Gotham‘s season premiere is tonight. And you’ve probably heard from people who both love and hate the show, as nobody seems to be “meh” on it. So, to celebrate the premiere tonight and catch up anybody new to the series, not to mention kicking off the liveblogs, here’s what you need to know about Gotham.
So this is a show about Batman before he was Batman?
That’s how it’s sold. Usually, though, it’s a story about Commissioner Gordon (Ben MacKenzie) before he was Commissioner Gordon, and a litany of Batman supervillains before they were actual supervillains. Really, it’s better described as Law & Order with a sense of just how ridiculous it is. Or as fans tend to call it, Goth Ham.
There is Batman, though, right?
Well, there’s Bruce Wayne, amusingly played by David Mazouz, and Alfred, who is the single most hilariously awful parent on television. Don’t expect anybody to get into a cape and cowl on this show. In fact, as it unfolds, it’s getting further and further away from the comics and becoming its own, strange thing.
OK, so our hero is Jim Gordon. What’s his deal?
Well, he wanted to clean up the dirty, dirty streets of Gotham City, but season one made it clear that’s going to be a far more difficult proposition than he realized. One of the best parts of season one was Gordon seeing his morals start to slip as he blackmailed scumbags and accidentally helped Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) rise to his current peak as the head mobster of Gotham City. If Gordon had been corrupt, a lot of people would still be alive: It’s that kind of show.
Wait, Oswald Cobblepot? The Penguin?
Yes, indeed. Taylor’s depiction of essentially a cross between Fredo and Iago is one of the show’s best characters and helped make it a breakout hit. He’s magnetic even when he’s asked to do some really goofy stuff. Gordon and Cobblepot more or less anchor the show as they fight over Gotham’s future.
I’m getting the sense that this show is not subtle.
Oh, God no, not remotely. The first season alone was rife with ridiculous black comedy, insane plot twists, and unsubtle social commentary; one episode was themed around a rich jerk making his interns beat each other to death for jobs and one character was kidnapped by pirates to an organ farm on a European island for eight episodes. Really, if it weren’t for the fact that Gotham is refreshingly lacking in self-seriousness, the show would be an outright disaster.
Anybody else I need to know about to watch?
The show has a ridiculously large cast of characters, which is sort of a problem, but here are the broad strokes:
Harvey Bullock, Gordon’s reluctant and somewhat corrupt partner, is played by Donal Logue. He’s awesome, but then, you knew that, since he’s played by Donal Logue.
Barbara Keane (Erin Richards), Gordon’s former fiancée, spent most of the show standing out for her lack of pants and inability to leave her swanky apartment. Over the course of the show she fell back into drug addiction, weirded out her lesbian stalker, hit on a 14-year-old Catwoman, and ultimately snapped and murdered her parents. She’ll be a villain in season two. Look, I said this show wasn’t subtle.
Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) is a creepy forensics expert Gordon consults with. He’s also a murderer, having greased a cop who was competing with him for the affections of a file clerk, and this season appears to be going full-on Tyler Durden.
Butch (Drew Powell), formerly the right-hand man of Fish Mooney (the crime boss played in the first season by Jada Pinkett Smith), is now Penguin’s underling. He’s been psychologically tortured and forced to kill one of his closest friends, so his sudden yet inevitable betrayal is only a matter of time.
Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) is more or less the Joker; last season he murdered his mother and found out his dad was a fellow carny, which he didn’t take well. The show is really hyping him up, which probably means Gordon’s going to blow him away by the end of the premiere.
Oh, and we liveblog comic book shows around here, since I’m a nerd. The party begins in the comments below tonight at 8 p.m. EST. Join us, won’t you?
