While the Batman films of Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher and Christopher Nolan have kept the focus strictly on the Caped Crusader himself, Gotham the television series turns the spotlight on the place he fiercely protects and calls home. Rookie detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is paired with veteran detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) to investigate the murder of two of the city’s most influential citizens: Thomas and Martha Wayne (in case you haven’t figured it out yet, Gotham is essentially a Batman origin story).
However, while the season provides several looks at young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), the main focus is on Jim Gordon and his efforts to do his job. We met Gordon on just his first day on the job and from there, Gotham spends the rest of the season introducing the rest of the villains in the Batman universe, which often feels endless. I had trouble keeping track of them all—some are mentioned in passing, while others become an actual part of story.
The large amount of characters and minimal development can make Gotham tough to follow. So many characters tends to make you lose sight of the murder that brought Gordon and Bullock together and sometimes leads to a campy feel. It seems like Gotham doesn’t quite know what kind of show it wants to be. Is it a crime drama, cop show, superhero show, all of the above? Despite the lack of direction, Gotham still manages to be fairly enjoyable.
The casting of the leads is very good. It’s great to see Ben McKenzie back on series TV after the cancellation of Southland and teaming him with Donal Logue was brilliant. The two have a weird chemistry that works really well for the series. The show focuses on Gotham’s mob bosses, Sal Moroni (David Zayas) and Carmine Falcone (John Doman) and their henchman including Fish Money played by Jada Pinkett Smith. It’s always good to see Smith on TV and she does the best she can with the material she’s given, but her talent feels largely wasted.
To that end, Gotham is a series that has lots of potential. As season two begins, character development is key. If the writers make us care about the characters that matter and stop introducing characters only to have them disappear, Gotham will likely settle in for a nice run. Season one offers up 22 episodes, some better than others, but ultimately worth checking out.
The series looks and sounds as good as a standard definition DVD can. There are also a nice amount of extras. The biggest offering is “Gotham Invented,” a three-part look at the series covering everything from the origin to the story to the many villains. There are also four deleted scenes, a short informational piece about Jim Gordon, additional scenes, gag reel, profiles of the key characters, a featurette about the series debut at Comic-Con, a featurette on the design, a short piece on the Penguin and the pilot.
