Watch Gotham Online: Season 1 Episode 1 Live!
Matt Richenthal
at
.
A Batman story without Batman? How is Fox going to pull this off?
We got an idea on Gotham Season 1 Episode 1, as Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue really shone brightly as Commissioner Detective Jim Gordon and his veteran partner Harvey Bullock.
Take away all the Batman elements and we'd still watch this series. It would work as a simple police show, where two reluctant partners team up to clean up a dirty city filled with interest bad guys.
So it only adds to the intrigue when we meet younger versions of The Penguin, Catwoman, The Riddler and, yes, Poison Ivy.
It would feel like a crutch, like nothing but a gimmick, if the entire drama was built around easter eggs and teases of what these people would eventually turn into.
But the Gotham premiere worked because it created a fascinating world around the Batman legend. There's clearly a great deal for the show to mine here; a great many direction in which it could go.
With McKenzie and Logue leading the way, we're fully on board. How about you?
Watch Gotham online via the above link and sound off below: What did you think of the opener?
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.
