With Jerome (guest star Cameron Monaghan) on the loose with one target in mind, Bruce and Alfred’s safety is compromised. Meanwhile, Gordon’s uncle Frank (guest star James Remar) pays him a visit, and ‎Nygma and Penguin are forced to confront their issues face-to-face, with possible deadly consequences.

Gotham ends its winter run before returning in April with an episode that is an interesting one as it has much more of a focus on Bruce becoming Batman, something the show has hinted at then slinked away.

Jerome is on the loose and after Bruce, eventually kidnapping him taking him to a display of carnage and never quite explaining why of it all. Jerome, a proto-Joker, is a combination of Nicholson and Ledger tip-toeing the line between the goofy of the former and pure chaos of the latter. And, the results are mixed. Monaghan in the role clearly is leaning more towards Ledger’s performance with a raspy voice and hunched over body language to evokes the iconic and award winning Dark Knight performance. Except, it comes off as a facsimile, not quite as good as the original.

We begin to see Bruce standing up and figuring out his beliefs when it comes to justice. David Mazouz in the role is his usual stiff self giving off no reason to be entranced by the character. There’s a lack of charm. There’s a lack of confidence. There’s almost no emotion in the performance which is par for what we’ve seen in three seasons. One hopes if the series jumps forward we get a new actor to fill the role.

The Penguin/Nygma plot line continues to an interesting ending, but one we’ve seen before. And I think that’s some of my issues of the series and this particular season, it’s things I feel like I’ve seen. Jerome evokes past performances with a swirling plot around him that feels lifted directly from comics. Penguin’s result here is something we’ve seen already. Cor Michael Smith as Nygma for some reason channels Nolan’s Batman with a raspy voice that makes a case he could take on the role in the films.

There’s also the ADD like plotting. Selina is absent this episode. Ivy has disappeared. But, the Court of Owls are back setting up the next story arc in a season that can’t stay focused on one or two things for too long.

We’ll see what type of show we get when the series returns in a few months. I hope during the break things might have been retooled some to figure out the “vision” of a show that feels like it has too many cooks, too many ideas, and not enough adults to keep it focused.

Overall Rating: 6.15

On the run from Gordon and Bullock, Dwight tries to revive Jerome and, in turn, activates his acolytes around Gotham City. Meanwhile, Selina’s mom’s intentions in Gotham are revealed, and the power play between Penguin and Nygma escalates as Barbara’s plans are set in place.

Gotham is interesting as the return of Jerome is the focus of the episode. The episode has definitely taken its inspiration from Batman comics with individuals being inspired by the Joker, in this case the proto-Joker in Jerome. The laughing is there. The clown-ish make-up is there. It follows some of the comics and it’s a mixed bag as far as how much it works.

There’s something fun about David Dastmalchian’s Dwight who was a Joker acolyte in The Dark Knight. We learn how he’s reviving people, but things are still a bit muddled as to why folks have fallen for Jerome. There’s some explanation by other characters, but it really just falls into “he opened our eyes.” It’s as generic as generic can be.

Cameron Monaghan as Jerome, the proto-Joker, is at times great and at times boring. Monaghan feels like he’s channeling Ledger, Nicholson, and even Hamill in some ways never quite making the character his own.

The “not making it his own” comes to this Joker’s design too which feels like a mix between comic artist Greg Capullo’s take on the Joker mixed with the Joker’s Daughter. It’s interesting, but doesn’t quite work for me.

The situation itself involving Jerome is again all over the place in tone mixing in Schumacher and Nolan evoking Batman movies of the past. The series needs to choose a style and tone and just go with it.

There’s another story too as Penguin’s world is twisted and a gang war heats up. This is the strongest part of the series and episode and if the show just focused on this, it’d be all the more stronger.

The episode also deals with Gordon and Thompkins’ relationship which at this point feels utterly silly and boring as it also resolves Selina mother’s story. That final story seems to end and does so in a way that makes me question the inclusion of it other than to give something for Selina and Bruce to do.

The episode packs in a lot and continues to be all over the place in tone and look and content. A more focused series would boost it overall because right now it’s trying to do too much and does it all not well enough.

