After a short, ¾-of-a-season rendezvous with Orange is the New Black and an even shorter one-night stand with Breaking Bad, I found myself scrounging Netflix desperately for a long-term television show. I haven’t had a stable relationship with cable since my junior year of high school when Tuesday nights were reserved for Pretty Little Liars. But even then I lost interest after two years when “A” had yet to be discovered and the hunky Ian was killed off. I’ve been floundering since then; feeling isolated and envious of my peers who gab enthusiastically about Game of Thrones and Scandal in class, practically giggling with their bubbling excitement. So I’ve searched and searched, seeking a show compatible to my tastes. One that’ll make me laugh and cry and feel like I have something to look forward to after a week of hell. So, I finished three seasons of Bob’s Burgers (which was perfection) in a month, reverted back to season one of The Office and skipped aimlessly from season to season on Parks and Recreation, a show I once watched religiously. But none of these could assuage my feelings of incompleteness. That is until my sister texted, “The new show Gotham is so good. It’s like pre-Batman and how everything got started.” That vague, but informative text was enough for me. I waited until the pilot episode was posted to Fox.com, and I made my move.
Gotham is a prequel series to the crime-solving life of Batman. A history, if you will. The crime TV show focuses on young Bruce Wayne just after his parents’ death and young James Gordon, fresh on the Gotham City Police Department. In the first episode, Wayne is witness to the merciless murder of his parents and James Gordon, played by Benjamin McKenzie of The O.C., bonds with the orphan and promises to catch his parents’ killer. But Gordon’s job isn’t easy: he battles with crooks, the corrupt police force, including his own partner, and his conscience, all in the hopes of one day cleaning up the infamous Gotham and keeping his promise to young Batman. The show is dark: the characters are edgy, the costumes are 50 shades of gloomy, the landscape is villainous and the blood is thick and flowing. I’m usually pretty queasy about gore; but nonetheless, don’t watch this while you’re eating a PB&J. You might not finish it.
I am once again in a stable relationship with television, a relationship that I think will last. Gotham is everything I’ve ever wanted in a television show: crime, superheroes, villains, a cute detective and dark mysteries. So, every Monday at 8 p.m. (on FOX), I’ll hop in bed, pull a blanket over my head and watch young Bruce evolve into Batman while James Gordon struggles to find his place in the police force without compromising his values. How could I possibly lose interest in that?