Here's where Gotham surprised me. Going by tonight's well-crafted pilot alone, there does appear to be a spark of original thought flickering beneath all those draggy origins.
This is solid, confidently made television, the kind of programming that has me interested in where it's going next thanks to high production values and an expertly assembled cast.
Gotham will be well-served if it follows the example of [the] HBO drama, The Wire, rather than the melodrama of the WB's comic book show, Arrow. The pilot, for better or worse, offers plenty of both.
Most viewers will be content to let young Bruce mature off-screen. Although it would seem foolish to make a Batman series in which he is a relatively minor character, Gotham starts off fine without him.
Gotham makes for a grand experience, feeling rather cinematic in its own right as the amazingly-designed city itself becomes a sprawling character with its own look and personality.
Anyone who loves Batman, naturally, will be watching Gotham, and knowing the Batman world makes the show more fun. But it's also surprisingly accessible to viewers who just like a good action-packed cop drama with a dry sense of humor.
The best thing about Gotham -- the very watchable Batman crime-drama series before Bruce Wayne, his alter ego, becomes the masked hero -- is that it is not Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.