Crime doesn’t pay. But this fall, TV stations ABC, Fox and CBS have decided to release “Gotham,” “Forever” and “NCIS: New Orleans” in the hopes that these crime shows will take off.
During October, “Gotham” and “Forever” are must-see shows. But “NCIS: New Orleans” is a show you could probably live without.
Everyone knows the standard Batman tale: The kid’s parents die, and he becomes a hero. But “Gotham” directors Danny Cannon, T.J. Scott and Dermott Downs decided to tell Bruce Wayne’s famous story from the perspective of inside Gotham’s Police Department.
James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) leads the Wayne case and is the typical good cop who wants to catch bad guys without killing. After finding out that Carmine Falcone (John Doman), criminal kingpin of Gotham, corrupted his case by putting the blame on one of his street pawns, Gordon tries to find the real perpetrator. Falcone threated Gordon to let it go, but Gordon is determined to bring justice to the real criminal, even if it costs him his life.
The pilot episode not only was exciting to watch for Batman fans, but for the average person who loves good TV. Batman fanatics would appreciate the little character Easter eggs in the episode with appearances by Poison Ivy, The Riddler and The Joker. The first-time viewer would be intrigued with the development of Gordon and Harvey Bullock’s (Donal Logue) partnership. Originally, Bullock didn’t like Gordon’s attitude, but he found that he’s actually a good-hearted person who wants justice in Gotham.
“Forever” is an interesting story about a New York City morgue doctor, Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), who obtained immortality 200 years ago when he was shot and thrown off a ship. Every time Morgan dies, he wakes up alive in water, but he doesn’t understand why he is immortal. He has spent his years studying death and trying to find a cure because he’s realized immortality is not a gift, but a curse.
The pilot episode puts Morgan in a situation in which he’s killed in a subway. His train crashed because the conductor was poisoned while operating it. The incident led Detective Jo Martinez (Alana de la Garza) to the morgue, where the conductor is being examined, and she meets Morgan.
After reviewing footage at the scene, Martinez assumes Morgan is the killer because she found he was the only crash survivor. The doctor defended his innocence by explaining the conductor was poisoned with aconite, which he found after he examined the dead body, and that he hasn’t used the substance in years. The two eventually work together to find the killer.
The pilot episode was surprisingly well-written because it provided viewers a complete explanation of Morgan’s immortality using flashbacks. Directors Brad Anderson and Sam Hill used flashbacks to explain why Morgan is obsessed with death and finding a cure. Morgan’s obsession is due to his past love, Abigail, who left him because of his immortality.
Whenever Morgan would see a blond woman, he would have a flashback of Abigail or see her in front of him. Morgan is unable to let go of his past love and blames his gift for the reason he is alone.
From the spinoff of CBS’s “NCIS,” “NCIS: New Orleans” has Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) leading a team of investigators to solve mysteries in Crescent City. In the first episode, Pride and his team trying to figure out who killed Pride’s friend, Calvin Parks, a boy he once cared for.
Parks’ leg was found near the pier, and Pride took the case very personally because of their past. As the team investigates the pier, Hunter Franz (Matt Bushell), the pier supervisor, tells the team that Parks left the pier with gangbangers before his death. Fortunately, the team discovered that whomever killed Parks was missing a tooth, because the tooth was found on Parks’ clothes.
When they return to talk to Franz, they realize he’s chewing on ice, assuming he has pain in his mouth, and suspect he’s the killer. Franz runs, and once they catch him, Pride confirms the toothless killer is Franz.
The first episode didn’t live up to the popular “NCIS” show because it wasn’t funny and resembled similar characters to the original. Parks was the old-timer who takes his job too seriously, similar to Gibbs. Merri Brody (Zoe McLellan) is the beautiful cop who is strong and smart — also the diva of the group. And Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black) is the quirky goofball like DiNozzo.
These three shows are just some of the many crime TV series that Fox, ABC and CBS have decided to introduce this fall. But with other crime shows such as “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, “NCIS” and Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, the outlook for the new television season seems to be heading in the direction of murder mysteries and detective stories.