The mustacheless Batman prequel you’ve been waiting for is almost here. Fox’s Gotham premieres Monday and the network is doing everything it can to make sure you’re aware of that fact. Yes, the series is a Jim Gordon origin story about the early days of the famed city’s criminal underworld before costumed lunatics took it over, but there’s still a lot of interesting world-building happening that should get a lot of fans excited. To prove it, six new clips from the pilot have been released for your viewing pleasure:

While the pilot may lack a bit in narrative cohesion, the world-building and characters it presents are so compelling that, perhaps, the best way to think about Gotham is not how you feel about it now, but how you may feel about it ten weeks from now. After the “necessary” set-up and introductions are complete, imagine what this show could be like when all we’re doing is playing in it rather than mapping it out. That’s a show totally worth sticking around for.

Some of the other DC TV offering this year seem to suffer from the reverse problem, shows with excellent pilots (like Flash) that currently run the risk of petering out in the long run. At this point, in these early stages, it’s more a question of viewer preference. Do you want a show that grabs you from the beginning but risks losing steam relatively quickly, or do you want a show that doesn’t do much to excite at first but sets up a world that could prove to be extremely entertaining down the line?

Gotham premieres Monday at 8/7c on Fox.

Which clip is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.