Fox has a potential hit on their hands just at the mention of the title of their new series, Gotham. Already you have a fan draw for people who read Batman comics, watch the movies, or have been fans of other television versions of the Caped Crusader.
The world may be watching, and that can be a heavy cup to bare.
Fortunately Gotham has been well cast, and very well written. We get to meet a young James Gordon, the one good cop in a city of corruption. Already in this episode we see that his morality will be tested at every turn. We find ourselves pulling for him, wanting him to be our white knight to fight back at the darkness.
Along the way, we meet Bruce Wayne, who opens the show (after a brief introduction of Selina Kyle, the soon to be Catwoman) witnessing the murder of his parents. We know this story, and we’ve seen it before, but when delivered correctly, still breaks your heart.
James and Bruce meet soon after, and you can see this is the beginning of a trusting friendship that will help guide Bruce in his new path without Jim knowing he’s doing it.
We meet Oswald Cobblepot, who seems to be playing his own angles and hides a very dark side behind a slightly nerdy exterior.
Briefly we meet Edward Nygma, who actually was born a under a different name, but no need to confuse the casual Bat-fan. We recognize him, and his many questions right away.
And then the slight misstep, we meet….Ivy Pepper? The casual Bat-fan won’t notice, but the more solid fans will wonder why the name change was necessary to introduce Poison Ivy to the audience. Could she not still be called Pamela Isley for now?
That’s a minor issue, and likely won’t matter, as this episode seemed to be an hour long teaser of what we might expect from this new series. We don’t know where it’s going, but I think we can enjoy the ride.
