Danny Cannon and Bruno Heller’s
Gotham had its season premiere last night to a pretty positive reception. There was arguably quite a bit of negative buzz going into the show from CBM fans, but overall, I felt the show got off to a solid, if unspectacular, start. Below is a list of what I liked, and disliked, about the
Pilot – and what I’m excited about in coming episodes.
The Good
Oswald Cobblepot
Hand’s down my favourite character in the episode, actor Robin Lord Taylor plays Oswald to perfection – equally as brutal as he is slimy. His cowardly, conniving future Penguin will likely prove to be a key supporting act this season – potentially building towards becoming an excellent ‘Big Bad’ for future seasons.
Jim Gordon
Ben McKenzie couldn’t have done much more as Jim Gordon in the
Pilot. Quiet, level headed and brave, with a unique sense of morality, he is perhaps the only truly ‘good’ character audiences will be able to root for. McKenzie never puts a foot wrong in the role, and makes for a likeable conflicted hero.
GCPD Corruption
A lot of effort was put into the Pilot’s story to highlight just how alone Gordon really is in the GCPD. While his partner Bullock proves to have a heart, his ties to Fish Mooney and his own drinking problems don’t make reliable at all. So far, it really does seem that Gordon is waging a one-man war against corruption in Gotham – not an enviable task.
The Bad
A Little Crowded
There were an awful lot of Batman references in the
Pilot, and while The Penguin, Selina and Bruce Wayne worked, shoehorning in ‘Ivy Pepper’ and ‘Edward Nigma’ didn’t really add much to the story at this stage. Additionally, I’d have loved to for the big Falcone reveal to come a few more episodes in, and the crime lord just be referred to for now.
The Dialogue
My big problem with the early half of the episode was with a lot of the dialogue and writing. Often coming out as either silly or heavy-handed, it lacked the quality of other top-level crime TV shows that I’d hope
Gotham would emulate (e.g.
The Wire). Bullock and Mooney appeared to suffer the most from this – often coming across as a little corny.
Alfred Pennyworth
I like Sean Pertwee, I really enjoyed his limited time on
Elementary last year as Lestrade, but here he felt a little off as everyone’s favourite butler. While Alfred we’ve known in the past has been both caring and wise, Pertwee’s came across as just… rude? Hoepfully this was only due to limited screen time, and I reckon we’ll soon warm up to him in the coming weeks.
The Exciting
“There’s A War Coming”
Cobblepot’s claims of an impending gang war sets up a very exciting dynamic between Fish Mooney, Carmine Falcone the war for power over Gotham (Black Mask maybe?). This is a huge chance to really explore that side of Batman’s villains - who were given the short end of the stick in Nolan’s
Dark Knight Trilogy.
Who Killed The Wayne's?
An interesting early avenue for the show to follow, hopefully this will only be a side-plot in the early episodes – as it has the potential to grow tiresome if overused.
Well there you have it folks! What d’you think – do you guys have any other favourite moments from Gotham’s first episode? And what did you think of the Pilot overall?
Comment below and let me know, and hit the big
thumbs up if you liked this!
Also, if you’re a fan of TV shows like
Gotham,
Agents Of SHIELD,
The Blacklist and
Arrow, be sure to check out my
blog below. I do weekly reviews of episodes, and little pieces like this too.
The Tiny Screen