Mad Hatter sets his eyes on his next victims, forcing Jim Gordon to make some tough decisions. Meanwhile, Penguin and Nygma’s relationship evolves, and a familiar face comes back into Nygma’s life.

Gotham his season feels like it has a bit of an identity crisis as it doesn’t know what it wants to be and what it wants to focus on. There was Mooney and Indian Hill. There’s Bruce’s dupe. There’s the Mad Hatter. There’s Penguin as Mayor. Each episode feels like it focuses on something else in a series that suffers from ADHD.

This episode attempts to focus on two things, Gordon and the Mad Hatter and the bromance between Penguin and Nygma.

The Gordon/Mad Hatter duel is the strongest thing of the episode and series with interesting acting and some twists and turns that are actually frightening in some ways. This is a psychotic villain who’s obsessed with Gordon and wants to hurt him like he thinks Gordon has done. There’s a strangeness to it all and as things spiral, it’s the most entertaining with performances that both enthrall and scare a bit. There’s also some twists, especially at the end as the game becomes more and more deadly and the stakes rise at each level. It also forces Jim to face his feelings with his two latest loves as to which he cares more about.

Speaking of love, people will either love or hate the Penguin/Nygma plotline after this episode. Last episode there was some hints of a bit more than a bromance and this episode ups that to whole other levels with a Penguin that’s gay? Bi? It’s not quite laid out, but it’s a new take on that classic character. I’m not sure how I feel, but when I yelled at the screen last episode for them to kiss, I wasn’t that far off.

The episode has some good and it has some bad in the usual mix of a show that doesn’t know what it wants to be. There’s some solid acting as usual, it’s the story that tends to make no sense for the series or characters. Still, the season is stronger than last year, though that’s not saying a whole lot. If it could just focus a bit more, then it’d be something that’s really a must to watch.

Overall Rating: 7.45