5 Reasons to Get Corrupted by Fox’s Gotham

Gotham is the Fox network’s contribution to the comic-books-to-the-screen craze hitting TV that includes Arrow, Constantine, and The Flash, among others. Created by Bruno Heller (Rome), it is addicting and fabulous. Another superhero origin story, Gotham details how Batman became Batman and how the entire retinue of Batman villains became who they are. It’s Batman, the prequel. But unlike some other superhero shows, like ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Batman prequel works just fine without, well, Batman.

The series opened with the horrifying murder of Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz) parents, philanthropists Thomas and Martha Wayne–right in front of him. We see his mother’s pearls break and roll into the blood. We hear the young soon-to-be-Batman scream into the black night. And we know that this boy won’t just curl into a ball of traumatized PTSD. He’ll want to avenge the killings that shattered his young life and fight the corruption that may have led to his parents’ murder.

There is one other witness to the crime–Selena "Cat" Kyle (Carmen Bicondova)–a juvenile delinquent with a penchant for late-night milk runs. The girl who would be Catwoman knows more than she’s telling.

And then there’s James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), the rookie police detective who gets the case, along with his jaded partner, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). Who killed Gotham City’s wealthy and wonderful couple and left their only child an orphan to be raised by their butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee)? Everyone wants to know—but who will discover the truth?

Gotham airs Monday nights on Fox. (The series is largely episodic with a new villain each week, but catch up at Fox.com or hulu.com.)

5. The Dark Night

Gotham City itself is a star of Gotham. The sets create the perfect atmosphere for the series. Dark, gloomy, often rainy, always seedy, Gotham has that vintage Bladerunner look to it. In a city as grimy and grim as Gotham, things are bound to go wrong and crime flourishes as various factions vie for the prize of owning the city. But with so many villains and even the Mayor (Richard Kind) and Police Captain Sarah Essen (Zybrena Guevara) connected to the corruption, fighting crime might be a losing battle, but it sets the stage for young Bruce becoming Batman.

4. Riddle Me This

Gotham reveals the characters’ backstories a little at a time. Edward Nigma (Cory Michael Smith)–soon to be the Riddler--works with Gordon and Bullock and always has a riddle to pose. Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) is nearly executed, mob-style, after revealing information to the police. Gordon spares his life, despite an order from Fish Mooney to kill him. Cobblepot lives to become The Penguin–and wreak havoc on Gotham City.

3. Cat Got Your Tongue

Selena "Cat" Kyle (Carmen Bicondova) becomes a guardian angel to the reclusive Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) who devotes all his time to unraveling the layers of corruption in Gotham as he tries to uncover not just his parents’ killer, but how the city has become a haven for mobsters and monsters. Cat nearly loses one of her lives when she is caught up in a child-trafficking ring and another when she comes to Bruce’s aid.

2. Gone Girl

Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) is James Gordon’s fragile, highly emotional, former drug addict fiancé, but she is also Renee Montoya’s (Victoria Cartagena) ex-girlfriend. Something (drugs?) went very wrong in their relationship–Montoya broke Barbara’s heart–but Montoya wants to make amends. Barbara still has feelings for her, but she’s with Gordon now. That doesn’t sit well with Montoya, who is sure Gordon is a dirty cop and feels certain she can prove it. She wants to protect Barbara and also win her back. But will her tactics backfire?

1. Big Fish, Small Pond

Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) is one of several Gotham crime bosses vying for control of the corrupt city. Fish has set various wheels in motion, including the one that has pitted Gordon and Bullock against each other and gotten them both arrested in their own police department by none other than Montoya. Fish is a dominatrix (possibly bisexual) and Jada Pinkett Smith is a revelation in the role. When she auditions singers for her club, the women need to do more than sing as Fish orders, "Seduce me!” Fish asks each one "Do you like boys or girls?" When one says boys, Fish says, "Pretend I’m a boy." Pinkett Smith is swoon-worthy in this role. And her retinue of girls who would be boys makes her the crime boss we most want to see take over Gotham.

Victoria A. Brownworth is an award-winning journalist, editor and writer and the author and editor of nearly 30 books. She has won the NLGJA and the Society of Professional Journalists awards, the Lambda Literary Award and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She won the 2013 SPJ Award for Enterprise Reporting in May 2014. She is a regular contributor to The Advocate and SheWired, a blogger for Huffington Post and a contributing editor for Curve magazine and Lambda Literary Review. Her reporting and commentary has appeared in the New York Times, Village Voice, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer. Her book, From Where We Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth won the 2012 Moonbeam Award for cultural & historical fiction. Her novels, Ordinary Mayhem and Cutting will both be published in winter 2014. @VABVOX