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

Some of Gotham’s worst villains band together while the Riddler continues his conquest of the city; Gordon’s quest for answers leads him back to the Court of Owls; Alfred begins to notice a change in Bruce.

Gotham continues its streak of entertaining episodes with this one that builds upon the last with Riddler on a mission to find out who really runs Gotham and at the same time James has to decide how he’ll deal with the Court of Owls.

It’s a solid episode as it tamps down the silly instead delivering an episode that’s reminiscent of the Batman and Batman Returns. The camp is removed but at the same time there’s winks and nods from what’s come before.

Cory Michael Smith steals the show as the Riddler and his quest. There’s a little bit of Jim Carrey, but he makes the role his own by keeping it grounded and not campy. At the same time, there’s still a bit of fun with it all.

While Riddler is on his quest and James attempts to capture him Penguin continues to gather allies and evil-Bruce does something… well, I said the episode was like Batman Returns. The episode’s side stories are still solid again removing the camp and keeping things focused in tone and style.

Overall, a really great episode that has focus, a consistent tone, and a clear direction. The vision here feels completely different from what we’ve seen the rest of the season, other than last episode. That’s an improvement as lack of focus has plagued this season.

Overall, a solid episode that continues the series in the right direction overall.

Overall Rating: 7.95

The Court of Owls devises a new plan regarding the future of Gotham, as Gordon uncovers information about his father and uncle’s past, connecting him back to the organization. Meanwhile, Bruce wakes up in the temple and learns of the Shaman’s wish for him.

Gotham delivers what might be the strongest episode of the season as Ben McKenzie steps behind the camera to direct his first episode of Gotham. The episode is broken down into three parts, Penguin plotting his revenge with Ivy, Bruce being trapped, and Gordon dealing with his Uncle and the Court of Owls.

There’s some oddness to the episode, but that’s mostly due to the writing as the bad guy gives us the viewer an idea of their plan, which in the big picture of things is rather silly in how it’s played out. That’d be the Court of Owls announcing they’re going to purge Gotham. We get a sense of why and we’ve seen this before since it’s the plot of Batman Begins. That’s all just ok as Gordon’s uncle tries to help Gordon stop it all and we finally learn who really killed Gordon’s parents. It all plays out rather neatly, but in moving the plot along, it’s solid.

But, the concept of purging Gotham isn’t the only thing taken from Batman Begins. Bruce is captured and at some temple where he’s forced to deal with the Shaman. We’re not explained a hell of a lot here, but the whole setup is Batman Begins meets Doctor Strange complete with trippy scenes and imagery. The sequences are good, but it doesn’t make sense to send Bruce some place where he’ll be trained. Why not just kill him if you’re going to replace him? It is utterly idiotic and the biggest plot hole of the season. The scenes are decent and we get some movement in Bruce becoming Batman, which feels like it’s been accelerated as a plot point this season.

The highlight though is Penguin and Ivy. Penguin wants his revenge and Ivy is sort of helping him. While the aging and sexing up Ivy’s character has been beyond creepy, Maggie Geha steps up here and puts her spin on the character. She stands out from the crowd which is impressive considering Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin has been the most solid character the entire season. Her vamping it up and at the same time acting somewhat childish work perfectly for this version of the character and makes me wish we just got a Batman show and Geha had been a start from the beginning. She hasn’t gotten much screen time and this episode shows she’s been underused.

The episode is a solid one properly balancing all of the plot points and while things feel too convenient at times. The one think that needs to be fixed is McKenzie’s Gordon who growls through clenched teeth like he’s trying to be Bale’s Batman. He’s a bit too serious at times and this episode that doesn’t work well really hurting some scenes.

It’s take a long time, but it feels like this is the episode that might get the series on track this season. If nothing else it’s a highlight for what’s been a very bumpy ride.

Overall Rating: 7.95

Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) convinces himself that he doesn’t need Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) to succeed and begins to introduce himself to Gotham as “The Riddler.” Bullock (Donal Logue) and Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk) get caught up in Nygma’s mind games, while Gordon (Ben McKenzie) learns troubling news about his father’s death. Meanwhile, the Court of the Owls reveals its next move.

Gotham returns with an interesting episode that focuses almost completely on Nygma and it’s all presented in a series of mind games featuring Lucius Fox and Harvey Bullock. What’s interesting is the episode is mostly devoid of Gordon whose story is relegated to the secondary story. Instead, coheadlining the episode is more of a focus on Bruce and “evil Bruce.”

There’s some good and a lot of bad.

The good, actually close to great, is the story featuring Nygma, Fox, and Bullock. The story is entertaining, especially to see Fox and Nygma challenge each other’s brains. The focus on brain instead of brawn is a nice shift from the more physical aspects of previous episodes. But, the story really feels like we’re just getting to the point Nygma calls himself Riddler. Almost as the story is crafted around that concept. It’s not a bad aspect, but it feels a little forced. Still, Cory Michael Smith as Nygma has a solid spiral into his insanity.

Then there’s aspects involving Bruce and Gordon and while they move things along, there’s just not much excitement there. The series is clearly pushing Bruce to his eventual turn into Batman, which is strange since he’s barely a tween and we see some of those steps here. Then there’s this Gordon and the Court of Owls story, which also involves Bruce… that I’m holding out to see how it really plays out.

Overall, not a bad episode in its return but it still shows some issues with mixed acting and story plotting. The series isn’t consistent in its quality within its episode which makes for a choppy experience and entertainment.

Overall Rating: 6.45

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