Overall Rating: 6.55

Falcone (guest star John Doman) places a hit on Gordon (Ben McKenzie). ‎Gordon and Bullock (Donal Logue) discover a follower of Jerome (guest star Cameron Monaghan), who plans to bring him back to life. Meanwhile, Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) spirals out of control before the biggest television interview of his Mayoral career, and Bruce (David Mazouz) and Selina (Camren Bicondova) deal with Selina’s mom’s return to Gotham.

Gotham returns from its winter break with an episode that continues some things from before the break and head straight in to some all new things in an episode that absolutely reflects the ADD season so far.

After Gordon killed Falcone’s son at the end of the last episode it’s a focus on revenge in the absolutely silliest thing we’ve seen this season. Hitmen running around with automatic weapons lighting up places trying to kill a cop seems bizarre even for this series and a mob boss would be much more subtle than this is. Even for a show that’s over the top, this is a bit too much and it’s resolution is so quick that any actual drama is wasted.

There’s Selina’s mom’s storyline which is… a distraction it feels.

Then there’s a focus on Penguin which is actually interesting once it’s clear where things are going by the end of the episode. The build up had me scratching my head and thinking things were a bit silly until the payoff that actually is solid in how it comes together.

Finally, we get a whole new story about the dead rising and the eventual return of Jerome, aka proto-Joker. It’s yet another storyline thrown into an already packed episode and season. It ties into Indian Hill, but maybe it’d be better to save this for the next season?

That’s my issue with this episode, it attempts to do too much adding onto a season that’s already packed with storylines that aren’t focused enough on and not given enough depth. Focusing just on the Court of Owls, or just the rage virus, or just Falcone’s revenge, or the return of Jerome, or Penguin’s meltdown, or two of these things, it’d work and work really well. But packing too much makes the episode and series a master of none of them.

Overall Rating: 6.75

As the virus begins to spread in Gotham, the laboratory that is developing a cure is compromised. Mario and Gordon face off before the wedding, Selina meets an unexpected face and Barbara comes to Nygma with information about Isabella,

Gotham continues its ups and downs this year with yet another uneven episode that features a lot of good and a lot of bad.

The bad is Gordon’s pursuit of Mario who he’s convinced is infected and will do harm to Leslie and wants to stop the wedding. It’s a bit all over the place with a set-up that’s revealed and so complicated it’s eye rolling. To say more would be to spoil things, and I do my best to avoid that. Lets just say as you go down the rabbit hole things get more and more detached. Keeping it simple would have done this plotline a lot of good.

The other issue is that key scenes shows the acting hole actor Ben McKenzie has dug himself. Unfortunately, he does angry, and that’s about it as he channels Christian Bale’s Batman with growling and teeth clenched. There’s some scenes that’d be fantastic with a different style, but the opportunity to show some dramatic flair and let McKenzie act isn’t taken. How it all ends leads up to a direction that feels predictable and a bit to soap opera.

Then there’s Bruce’s mission to figure out what the key is for and his assault against the Court of Owls. Where to begin with this one other than it feels completely insane and reiterates the character should have been sent off to boarding school a long time ago. A Mission Impossible type undertaking is thrown in there complete with over the top tightrope action. The mysterious person who I think is supposed to be one of the Court of Owls’ assassins but looks like Kato also shows up to make things more complicated. Overall, it’s a stinker of a plot.

Then there’s the sort of good part of the episode which focuses on Edward Nygma and the death of Isabella. Barbara of course has to stir things up so she tells Edward what she’s figured out (seriously, she got it before the guy who’s supposed to be good at this stuff?) and that leads Edward into crazy territory again. How it all plays out is really good and hopefully sets the series back up to where it’s strongest when it focuses on the mob flavored stories.

The episode is the usual mix. There’s some good. There’s lots of bad. And the series as a whole feels like it still doesn’t know what it wants to be. As the season goes on it feels more like the campy nature of Schumacher is winning out though it’s diving more into the visuals and color palette of Burton. Maybe at some point we’ll get the Batman we deserve, but it more feels like someone is looking down and whispering “no” right now.

Overall Rating: 6.70