The Sun Is Going Down On “Gotham”

Gotham City

FOX has a hit on its hands…..at least in my opinion, with the wonderful series called Gotham.  It follows a young and well-intentioned James Gordon, freshly dubbed Detective Gordon, as he and his senior partner, Harvey Bullock, tackle crime in the very crime-ridden town of Gotham City.  This story takes place before Batman is Batman, before Poison Ivy is Poison Ivy, and at the dawn of characters like Catwoman and Penguin.

For those of you who have not seen any of the episodes of this program so far, you might want to stop reading NOW.

The series begins with Bruce Wayne witnessing the murder of his parents for some pearls and money.  All of this is seen through the eyes of young Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova).  We then see Gordon (Benjamin McKenzie) getting teamed up with Bullock (the always enjoyable Donal Logue) despite the latter’s multiple angry requests for such a pairing to not occur.  They are attempting to find out who murdered Bruce Wayne’s parents.    On the surface, it looks like a random hold-up that ends with the death of innocents, but there is something deeper and darker just under the surface.

As the dynamic duo attempt to solve the crime, Gordon finds out very quickly that Bullock isn’t necessarily the cleanest of cops.  Using criminal sources and less-than-proper interrogation methods, Bullock gets answers, but not the ones he is looking for.  Eventually the services of Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) are called upon and we get our first glimpse of Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), also known as the Penguin.  Mooney provides a quick and easy frame job to make the city of Gotham rest a bit.  She sets up the future Poison Ivy’s father for the murder, and he in turn is murdered for his troubles.

Mooney then gets caught up in a scandal herself, and recommends Bullock to make Gordon murder Cobblepot to prove his worth.  This leads into the second episode of the season which finds homeless and street kids going missing.  Gordon and Bullock are on the case once again and we get a deeper look at not only the development of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), but also Selina Kyle.  Hints of another villain, the Dollmaker, are also tossed about, and we get a second but brief look at Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), who will eventually become the Riddler.

I like this series.  It has a very solid cast, especially Taylor as the Penguin, Mazouz as Bruce, and Bicondova as Selina.  Logue hams it up a bit, but not so much that it’s unbelievable.  If there’s one weak link in the whole series, I’d have to say it’s Pinkett Smith.  She is either intentionally over-acting to bluff her constituents OR she’s just doing a poor job.  Hopefully she’s just portraying a character that is scared to lose power and is attempting to look overly secure and/or tough.

Taylor has stolen the show as far as I’m concerned.  He hasn’t had nearly as much screen time as most of the other primary players, but he’s brilliant in each moment he does have.  Hopefully we will see Penguin rise to power soon.

The newest episode hits tonight, and I’m finally looking forward to Monday night television again.  Sadly I am missing The Big Bang Theory (although I’m watching it on CBS’ website a week later), but Gotham is just a cool program.  I can’t wait to see the rest of the characters get fleshed out more.  If the program is a success, I’m guessing that Batman will eventually make an appearance.

Kudos, FOX, for an excellent program.  Now just don’t go all Firefly on it and cancel it before the first season is complete!