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

Crime in Gotham is at an all-time high, as Penguin struggles to uphold his promises to the city. Meanwhile, Butch goes down a dark path with the infamous Red Hood Gang and Bruce begins to investigate Ivy’s whereabouts.

Gotham has its strongest episode of the season as it gets back to its roots of gang fighting and away from freak of the week in some ways.

Most of the episode revolves around Penguin being elected Mayor and his dealing with the crime that has run rampant in the city. He’s attempting to look good but a new Red Hood gang is looking to cause trouble.

But, the real thrust of the episode is about the inner workings of his crew. They’re not getting along as various folks jockey to be Penguin’s number two… or do they really want to be number one? It’s an interesting episode when it’s focused on that.

There’s more thrown in there too.

We also have the search for Ivy, Bruce deciding what he should do as far as his feelings for Selina, and there’s Alice’s blood. It all comes together for the best episode of the season, but it still has a lot of bumps. I think the series’ struggle with identity continues as it still doesn’t seem to know if it wants to be campy, scary, or some gothic/noir thing. It bounces around with different tones throughout the episode, as many of them has done.

Still, it’s an improvement as the series moves away from the X-Men aspects of the series and the focus on proto-Batman villains. I don’t think it’ll last, but at least we get a bit of a break.

Overall Rating: 7.35

Penguin gains power as he narrows in on the nomination for Mayor of Gotham. Meanwhile, Gordon turns Alice (guest star Naian Gonzalez Norvind) into the GCPD for the bounty. Also, Bruce and Alfred race to find Bruce’s doppleganger after learning he’s assumed Bruce’s identity.

Gotham is a bit mixed in tonight’s episode. There’s the election, there’s the Mad Hatter, there’s Bruce’s doppleganger, it’s all packed in to an hour of television and the various plotlines make things very uneven.

Lets start with the Madhatter story which has him recruiting some help to retrieve his sister, plus Gordon is still under his influence too. There’s just a creepiness to this whole story that in today’s climate comes off horribly. The end of the episode doesn’t help matters at all only making things worse in many ways.

Benedict Samuel as Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter is solid in the role though. He brings a really interesting style to the classic character, I just wish he was given something a bit more interesting and not so abusive.

Bruce’s doppleganger continues to be the weakest part of the series mainly due to lack of acting and the story as a whole is just silly. Who knows where it’s going, but I just don’t care as it feels so much more at home in the X-Men universe than it does in Batman. I’m positive that the plot line will intersect with Fish Mooney and Hugo Strange again, but at this point I just want it to wrap up.

Finally there’s the election which actually has some payoff this episode. My biggest gripe is there wasn’t more of this! This is seriously the quickest election I’ve ever seen and there’s not enough done with the ramp up. It’s the most interesting thing going on with the show and the election is decided tonight. What’s weird is if you put it together with the timeline of other events it’s maybe been a day or two since the announcement that Oswald was running… um, k, that doesn’t work.

This is an episode where things needed to be stretched out and others sped up because they’re so bad. As I said, a mixed bag that shows the good and bad of an uneven series.

Overall Rating: 6.95

Hypnotist Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel) arrives in Gotham to search for his sister, Alice (guest star Naian Gonzalez Norvind), and hires Gordon to help find her. Meanwhile, Penguin decides to run for mayor and Bruce’s doppelganger begins to channel him, causing some confusion around town.

Gotham improves with this episode that moves away from the “X-Men” aspects we saw in the first two episodes, it instead gives us the seeds of some new storylines that might actually be entertaining.

The Mad Hatter comes to Gotham, the latest in classic Batman villains to find their way to the small screen. While Tetch in the comics has often been depicted as a short twitchy man, this version feels like he has more in common with Ezra Miller in looks. He’s also an interesting person using his abilities to get what he needs and wants while trying to find his sister. There’s lots of potential here and as a plotline to give Gordon something to do, it works and works well. Samuel as Tetch/Mad Hatter is creepy enough bringing an engaging style to the character and show.

For Gordon we also get the return of Leslie Thompkins, which was shown at the end of the previous episode. We find out more what she’s been up to and there’s a twist there I didn’t see coming at all. While this at first feels like a typical story, there’s something more revealed that makes it a bit more interesting.

Then there’s Penguin who has decided to run for Mayor of Gotham, a plot line we’ve seen in films and comics before. We’ve seen it done, but this feels like it’ll have more in common with the mob story in early seasons than the plot of Batman Returns. It’s interesting and gives Robin Lord Taylor a chance to shine on the screen. His portrayal of the Penguin continues to be a highlight of the series.

