Gotham
Premiere Date
September 22nd, 2014. 8pm FOX
Cast
Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman, Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen, Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/the future Riddler, Victoria Cartagena as Renee Montoya, Andrew Stewart Jones as Crispus Allen, John Doman as Carmine Falcone.
Premise
What if James Gordon was the rookie detective that investigated the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents?
Biggest Challenge
How the writers and showrunners keep an audience’s attention week after week, without Batman in their show. The show seems to be a crime procedural with multi-episode arcs, which is an appropriate approach. However, if they don’t handle the supporting characters and particularly the villains who inhabit Gotham City with complexity, the series will be in trouble. Gotham must maintain a fresh and inventive approach, or viewers will not keep coming back to the show. Especially if the new interpretations of fan favorite characters don’t feel authentic and respectful of the comics. It will be a delicate tightrope for the creators to walk week-to-week.
What the Series Has Going For It
The characters of Gotham City. Gotham will not feature Batman, but it does feature a young Bruce Wayne, who is on his path towards his dark future. Jim Gordon is the true hero of Gotham City in this time period and seeing him work his way up the ranks, should be what carries this series for the long run.
There are also a host of everyday supporting characters that casual viewers may not be aware of, such as Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya. These characters will bring the city to life and make it feel real, as you see different perspectives on how to survive in the decaying Gotham City. Exploring the police department and the corruption that has corroded it from within, giving need to a Batman in the future, will be as interesting as seeing the villains back-stories unfold.
The villains who fans know from the comics and previous movies, is what the creators will use to keep audience’s attention. Batman rogues’ gallery has a wide range of criminals that could easily fit into a real world cop show. There are others that belong in a science-fiction movie. However the creators aren’t putting any self-limitations on who will appear on the show. This is what series showrunner Bruno Heller had to say, to Female First, about including iconic villains on the show:
“We haven’t excluded anyone from the mix potentially, but generally what we’re looking at is characters where there is some drama or a story behind how they got to be the way they are.” Of course, as those involved with the Fox series have already said, we won’t be seeing any of them suiting up or utilising an array of superpowers anytime soon! “We’re looking for characters who live in the real world of Gotham as opposed to the even more super real world of Metropolis if you like. It’s not about super powers, it’s about super will, if you like. We veer towards those characters who are interesting as people, rather than interesting for their particular power or their particular gimmick or their costume…There are certainly characters that would be very difficult to put on the screen. That crocodile guy [Killer Croc] is a tough one – although we may go there…”
The core of the first season is already being supporting by youthful versions of Catwoman, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Poison Ivy, with plans for Joker and Mr. Freeze in seasons to come. No one is out of bounds. It will be exciting for long-term Batman fans to see how the personal histories of the various super-criminals will be adapted for the small screen. If they find a way to make an eight-foot tall talking crocodile believable, anything will be possible for their show.
Killer Croc
Biggest Hurdle
From the first episode it seems that the show will be full of future bad guys. Seems like a bit of an overkill, plus they all coincidentally know each other as well. If you think about it, from a comic book standpoint, it makes all the supervillain team-ups when they are older make sense. However, from an episodic TV show it could begin to feel formulaic quickly. It will be up to the writers to make sure they don’t fall into a freak-of-the-week crime procedural. Hopefully they allow each iconic villain’s development to play out for long stretches or seasons, similar to Breaking Bad. If not, fans will be begging for Bruce Wayne to suit up and the series will have lost its purpose.
Outlook
The series seems to have grit, yet a thick layer of TV sheen and gloss on it. Definitely words that should not come to mind when discussing a city such as Gotham. Hopefully the pilot makes the world feel real and gives purpose to all of the characters we are familiar with. After seeing these clips its hard to not imagine what this show could be on a cable network. It will be a tough road convincing viewers that this show is just as legitimate as other high-quality shows now available. If they do, we could be seeing a lot of Gotham for years to come.
Are you going to be checking out Gotham? Let us know on the comment boards, and !
Sources: Female First, Collider