The seasons are changing from summer to fall and that means the new fall line-up is starting. This year the comicbook adaptations are running strong. Returning after previously successful seasons are and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” with “Flash” and “Gotham” as the new kids on the block. “Gotham” premiered on Monday to fairly decent ratings up against the CBS powerhouse, “Big Bang Theory”. The pilot episode gave us the usual overload of introduction story that we’ve come to expect from any comicbook show or movie but it set the tone for another dive into the Batman origins.
The story is all about Detective Gordon but you wouldn’t know that by the introduction. We open with Catwoman witnessing the double murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne in front of young Bruce. Classically done with broken strand of pearls and a screaming Bruce on his knees. We then get to meet Gordon, Detective Bulloch, and how corrupt the whole police force is. It all seems heavy handed but the scene is set well. The design of Gotham PD and Gotham in general gives the show a great background. As the investigation of the Wayne murder unfold, we get a seemingly unending list of cameos. Riddler, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Renee Montoya, and I’m sure the list will skyrocket. The plot thickens and character relationships are developed. Fish Mooney, played by Jada Pinkett-Smith, is our main crime foil to Gordon with an obvious past connection with Bulloch. The episode neatly sets up the meta arc of the season and prepares us for the Dark Knight, boy hero.
All in all, it was a typical pilot for a comicbook show and that makes me strangely satisfied. Both “Arrow” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” started with a fairly weak pilot but spun them into something solid by roughly episode 8/9. The trend is starting to develop with these kinds of projects and I’m hoping that “Gotham” will keep it up. I’m looking forward to all the other shows in development like “Supergirl”, “Teen Titans”, “Sinister Six”, “Daredevil”, “Iron Fist”, and I’ll bet a couple others.
“Gotham” airs on FOX every Monday night at 8pm.
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