On Monday, September 22, we got our first glimpse into the world of Gotham, and it was certainly an interesting one. As the pilot episode, it did its job of introducing us to the characters we’ll be spending some time with throughout the series (Gordon, Bullock, Penguin, etc.), and while it may have been a bit crowded with characters and Easter Eggs at times, I for one chalk that up mostly to what I just said– the pilot has to introduce the characters. Hopefully the references will get a little less in-your-face as the season and the show as a whole progress.
Gotham, from what I’ve seen so far, is a show that has delivered where it has to for Bat-fans and newcomers to the lore alike. They handled an important Batman moment well (the death of the Waynes), and the show appears to be making good on its early promise that it will be more focused on Jim Gordon and the GCPD than baby Bruce.
That said, the true star of Gotham‘s first episode is neither a cop nor a Wayne, but a penguin. The Penguin, to be precise– Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot. Taylor’s one to keep an eye on as Gotham gets moving– he steals scenes left and right in the pilot, and by the look of the promos for next week’s episode, his rise to power in Gotham City is going to be a major element of the season 1 plot of Gotham, and perhaps the general trajectory of the show as a whole.
Overall, Gotham has a lot of promise– the pilot stacked a lot of dominoes that surely are primed to topple throughout the season (Cobblepot, Falcone, and the relationship between Barbara Kean and Renee Montoya being among the more prominent ones.) To pull from The Long Halloween for my final verdict, well, I’ll let Bruce say it:
I believe in Gotham. Time to hope that everybody else does too.
SCORE: 9/10