The episode has a lot of small details that works really well too, especially Erin Richards as Barbara Keen and Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma. Keen is a character I’ve hated, but she gets her crazy on here that works and Smith is always entertaining as Nygma.

The bad continues to be David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne who now has double duty as his long haired emo mysterious copy. We learn a bit more about this plot, but so far it falls flat mostly due to Mazouz’s acting which just doesn’t work. It feels like he’s trying to play too old and/or it just comes off flat. Add in a story that’s just weird to add into everything else and you have the outlier of what could be an interesting episode.

A lot of good here in what’s been a bizarre season that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Maybe the first two were the anomaly and this is more what we should expect and I hope so, because this is a massive improvement over the first two episodes of the year.

Overall Rating: 7.15

Fish Mooney (guest star Jada Pinkett Smith) takes matters into her own hands to locate Hugo Strange (guest star BD Wong), forcing Gordon to reluctantly team up with journalist Valerie Vale (guest star Jamie Chung) to find her. Penguin rises in popularity after criticizing the work of the GCPD and Bruce’s investigation of the Court of Owls is compromised. Meanwhile, Ivy Pepper (Maggie Geha) is reintroduced into Gotham city.

Gotham is an interesting one with an episode that feels like it’d fit quite well with X-Men: The Last Stand. The search for Fish continues as Fish continues to search for Strange. Gordon makes deals with Vale and the GCPD takes on Fish’s gang leading to a battle in the latter part of the episode.

It’s an odd episode due to that final part which feels like I should expect Magneto to walk in at any moment and give a speech as to why he doesn’t have his mark. I mean, you’ve got a speedster in black leather wearing a lower mask covering some of her face. It doesn’t get more X-Men than that. All that was missing was someone saying the word “mutant” and politicians railing against them (though we get the Penguin to do that, so we sort of have that).

A confrontation with Fish is what a lot of this episode is about, and even then that is just a step to whatever comes next when it comes to her. This all feels like a series of events as opposed to a solid ongoing narrative.

The closest we get to a narrative instead of events is Bruce’s dealing with the mysterious group who is manipulating Wayne Enterprises from behind the scenes. Comic fans will know them as the Court of Owls, who stand out partially due to their anonymity and their masks. Of course that’s ruined within minutes as the person Bruce is talking to and we’ve only seen briefly removes her mask. It kind of kills the vibe of the group and the confrontation is so early in the season it also kills the mystery itself. This was a story that lasts less than two episodes. Way to kill that reveal and build up really quickly.

And then there’s the return of Ivy who is aged up now and that’s disturbing for a whole bunch of reasons. We’ll see how far they go with her character in future episodes and how creepy it is when you think about it. This episode though doesn’t give me high hopes there.

Gotham is currently the best X-Men television series on right now that’s not animated. As far as being a Batman series… that’s debatable.

Overall Rating: 6.05

Gordon (Ben McKenzie) works in a monster-ridden Gotham as a bounty hunter and seeks to find Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) for answers about the Indian Hill escapees – and why their powers appear to be killing them. Meanwhile, Bruce’s (David Mazouz) doppelganger roams the streets, and Barbara (Erin Richards) and Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) open a new nightclub called The Sirens in the all-new “Mad City: Better to Reign in Hell…”

Gotham returns for a third season picking up where the second left off and setting up a lot of mysteries to come. The first episode is a mix of plotlines as the Indian Hill escapees are running loose in the city in a proto-Batman villain sort of way. There’s a guy that’s similar to Killer Croc, there’s a Man Bat knock-off, there’s a lot to make you want an actual series with the straight up rogue gallery we enjoy.

With the introduction of so many with varying powers, the first episode feels like the X-men’ing of Gotham, especially with Fish Mooney running around with her group of individuals. There’s a power for each moment’s needs and it includes some costumes that don’t help the comparison. And as far as that X-Men tone, the series feels more like X-Men: The Last Stand, than the more higher quality films. Watching the episode I awaited for the word “mutant” to be dropped at any moment. It’s a very odd tone and direction for the show, especially with Batman’s more horror roots, this at times camp feels a bit mixed in what it’s attempting to achieve.

The key players are back, though at this point Bruce is more front and center as he attempts to figure out the corruption at the heart of Wayne Enterprises. This mean David Mazouz has more on-screen moments, unfortunately known of that is good. Mazouz is the weakest point in the series with line readings that are flat and without any personality at all. Every scene he’s in drags killing any flow of the series.

Gotham is going in an interesting direction with a weird mix of Schumacher’s Batman and Ratner’s X-Men and in a way moving further away from the classic characters it’s based on.

Overall Rating: 6.75