With the deadly virus spreading throughout the city, the search for the antidote continuesl Fish Mooney, The Riddler, and Penguin reveal plans of their own; Bruce meets Ra’s Al Ghul and completes his task; Gordon tries to win back Lee.

Gotham wraps up its third season with two episodes that are ADD with what feels like every major plotline being wrapped up with either lots of violence or just outright killing people.

The entire season has felt a little hapdash with just a lot of plotlines and their coming together towards the end. The Tetch virus is out and Gotham is burning which is a bit too much like Batman Begins.

From there, it’s a race to save the city by creating an antidote or gettin getting the one that Strange created, but we know that won’t be easy. Still, the episode leaves me shaking my head that an antidote can be wipped up that quickly and though everyone knows there’s this virus and threat out there, no one has done this preemptively.

But beyond the virus, there’s Bruce meeting Ra’s Al Ghul, predictable to an extent with Bruce committing an act that’s pretty brutal and a bit silly for the person he commits the act against to be so forgiving so quickly. We’ll see more of this in season four because this season was about fast tracking Bruce to be on his way to be Batman… as a 16 year old.

Then there’s Penguin and Riddlers battle and Barbara and everyone else. It’s a lot there and each story feels like it could be an episode unto themselves. But, things are wrapped up pretty well taking care of the major plot points and just getting rid of excess characters. But even for a Schumacher riffed season finale, this was a bit unfocused.

There’s some good, like a reveal about Butch that should be exciting but the entire season feels like it destroys Gotham just so we can get Bruce closer to being Batman. It’s a bit excessive and too much has been packed in giving us a lot but not much of it in a way where it feels satisfying.

The ending is predictable with visuals that play off of so much that has come before with its own twist that just doesn’t work as well, which sums up the season so well.

Overall Rating: 6.35

Gordon races against the clock to save the city from the Alice Tetch virus; Alfred sees a big change in Bruce Wayne after his work with The Shaman; Gotham’s most deranged villains band together.

Gotham takes even more steps back as it begins to wrap up its third season with just a few episodes left. Every storyline you can think is touched upon as the episode bounces around like it can’t keep focus and  changes tone and look at a drop of a hat.

That’s been my biggest issue with the season as it can’t quite figure out what it wants to be, the show with lots of crazy villains, the detective series focused on Gordon and Bullock as cops, Bruce growing into Batman, or all of the above. This episode is an all of the above as the war brews between Penguin’s crew and the Riddler’s. The Shaman confronts the Court of Owls before releasing the virus, and then we get Lee going all crazy and how that plays out with Gordon.

Every plotline feels worse than the last with Lee taking the Tetch virus and enacting her vengeance against Gordon being the worst of them. The resolution had me shaking my head as to where it all goes and what happens. That plotline is the worst of the bunch and that’s saying something as the plot with the Court of Owls is as uninspired as they come being a riff on Batman Begins (though that took inspiration from the comics) and even Ra’s Al Ghul is hinted at.

Then there’s Penguin and his battle with the Riddler with the actual plot feeling like it doesn’t really go anywhere, just the usual fake outs and confrontations that don’t result in anything really. It’s also so different in tone from the rest of the episode it’s almost as if there’s two different shows here.

And that’s the biggest issue of this season. Part of it wants to be the more serious Batman films and part of it wants to be the campier films. And those two things don’t work very well together, at least this show hasn’t successfully made it work.

With just two more episodes left in the season, what looked like a season that was going to end on a high note, actually feels like it’s giving us a finale that’s as much of a mess as the rest of the season.

Overall Rating: 6.15

Temple Shaman reveals his hand to Bruce Wayne and sets up the next phase of training. Gordon and Bullock are put into danger as they come across a crystal owl that reveals the most coveted secrets of Gotham’s underworld. Meanwhile, Nygma and Penguin are forced to work together to get out of a tricky situation.

Gotham goes backward with this episode that returns the silly to a point that it’s hard to take seriously and not roll one’s eyes. The Judge has been let loose to take on Gordon and we get a first look at this new get up that… just looks idiotic. A cross between steampunk and the Mask of the Phantasm, the character design just doesn’t fit into the world, which is saying something. With designs in the past that work, and work really well, it makes one wonder why there’s such a divergence from animated versions of the character. The end result is too silly and with Michael Chiklis’ performance not helping at all it takes what were really solid previous episodes.

Then there’s something that happens with Leslie that had me rolling my eyes so hard, it’s difficult to not say this episode drives the car off the road while the last few had righted it so well. That aspect, which I won’t spoil, isn’t something I trust the creators to do right with.

There’s some decent things here though. There’s some reveals involving Bruce and the Temple Shaman that has me going from hating that storyline to actually looking forward to seeing what they plan on doing. But, the biggest surprise is Alfred who steps forward in a way that’s unexpected and gives that character some of the best we’ve seen from him in the entire series.

The episode is a painful one for me to watch, especially since the last few were so good. There’s aspects that just don’t work at all and are presented in a way that loses the vision the series has had for the last few episodes. Hopefully the next episode gets things back on track.

Overall Rating: 6.95

Gordon discovers the weapon the Court of Owls will use to destroy Gotham, which leads him on a dangerous path as he tracks it down. Meanwhile, Kathryn (guest star Leslie Hendrix) and Temple Shaman (guest star Raymond J. Barry) reveal their next move to Bruce, and Ivy comes to Selina’s aid.

Gotham continues its streak of entertaining episodes, this one with some minor bumps, but overall pretty solid as it begins to wind down the season towards the end game.

The good is Gordon and his toying with the Court of Owls which plays out completely in this episode where he’s forced to make a choice between the Court and doing what’s right. What’s really solid is the episode has everything flowing naturally building to the moment when things shift and we as an audience are left wondering where it’ll all go. That moment also gives us solid action though a head scratcher moment when a gate is supposed to protect against gas? but, what I like most about this plotline is it brings together a lot from this series into a coherent story. Oswald’s story too is great as he attempts to put pressure on Gordon. Actor Robin Lord Taylor has been the highlight of the entire series and here his acting is on full display.

The mediocre of the episode is Selina’s story and Bruce’s. We saw Selina’s turn towards Catwoman in the last episode with a scene straight out of Batman Returns and Bruce’s experience feels straight out of Batman Begins. It feels like when it comes to these two, the writers weren’t sure what to do, so decided to just do an homage to what’s come before. It’s not a bad decision and has prevented from being a disaster to being bearable in a nostalgic sort of way. But, that also means we’re getting nothing new, yet. We’ll see. But, it looks like the writers finally have a direction for these two characters and a better handle as to what to do with them, after a lot of misses.

The episode continues a singular vision now with a style and voice that feels like it’s one. Gone are the episodes where different segments felt like they could be a completely different show. Instead, that has all gelled into a series that feels like a proper follow up to Tim Burton’s vision, mining a lot of the visual look and queues he set up in his two entries.

Though the first half of the season was a mess, this latter half building to the finale has delivered in a way that the series has been missing for some time.

Overall Rating: 7.80