the balloonman

When it comes to Gotham, two things are clear. One, the Fox crime drama purported to portray the origins of Batman and his criminal counterparts isn’t committed to much precision around the 75-year old mythos. Second, rather than tell the story of the unique and complex process of becoming Batman — a progressive evolution wherein a fearful, inexperienced but persistent youngster is shaped into an unlikely superhero — the show shortcuts to a nearly fully-formed Bruce Wayne in the body of an 11-year old kid. Collecting police files. Testing endurance. Sneaking up on people. Unless we’re to believe the first three episodes take place in Bruce’s imagination as some part of a posttraumatic delusion, these are hardly behaviors we’d expect to see in a young boy immediately following parental loss — even for one who will grow up to be Batman. The only things missing are his cape and cowl. So for those who get a giggle out of watching a kid play detective and refuse psychotherapy, Gotham delivers. When it comes to villains, classic and original, the show has much more to offer.