Pepper character that's her father fits that role, but he is killed in the pilot while the mother lives on. In the comics, he kills Pamela's mother and buries her in the garden. I also don't like that with this character, as I stated it will at least a good ten or eleven years before she starts doing anything "evil" and that's only pheromone pills to fellow college students. She eventually becomes one of the biggest eco-terrorist alive, but not until her adult years. Introducing her character seems to be way too early.
Edward Nigma played a small role in Gotham as a coroner for the Gotham P.D. In the comics, there has never been an origin story that ever mentioned that he worked for the police department as a coroner. In either version of his origin story, he never works for the public sector. He was a carney in one version and a Wayne Enterprises employee in another.
Another stickler, despite how small the detail might be, was that when Gordon meets Bruce Wayne for the first time at the murder scene, he is supportive, but distant. In the comics and even in the Nolan-verse, Gordon puts his jacket on a young Bruce and the kid cries his eyes out. In the show, Bruce already has a blanket on, so I understand not trying to place his jacket on the kid, but there isn't that connection really. It was that simple connection that kept Gordon in Bruce's memory as he got older and built that first layer of trust between the two, even though Gordon is unaware that Bruce is Batman.
Other negatives that bugged me included the small nod to the Joker, the harlequin dancers, and the Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen team up. It seemed that the writers were trying to prove their knowledge of DC Comics and stuff everyone they could into the first episode. The comedian who entertained Fish Mooney was clearly the nod to Joker's origin as a failed comedian. The harlequin dancers on the stage when Gordon first met Mooney is a small nod to Harley Quinn. They wore the red and black alternating colors in their lingerie. Finally the duo of Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen. While Allen and Montoya were partners at one point in the comics, it was because Commissioner Gordon is the one that assigned them together. Gordon in the show is younger and lower ranked than her unlike the comics. It also seems to early to introduce Crispus Allen to the show as well.
The Positives:
Donal Logue plays a good Harvey Bullock. He is content on living with organized crime, instead of trying to take it down like Gordon wants. Bollock comes off as a borderline villain himself, but being the first episode, it gives him plenty of time to develop as a character and redeem himself bit by bit.
A Batman show that has Montoya! Now, I know I just complained a couple of paragraphs ago about her role, but the fact that the writers included her in the show is great. In the comics, she is a cop that eventually washes out from an alcohol addition and almost fades away until The Question takes her under his wings and mentors her to take his place. She played the role of The Question extremely well in the comics and I hope that there is some nod to her possible future as the show goes on. I just wished that they didn't make her character older and higher ranked than Gordon. She also has some sort of hidden past with the future Mrs. Gordon, which if played right, can be awesome or fail horribly. I'm still on the fence about that, but I am hopeful.
David Mazouz is the kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is given the task of playing the pre-teen Bruce Wayne. From a casting standpoint, he appears to be a good pick. Visually he looks like he could be a young Bruce Wayne and he appears to have the gravitas to pull off the brooding personality.
Crispus Allen makes an appearance! While it's too early in my opinion, for him to be part of the Batman world, I think it's great that the future Spectre is on the show. Knowing his future role in the comics, I am going to keep my eye out for a Gotham cop named Jim Corrigan, who is Allen's murderer. Should be interesting since both Allen and Corrigan play host to The Spectre. While the show so far has played like a real life drama, I wonder if they'll add the supernatural element then when or if Allen is killed.
Ben McKenzie of The OC fame takes on the lead role of James Gordon. So far after one episode, all is well. He seems to have that unwavering quality about him that he fights for good, no matter what. He breaks up the beating of the Fish Mooney lackey, saves Cobblepot's life by faking his murder, and promises Bruce that he will find Thomas and Martha's killer. I hope that they don't necessarily play this up too much verbally, but instead continue to show that he's THE good guy by his actions. The only thing he needs is the mustache, but there's time to grow that as the show progresses.
Lastly, I sort of like the role of Fish Mooney played by Jada Pinkett Smith, but I'm torn at the same time. While I do admit to liking a show more when it follows comic book cannon as closely as possible, sometimes there does need to be a little variance to give the show it's own personality. Fish Mooney doesn't exist in cannon, but I wonder if her character is derived from a pre-existing midlevel boss such as Great White. While not disfigured like Warren White was, she shares the aquatic theme and is placed about the same level of "boss hood" as Great White was in the comics. Warren White went mad and adopted his Great White role and maybe that's something similar to what the writers have planned for Fish Mooney. I also can foresee a bad pun coming up soon when Cobblepot eventually overthrows her (he already has shown interest in doing show) from his position..."Penguins eat fish".
Last Thoughts:
I like the prospects of the show so far. The potential is there to be great, but also to be bad. I'm hopeful that the writers keep it a little closer to cannon and don't take too many liberties with the Batman universe. They already have with Fish Mooney, but there was room there to create a midlevel crime boss that early into Bruce's life. It's not as if the biggest comic book readers can identify all the midlevel bosses of Gotham before Batman came around. Gotham producers seem to have casted Bruce Wayne, James Gordon, and Fish Mooney well. I just hope that future roles keep up the decent casting they've done so far. I hope to see future appearances by other Gotham staples such as Thomas Elliot (Bruce's old best friend and future Hush), the Flying Graysons, and maybe some hints or mention of The Court Of Owls. If done right, I can see this show lasting as long as Smallville did and hopefully it ends with some sort of glimpse of a young Batman.
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