Breaking baddies
The dark nights before the Dark Knight…
GOT HAM : SEASON 1 15
2014-15 OUT 5 OCTOBER DVD, BD, DIGITAL HD
If there were any initial concerns about having a Batman show that doesn’t actually feature Batman, they’re entirely justified within just a few episodes of this comic-book crime saga. While Gotham’s pilot does a good job of establishing a city overrun with mobsters and then populates it with plenty of fan-pleasing cameos by supervillains-to-be, the eps that immediately follow highlight exactly how much of a thankless set-up it all is if we are never actually going to get to the Caped Crusader pay-off.
It does at least have a compelling lead in Ben McKenzie. The erstwhile star of The O.C. plays Detective James Gordon with bubbling intensity as he struggles to uphold the exact letter of the law while faced with overwhelming corruption within the Gotham City Police Department. New in town and partnered with jaded cop Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), Gordon quickly befriends a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and becomes embroiled in an historic power battle between two criminal kingpins – which is exacerbated by low-level gopher Oswald Cobblepot’s (Robin Lord Taylor) attempts to manipulate his way up the food chain.
Taking the entire first half of its season to find its feet, the show struggles early on to find a balance between an adult tone and its camper comic-book roots, alternating between the bloody brutality of a vicious serial killer and the ridiculous supervillainy of baddies like ‘the Balloonman’. It’s a problem that comes across in the cast too, with Taylor, Cory Michael Smith (as Edward Nygma) and Jada Pinkett Smith (gangster Fish Mooney) all performing at pantomime level in what is elsewhere trying to be a serious crime drama.
It’s during the latter half of its run, when the show knuckles down to concentrate on the longer story arc of its ongoing gang warfare, that Gotham finally finds its feet. We see the cause and effect of the various power plays that slowly escalate towards the finale’s gripping showdown; meanwhile, Gordon compromises his own moral code in trying to restore justice to the city. Compelling stuff…
...But it still feels stricken with terminal prequelitis – the sense that all components are simply being moved into place ready for the Dark Knight’s arrival, which just isn’t coming anytime soon. As such, Gotham feels like it is just permanently spinning its wheels, knowing full well that, whatever good Gordon can achieve, the city will still need Batman some day. With season two on the way, you have to hope that showrunner Bruno Heller is allowed to make a bold move and, for the purposes of the show, make a significant change to the Batman canon. Only then will Gotham get the show it deserves.
Extras › Extended pilot › Deleted scenes › Featurettes › Character profiles › Gag reel