Right up front, I think I should mention that I'm not someone who previously objected to the idea of a Batman-less Batman series. I've ditched (perhaps not fully) the whole "What's the point?" stance regarding hot property adaptations, especially with NBC's exquisite Hannibal having recently proved all pre-judgements I had about that project very, very wrong.

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Where I think FOX's Gotham - which is set to chronicle the rise-through-the-ranks of young police detective James "Jim" Gordon (Ben McKenzie) - might run into some trouble is in the fact that we've seen so many different iterations of this particular world that we've all mostly settled on "our favorite" depiction, and might become needlessly irked if things aren't portrayed in a particular manner. Though, to be fair, Batman fans have also shown, by the billions of dollars spent at the box office, that they're willing to accept drastic deviations from the source material if it's done well.So is Gotham, with all of its tricks, tropes, and Easter Eggs, done well? Sure, for the most part. This first episode, which deals straight away with the back alley murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, plays sort of like "Gotham Confidential" - if do-right Ed Exley and do-less Jack Vincennes were reluctant partners. And to that respect, Donal Logue's gruff and conflicted Harvey Bullock leaves the biggest impression in this first episode, while McKenzie's Gordon comes across too morose and hardened to be the "optimist." He's a soldier-turned-cop who always, as far as we can tell, wants to do what's right. But not necessarily because he has a softer, more-caring soul than the rest.In fact, the explanation given for Gordon wanting to join Gotham PD was because it was "where the action is." So in that respect, he's also the dopey Mills to Bullock's seen-it-all Somerset, to throw a little Se7en into the mix. So I offer this: The Gotham pilot has a lot for people to pick apart if they so choose to. And I feel like a lot of people have already made up their mind to do just that. But the thing that let me down the most was how flat and uninspired Gordon felt. Hopefully, this changes, given some of the third act happenings that I won't spoil here in this advance review.The pilot's also a bit crowded, DC character-wise. I understand the need to put a ton of eggs in the initial basket, but due to these semi-"winking at the audience" moments, the episode couldn't breathe fully. And there's also a teensy bit of "square peg/round hole" going on, given that Gotham takes a grounded approach to the Batman universe while also trying to plant seeds for future theatrical super villains, who probably won't even manifest until a few years/seasons down the road. Example: I liked Robin Lord Taylor's Oswald Cobblepot. He was an interesting, quirky, devious rat that I thought played well. But his cohorts call him "Penguin" to piss him off. Even though the nickname, given this persona here, doesn't fit.That's a small instance of how the show is both helped and hindered by the source material. I feel like I'll enjoy watching Cobblepot -- here a lackey for Jada Pinkett Smith's Fish Mooney (a Carmine Falcone lieutenant working Gotham's Theater District) -- scratch and claw his way to the top of the criminal world, but perhaps less interested in watching him morph into "The Penguin." If it's to be a clunky transition, that is. I'd rather see a way different take on things. Sometimes fans say they want you to go right when they really want a left turn.Another example of this is Sean Pertwee's Alfred, here (briefly) depicted as the opposite of prim and proper. A sort of thuggish, over-protective keeper who'd most likely break your nose if you bothered young Master Bruce - a depiction used, to some extent, in certain Batman comics and the recent Beware the Batman animated series, but never in live-action. I loved that. More of those curve balls, please.This pilot episode also offers up a fresh take on the Crime Alley shootings, as Gordon learns throughout the investigation that Gotham plays by its own set of rules and that the game is connivingly rigged by Carmine Falcone (The Wire and Person of Interest's John Doman). All other aspects regarding how much we should care about this particular pre-story will be left to the viewer's own discretion. For me, the more the show can stray from our preconceptions and deliver something wholly unique -- to the point where we might even wonder how it all fits within the Batman saga at all -- the better. Which is to say, as of right now, if the series continued on and on it would eventually reach the point where Bruce is grown and about to become Batman (an assumed series end-point). But it doesn't have to be that way. Things could, and maybe should, get nuts. Remixed. Like in the way that Hitchcock's Pyscho is not at all the end point, or off-screen destination, for A&E's Bates Motel.