Fox’s “Gotham” premieres on Monday, but with the help of an advanced viewing copy, I was able to see a rough version of the pilot episode. The episode as a whole is subject to change, but it was enough to form an impression of the show and where it’s going.

The verdict: it’s going to be crowded until Fox decides which characters to focus on, but that doesn’t mean worthy material isn’t there.

“Gotham,” which is pitched as a prequel to the Batman storylines we all presumably know, will follow Ben McKenzie’s Jim Gordon in his first years as part of the Gotham police department.

While I have a deep love for McKenzie as a former viewer of “The OC,” his newest character has some development to undergo before he becomes a completely cohesive lead. As practically the only ethically decent adult in this episode, Gordon is quickly established as both capable of talking down armed criminals and unfortunately prone to storming into situations he really shouldn’t.

It was difficult for me to reconcile Gordon’s platitude-spouting and aggressive hopefulness with some serious aggression in a few instances, but his straight-as-an-arrow honesty does make for 100 percent fewer annoying attempts to lie to his loved ones.

Watching Gordon attempt to function in a corrupt police force and even shadier criminal landscape should add some shades of gray to his viewpoint. Complicating that aspect of the character may help to bring the rest of him into focus.

The series doesn’t appear to shy away from violence, which can only be a good thing given that the Batman comics have traditionally worked a grittier vibe than others.

The challenge of the first episode of any series is setting up a storyline for the entire season without devoting all 45-or-so minutes to exposition and introductions. Gotham accomplishes this task by squeezing what feels like an entire future wing of Arkham Asylum into brushes on the street, the police department and the shady underground of the city.

The villains we spend most of our time with make an excellent impression. Jada Pinkett Smith as intermediate mobster Fish Mooney is excellent on-screen, though her character suffers later due to some uninspired dramatics.

It doesn’t feel like Fox quite knows whether it wants the city of Gotham to behave like a noir throwback or law and order procedural backdrop. While eventually it will become home to some intensely theatrical villains, the less ordinary aspects of crime in this first aspect feel over-the-top compared to the ordinariness we see elsewhere.

Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot was a surprisingly promising introduction to one of Batman’s least-cool (at least on paper) bad guys, and Sean Pertwee dropped the discreet manner for his portrayal of Alfred Pennyworth. If “Gotham” focuses on the storylines of its promising characters and makes room for them to grow, it could easily find its place on today’s programming.

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