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I wanted Gotham to be great and in many cases it is, but unfortunately, it’s not the best thing on TV right now. The thing about Gotham is that it’s supposed to be about a prequel. It’s the place where Arkham, The Joker, Riddler, Hush, Scarecrow, and everyone found their start.

Gotham gets that, way too much and tries to play it straight faced all the way through.

The acting is great; every person plays their role well enough. Donal Logue does a great Harvey, but this is where I learn to doubt this series. The first episode is too filled with Batman related origins, and I get that it’s supposed to be about that, but even then, you get the feel that the creators are shoving too much in one episode.

Gotham

Gordon is a great character on his own, but in the span of 45 minutes, almost half of the Batman villain lore is revealed. It doesn’t end up interesting enough to follow. Gotham’s filled with interesting characters and they are building Gordon to be the realist he eventually becomes. In many ways though, their trying to rush it, milking the first episode for as much nerd love as they can and that sucks. This is true for everyone except Fish Mooney, who is supposedly going up against the biggest crime syndicates in the city. She’s charismatic and fun to follow along with.

Spoiler warning:

For those that know a thing or two about Batman, here are some extra gripes I have about Gotham’s storyline. Okay, you have to admit that there are too many references into the series that don’t matter right now. Donal, one of my favorite underused actors, plays Clayface. Freaking Clayface! Penguin, Joker, Catwoman, and countless other major players show up in the first episode, making this series seem like its setting up stories that won’t play out that well. Like rolling several die many times and trying to keep track of each result while they’re rerolled again and again.

Conclusion

In the end, this series would have played better if the writers made it unravel like a slow boiling crime drama. A slow introduction and development of characters would have made each of them fuller and able to pull off bigger arcs. If you want to try something a little more fun, The Flash is now on its second episode. Sure, it’s a little dumber than Gotham, but at the same time, The Flash is also a lot more fun to watch.