Gotham... what makes it work?

Setting aside Doctor Who for the moment, I want to take a look at a new television show that we have been enjoying far more than we expected to. Gotham.

Honestly, Gotham is a concept that shouldn’t work. Gotham City before Bruce Wayne became Batman. In fact, while he is still a kid. So, basically Batman without Batman.

According to an article in Crack, there was once a plan to make a Gotham High cartoon, about Batman when he was in high school and every single one of his enemies going to the same school. Unless the main character was the school guidance counselor instead of Batman, the idea sounds horrible.

Gotham sounds like it takes that same idea, only placing it before Bruce Wayne goes to high school. If you take away the costume, the utility belt, the cave full of cool cars and the training from Hell, Bruce Wayne becomes one of the Hardy boys with a more prissy wardrobe.

So, how on Earth does Gotham work, let alone be enjoyable?

From where I’m sitting, Gotham takes some key ideas from two different pieces of the Batman mythos. The Nolan films and Batman: Year One, Frank Miller’s story from the 80s.

The Nolan Batman films made a lot of smart, interesting choices. One of them was to make the story more gritty and realistic. Grounded closer to reality than your average comic book movie at any rate. It had a gritty sensibility without being too dark or full of self pity.

Gotham definitely takes a similar path. While Batman has usually been more grounded than, say, the Green Lantern or the Flash, almost all of the gaudy or fantastic elements have been stripped away. There aren’t flash costumes or gimmicky. The bad guys are either mobsters or really emotionally messed up.

The second element that makes Gotham work is that Bruce Wayne is not the main character. In fact, there have been episodes where he hasn’t even shown up. The murder of the Waynes is a key event that sets up the events that create the story but young Bruce is a supporting character.

In Batman: Year One, Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne both arrive in Gotham. Gordon has been transferred there in the police force and Bruce is coming back from years of training to become a vigilante. One of them is cynical bad ass and the other is naïve without a real idea of what they are getting into. Hint. Gordon isn’t the naïve one.

The hero of Gotham is Jim Gordon. He is the honest cop who is out to make a difference. He doesn’t have a costume or a secret cave or such. He’s a normal guy in a city that’s not just corrupt but starting to have the crazies come out.

But there are times when we are convinced that Gordon is not the protagonist of Gotham. Right now, it seems like that role is Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin. If he’s the protagonist, he’s definitely an anti-hero at best. He is a slimy, nasty little monster who does some really horrible things. His veneer of charm and sophistication hides a vicious, petty killer.

And he is so fascinating. He is so compelling. I never thought you could make the Penguin so nasty and so interesting and they did both in Gotham. Bruce’s tragedy got the ball rolling. Gordon is the hero. But Oswald Cobblepot drives the story.

There is one question that Gotham leaves me with. With all of the changes that they made to make it work, all of the traditional elements of Batman removed, why is it Gotham? Why not, I don’t know, Detroit? I know, the answer is name recognition. And I do enjoy it when I recognize a name. But, still, it seems like what makes Gotham work is by having it not be Batman.