Gotham - 1x01 Pilot - Review

Everyone Begins

That can pretty much sum up this first episode of FOX's new series, GOTHAM. After Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered in front of their son Bruce (David Mazouz), Detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) and his new partner Jim Gordon (Ben MacKenzie) go on the hunt for the killer.

The average fan of Batman knows where this event will lead. The death of Bruce Wayne's parents is the pivotal moment that will change the course of Gotham's destiny. It is kind of fitting that we begin this series with that murder. Yet at the same time... I could've done without it. The murder of Bruce's parents has been filmed in far more effective ways in Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher's Batman movies as these strange vivid memories while Christopher Nolan showed us the real hard hitting drama in Batman Begins. However this show failed to do what the others did: make us care about their deaths. Thought arguably it is a more realistic approach of how a murder would go down, because of what has come before, it comes off as an unfitting intro into this world. Sure we've seen it lots of times, but each time has been different. This one didn't.

But then again, Bruce is not the main character of this story. New Detective Jim Gordon is. And he is not exactly a well liked new arrival in Gotham PD. Ben MacKenzie has huge shoes to fill taking on the iconic role, but this is a world he's familiar with. First of all, he was a police officer in the gritty and fantastic show Southland. So he knows how to be a police officer, especially one who has just been promoted to detective. And he was also the voice of Batman in the animated movie, Batman: Year One. So he knows Gotham and he knows that he's now entered the world a second time. And as of right now, he delivers on convincing us this is the man who will become the future Commissioner of Gotham. His performance was strong and it shows from the internal conflict boiling inside him. But he is nothing compared to his partner.

Donal Logue takes on the role of Harvey Bullock, a fan favorite from the comics and animated shows who has never been brought to the live action medium. Expectations for him were not as high as Ben's performance as Gordon, but that doesn't mean he won't deliver. There is a pressure of playing someone who has never been portrayed in a live action format before, and Logue has even stated how honored it is to be the first. And he made sure that if anyone was to follow him in the future, he's going to give them a hard time doing so. Logue is the standout of this show. The scenes with Bullock are intense and blurs the lines between right and wrong. He's the perfect foil for Gordon, as he is not afraid of doing what has to be done. He even berates Gordon for not killing a prisoner who threatened a cop. This man is dirty, but that doesn't mean he's completely corrupt. There is still a good man there, it's just hard to find.

These two are tasked with finding out who killed the Waynes, a case that Bullock did not want to take. Unfortunately for him, Gordon drags him into accepting the case. The fact that Bullock is afraid of dealing with the death of the Waynes shows that he knows things. Like what to avoid and who to talk to. Like Fish Mooney, a new character played by Jada Pinkett Smith. When we first meet her, she comes off as a cliched comic book villain, but as the show progresses that comic book nature begins to subdue for something more subtle and cunning. She apparently had information involving the murder of the Waynes, which helps Bullock and Gordon find the killer. But as this is Gotham, nothing can be solved that easily.

One of the main concerns that people had about this show was the cramming of so many Batman villains into one episode. I should say this right now that the only one who really gets the spotlight in this episode is Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, played brilliantly by Robin Lord Taylor. If it wasn't for Logue's performance as Bullock, Taylor would be the standout as Cobblepot. That shouldn't diminish the fact that he does an excellent job as the small fry who dreams of big things. Then of course there is a non speaking appearance of Selina Kyle played Carmen Bicondova. She's only in the intro and the end of the episode as she serves as an unknown witness to the murder of the Waynes. That's all she does, but Bicondova has the cat qualities down to a tee. There is also a small appearance by the girl who would become Poison Ivy, but it was a small one. But probably the smallest cameo of a comic book character, yet the most memorable, was of Edward Nigma played by Cory Michael Smith. If he can make an impression with just one scene, how much more if we get a lot more of him? Time will tell.

Other players are introduced in this episode, such as Barbara Keane played by Erin Richards and Renee Montoya played by Victoria Cartagena. If there is something I have to say about Barbara, aka future Mrs. Gordon, is that she momentarily took me out of the show. Her actress, Richards, is extremely stunningly beautiful. Almost too beautiful and looks almost too young for MacKenzie's Gordon. I know this is suppose to be the younger years of these comic book icons, but something about Barbara being way too beautiful and sexy irked me. Its weird that I'm complaining about someone being too sexy, but that's a compliment to Erin Richards who does great with her role. I just never imagined the role to belong to someone as beautiful as her. 

All in all, this was an introductory episode for not only the character but the way the city operates. All comic book characters were handled nicely and given the amount of time that is needed for them in this episode. So no it wasn't cramped, and its a good thing it can juggle so many to feel like a true ensemble. But this is the story of Gordon and Bullock. Gordon sees now that nothing is easy and that everything in the city is filled with lies. While we see he is a man who genuinely wants to change the city, we also know that he won't be able to do so. But his mission to change it will definitely influence one person: Bruce Wayne.

SCORE: 8.5/10 - A weak start with a masterful finish that makes the whole episode great

STATUS: Two Episode Countdown - If I can like the first three episodes, then this show is in good hands