| by Jen  | The opening scene is one any self-respecting Batman fan is familiar with: young Bruce Wayne weeping in an alley, watching the life drain out of his parents after a robber shoots them. So what is new about this Gotham? |
How about a teenage Catwoman watching the scene from above, perched in a fire escape after pickpocketing her way through Gotham’s night life?
Cut to the police station – a heroic James Gordon, newly minted detective, and his partner, the brusque, brutish Harvey Bullock, are in the midst of an argument about how to deal with an out-of-control suspect who steals a cop’s gun when they are ordered to the Wayne murder scene. And so the tale begins…
The characters are, of course, what brings us all to Gotham - and what a motley crew they are!
Cut to the police station – a heroic James Gordon, newly minted detective, and his partner, the brusque, brutish Harvey Bullock, are in the midst of an argument about how to deal with an out-of-control suspect who steals a cop’s gun when they are ordered to the Wayne murder scene. And so the tale begins…
The characters are, of course, what brings us all to Gotham - and what a motley crew they are!
| Harvey Bullock is the stereotypical overworked, cynical detective, who has convinced himself that his corruption is an inevitable result of staying alive in Gotham. He’s a little too close for comfort to Fish Mooney, Falcone’s right-hand woman, but he definitely feeds us some of the best lines of this episode: “This is not a city, or a job, for nice guys.” - to Gordon “If I want riddles, I’ll read the funny pages.” - to Ed Nygma, a crime scene technician who will become The Riddler |  |
 | Fish Mooney is a sultry poison - second in charge to the kingpin of Gotham’s underworld, and looking to move up in the world, whether Falcone is ready to retire or not. Her moves include giving The Penguin, who had been her faithful lackey until he ratted her out to Major Crimes, the beating that results in his signature limp. |
| Barbara Kean, Gordon’s lovely fiancée - but does she have some secrets of her own? It seems she knows Renee Montoya, detective in Major Crimes, a bit better than she’d care for James to know. But her concern for James, and her unwavering belief in his honesty, rings true. |  |
 | Young Ivy Pepper (soon to be Poison Ivy) is heartbreaking - big sad eyes, telling Gordon and Bullock, “You don’t want to talk to Daddy - he’s mean!” Her mother’s shiner attests to the truth of this statement, but alas - Mario Pepper is not the man they were looking for, though he died before this fact became apparent. |
Selena Kyle (aka Catwoman) has developed a fascination with young Bruce Wayne - we find her skulking around the cemetery at his parents’ funeral, and see her again at the end of the episode when she climbs a wall near Wayne Manor for a better vantage point - to spy on young Master Wayne no doubt, but to what end?
| And James Gordon, so convinced of his righteousness and rightness - appalled to learn his partner is in league with Mooney, but aware that he needs to fit in for appearance’s sake in order to go farther in the Gotham PD. He confides in young Bruce that he needs time to try to turn the police force around, and you can see he hopes to one day use it as a force for good once more - even though his meeting with Falcone tell us the corruption goes back at least a generation, and his own father (a Gotham DA) was party to it. |  |
In the end, we see Catwoman skulking outside Wayne Manor, while Penguin surfaces out of an icy river and kills a fisherman for his lunch. And thus the mythos surrounding Gotham begins to build...
