Gotham S01E01 "Pilot" Review

And here we are ladies and gentlemen, "Gotham" has arrived. Before we get to the review proper, let me give you some background on my impressions of this series. My expectations were low going into this, mostly because the production seemed rushed, I mean hell, they announced they were making a "Gotham" series this year (I do believe) and it came out this year. Also, with the primary focus being on Jim Gordon and not on Batman, I figured it'd seem more like a Batman story without Batman...which isn't exactly a good idea because let's face it, as much as I like Jim Gordon, he isn't a character that can hold up an entire story by himself. However the Batman element is what separates this from being just another run of the mill cop drama, but that Batman element isn't present...so are they gonna make this work?

Needless to say, I was pretty on the fence, the trailer didn't look all that impressive and the fact that Jada Pinkett is in the cast and playing one of the main villains, an original character named Fish Mooney, things did not bode well for this series from where I was sitting. So with all that said, let's get to the review proper and find out what's going on in "Gotham".

To be honest, this wasn't bad, certainly wasn't great. The best thing about this is Jim Gordon but outside of that, nothing else really matters. The series opens up with Selina Kyle doing a series of robberies and becoming a witness to The Wayne Murders. Right off the bat, I like the fact that Joe Chill wasn't found right away, I like that it's more of a struggle. Jim Gordon comes off as he's supposed to, the last honest cop in a city gone wrong and that's pretty cool. Harvey Bullock is a solid character too, you get his entire struggle completely and the dynamic they have, although worn, is pretty good. Although, Harvey Bullock is an idiot, just like you never go ass to mouth, in the same way you never get into a shoot out in a police station.

There are some unavoidable issues I have with this series, so let's get to it, Jada Pinkett Smith is pretty freakin' horrible as Fish Mooney. Jada's a competent actress but as a villain she's trying WAY too hard to be menacing and she comes off as pretty hammy and the faux mild-British accent isn't helping her at all. Edward Nygma working in the police station, NO! That doesn't work for me at all.And Ivy Pepper...seriously, HER NAME IS PAMELA ISLEY! I don't care for these changes and I'm none too keen on where they'll lead. Because we know that we won't see these characters actualized in the series, because they're Batman's foes and not Gordon's and that's the real struggle this series has, giving us villains from the Batman mythos without giving us Batman's villains.

Please tell me this prick isn't The Joker...

People like The Joker, Bane, The Riddler and Two-Face won't show up but The Penguin is out and about and I like what they're doing with him, but outside of mob figures, people like Falcone and Black Mask and Victor Zsasz there really isn't anybody compelling enough to keep this series afloat. Also is this series going to be serial or episodic? It'd have to be a serial in order to keep it from being a paint by the numbers cop drama, but it doesn't have enough going on for it to be a serial, unless the first season is going to be the hunt for Joe Chill.

Watching Batman grow into Bruce Wayne isn't nearly as interesting as FOX hoped it would be, after all Batman isn't as interesting as Superman in terms of development, which is what "Smallville" got right. After all, Batman doesn't have super powers he discovers little by little, he has to work out and get stronger and more importantly grow up! There's a reason why The CW is owning in terms of DC comic superheroes, because they start them off at the most interesting point of their lives. "Arrow" didn't start with an entire season on the island, and "Flash" didn't start with Barry as just a regular guy. In both "Arrow" and "Flash" they have the suits, the powers/skills and the enemies are coming outta the wood work but in "Gotham" as great as Jim Gordon is, they got their work cut out for them in terms of making this series interesting.

Tell that bitch I'll cut him!

In conclusion, I don't see "Gotham" last very long, not without a SERIOUS game changer in the next episode because otherwise people are just gonna see this as a mildly interesting cop drama, because at the end of the day, that's all it is and that's all it will be. Here's to hoping I'm wrong, but let's face it, after "Bird Of Prey" pretty much any Batman related TV show isn't built to make it without the caped crusader.