Last year FOX announced that it was developing a TV show based in a pre-Batman Gotham City. Fittingly named "Gotham" the press release read: "The series follows one cop, destined for greatness, as he navigates a dangerously corrupt city teetering between good and evil, and chronicles the rise of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes."
Neat. The premise sounded strong and the idea of seeing a young Jim Gordon was appealing to me. I looked forward to watching how the young officer worked his way up the ranks before becoming Gotham's Police Commissioner.
As I watched the pilot episode I found myself really enjoying it. The cast was (for the most part) solid with Donal Logue as Gordon's partner Harry Bullock and Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot turning in great performaces. I was surprised to see the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents and the exploration of a possible conspiracy surrounding Thomas and Martha Wayne's deaths.
As the series progressed I continued to enjoy what each new episode had to offer. The police procedural aspect was an interesting focus for most episodes, yet the idea of "Gotham" falling into "case of the week" territory was worrisome. So far I've continued to be engaged each week (with the exception of Fish Mooney's current storyline), but one aspect of the show has started to bother me.
Bruce Wayne.
The show has devoted time to Bruce Wayne and his story from episode to episode. Seeing how Bruce dealt with the death of his parents was at first a great exploration into how children handle grief, but I think it would be in the show's best interest to slowly reduce Wayne's role in the series.
The simple fact for me is that I don't want to see this Bruce Wayne get so engulfed in darkness and despair that he decides to don a cape and cowl to pray on Gotham's criminals. He seems too focused and levelheaded to submit to base emotions. Seeing this Bruce Wayne make that decision would also paint his caretaker and butler Alfred in a terrible light for me. What kind of guardian would encourage such dangerous behavior?
The show should instead focus on Gordon, Cobblepot and the politics at play in Gotham and forget about Bruce Wayne for awhile. There is a lot of potential there and more importantly an opportunity to show us aspects of Batman's corner of the DC Universe that we haven't seen before.
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