“Inside the Show” Review by Quinn Marie, RCR Entertainment Writer and Host,
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First off, let me begin by saying that FOX’s highly anticipated “Gotham” is way darker than I thought it would be. While the gritty Gotham we all know and love serves as an ominous backdrop to a story we know all too well, the plot peaks a morbid curiosity by setting the story during Bruce Wayne’s childhood.
The show opens with a young girl lurking in and out of the shadows of the menacing streets of Gotham hunting for milk for her kittens (foreshadow anyone?) and picking pockets to survive. She comes upon a young boy and his parents who are mugged and murdered right in front of him. The boy being Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) of the wealthy and renowned Wayne family is beyond traumatized. When new newbie detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and his corrupt partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) show up on the scene, Det. Gordon makes a pretty heavy promise to Bruce that he’s going to find his parent’s killer.
While scoring the crooked streets for the murderer, Gordon realizes just how shady Gotham truly is. The police department is run by the mob and cops would rather silence someone than get the true story. It’s during his time in the city that we are introduced to some of our villains. Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett-Smith) is a lady boss working for Carmine Falcone, who basically runs the streets; her hooligans, including a young albeit repulsive and rather violent Oswald Cobblepot, affectionately referred to as, “penguin” are ordered to frame a random for the Wayne murder in order to get the detectives off their backs. While Gordon is able to foil their deception only after a bystander is killed, he realizes he may be in over his head. The Wayne’s killer is still on the loose not to mention the even bigger problem of a completely corrupt and dishonest legal system.
The pilot does a solid job of introducing some of DC franchise’s most notorious characters, while their presence in the pilot is minimal; it was rather intriguing to see who we would be introduced to next. Early in, we meet a curious forensic specialist Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) and a quiet, troubled little girl named Ivy Pepper; subtlety was obviously not a requirement.
While cramming this many “Batman-central” characters into a pilot could seem rushed and exhausting, I’m personally fascinated to see where the writers take all of the villains. Seeing them as children, we are able to see the crucial moment they start to turn.
“Gotham” in theory, combines two of the most popular and marketable ideas in television today: gritty crime dramas and superhero action thrillers. If the pilot is any indication, I look forward to discovering the origins of Gotham’s darkest descendants.
“Gotham” premieres on FOX Monday, September 22nd
- See more of Gotham on our official site: http://fox.tv/Gotham
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About Gotham
Based upon characters published by DC Entertainment and produced by Warner Bros. Television, GOTHAM is an origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. Starring Ben McKenzie (“Southland,” “The O.C.”), Donal Logue (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”) and Jada Pinkett Smith (“The Matrix” films, “HawthoRNe”), GOTHAM follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time. Executive producer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist”) wrote the pilot, which was directed and executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Danny Cannon (the “CSI” franchise, “Nikita”). John Stephens will serve as an executive producer on the series.
Do The Right Thing For Once from “Pilot” | GOTHAM
https://www.youtube.com/user/GothamFOX
Watch episodes of Gotham on Fox.com, the Fox App or on Netflix after after its first season.
