Gordon deals with a suspect linked to Galavan; and Bruce comes closer to indentifying who killed his parents.

Gotham‘s tenth episode bounces back in this episode I think to have Bruce finally stand up, lots of intrigue and the police doing what they do best, be cops.

The series to me is its best when it doesn’t focus on the quirky villains that are proto of what we know come about later on. Instead this episode focuses on the police, really Gordon tracking down the mysterious order who may be linked to Galavan, and to me that’s solid. I really enjoy Gordon when he’s in this mode. It’s a good balance of villain and cop.

More importantly the Selina/Bruce/Silver triangle comes ahead. Bruce’s being strung around by Silver at this point was so boring, so it’s nice to finally see him get a clue and stand up.

The episode is the best of the season so far, getting back to the police aspect I enjoy, and moving away from silly storylines like Nygma or freak of the week.

Overall Rating: 8.6

Gordon comes face-to-face with a dangerous hit man while he and Barnes continue to cleanup Gotham; Nygma and Penguin cross paths; and Bruce pressures Galavan to hand over the name of his parents murderer.

Gotham‘s ninth episode gets the show better on track after the first eight episodes which didn’t seem to know what tone they wanted to take.

The episode focuses on two things. Revenge for Gordon sending Galavan to jail, and Nygma who is now caring for Penguin.

The first part of that is the strongest with a great tone by dialing back the scope and instead having most of the episode taking place in an apartment as Gordon and a few others await the assault to happen. The look, tone, and vibe all take a bit from classics like Assault of Precinct 13, and in many ways I wish the episode played this out longer, dropping the rest of the plots just for this. The quieter moments between Gordon and Barnes is particularly touching and done damn near perfectly.

The episode ends with an attack that’s gratuitous and kills off another character of color, which the show lacks. Shorter version, the series decided to kill yet another black woman with more than a few lines. Add on top of that, killing the black dock security guard. Sigh.

I’m still not a fan of Nygma’s plot and him killing folks. His interaction with Penguin is great, but Riddler never came off to me as a character that got his hands covered in blood, he just likes puzzles and traps. So, while the acting is good, the plot is meh.

The episode is mixed because of all of this, but a big improvement from the rest of the season. More of this in general please.

Overall Rating: 7.1

Galavan sends Barbara after Jim Gordon, while he tries to make a business deal with Bruce Wayne. Barnes and Bullock are hot on Barbara’s trail, and Nygma has a run-in with a familiar face.

Gotham‘s eighth episode might have sunk to a new low with a spotlight on the Gotham Police force that’s so bad, I want the villains to win. Add in Nygma’s story and things for this hour were rather unbearable.

Last week’s episode was actually pretty decent, but here we just see mistake after mistake which had me screaming at the television screen to just pull the trigger. Letting the bad guy go over and over, it shows in incompetence and inability to do even basic things. Watching the episode I got to a point I wanted Gordon to actually die.

Then there’s Nygma, who’s spiraling down a whole with the body count increasing. That too is a bit silly and very out of character for him. It eventually leads to an interesting ending, but still, when you’re at this point anything, no matter how stupid, gets interesting.

Then there’s Bruce who’s being pressured to turn over his company. He at least gets to cry… the episode is just so bad, from plot to acting, everything. With heroes this bad, it’s not a shock the villains are on a rise.

I felt like I wasted an hour watching the show. Any more time writing this too feels like a waste.

Overall Rating: 5

Butch leads Penguin and his men to the warehouse where Gertrude is being held, as Penguin plots his revenge on Galavan for kidnapping his mother.

Gotham‘s seventh episode has actually bounced back a bit as the confrontation between Penguin and Galavan heats up into an all-out war of bullets. The show has gotten past the rather silly villain aspect, instead refocusing on almost a mob story, similar to last season’s best aspects.

We’re into a pretty straight power play as the two jockey for power, which has other repercussions, such as others seeing Penguin’s weakness and forming their own gangs.

I was a fan of the jockeying for power between the various mob factions in the first season, and this episode hearkens back to that.

The rest of the episode focuses on Nygma, who is dealing with his committing murder. We get to see some more of the aspects of what he’ll become to be, the Riddler, but the story feels very off. It’s all rather too soon. Corey Michael Smith’s acting in the role is solid though. His split personality is done really well, and prevents the episode completely melting down.

Robin Lord Taylor continues to steal the show as Penguin, really bringing out the hurt and anger in the character this episode. He’s been the highlight of the series, and one of the reasons I stick around.

This episode is the highlight of the season, not a high bar, and one of the best of the series actually. Hopefully we see more of this, and less of the campiness.

Overall Rating: 8.5

After Bridgit Pike rejoins her brothers, a new spark of courage ignites within her, as she chooses to take control of her future. Meanwhile, Kringle and Nygma’s relationship will take a new step and Penguin and Galavan continue to battle for control of Gotham City’s underworld.

Gotham‘s sixth episode continues last week’s episode which had Bridgit running around setitng fire and Selina helping her in a weird way. The plot of Selina helping Bridgit doesn’t make too make sense in that she wants to protect her, and also wants her to help do some crimes, and then get her to run for it. It’s all over the place as far as story, and other than moving Selina’s character along a bit, it’s an idiotic plot point that tries to shoehorn in yet another villain and does so in an idiotic way.

The episode’s tone is all over the place, much like the plot, in that the series still doesn’t know if it wants to be Burton or Schumacher and does neither really well at all.

That figuring out of tone applies to Nygma’s story which is so shifted from the comic version, it’s almost as if they don’t know the essence of the character. He’s slipped into more and more of a psycho killer instead of someone wanting to play games with Batman (who doesn’t exist yet). Nygma is the one who wants to prove he’s the smartest one in the room, not a hands on killer.

The episode wraps up with what it thinks is some dramatic fashion, but again shifts the tone for a more horror infused vibe. It’s all leading to somewhere, I’m just not convinced it knows where that is.

Overall Rating: 6

Galavan and Penguin join forces with a dangerous family in Gotham. Then, as the rivalry between the Waynes and the Galavans resurfaces, Gordon struggles to maintain order in the city.

Gotham‘s fifth episode might be the lowest point of the second season. The episode mostly follows a team of firebugs as they commit arson for Galavan and Penguin. We also learn the secret history of Galavan as well.

The best part of the episode is Galavan’s secret history which not only hints at the Court of Owls (who we have told to expect in the second season), but also the The Sacred Order of St. Dumas which is the secret society behind Azrael, aka Jean Paul Valley, a person who at one point was Batman. It’s cool, but really not enough to sell the rest of the episode.

It mainly involves the main GCPD strikeforce as they go after Penguin. That involves at one point going into a Costco that sells to just villains. The announcements overheard about brass knuckles and other items being sold is funny, but… what, the, fuck!? It’s so silly, it’s so stupid, it actually took me completely out of the episode. It might be the low point of the series, seriously worse than the guy who killed by balloons.

The episode also has Galavan attempting to get the endorsement of Gordon and the police union in his run for Mayor, which again, is also a rather idiotic plotline in itself.

The episode has some high points and some low points, which is how I’d describe the entire season. Just when you think it has a decent direction, the episode does something stupid, like a Costco-ish villain store.

How low can it go? We’ll see.

Overall Rating: 6.25

Barnes forms a task force with help from Gordon; Penguin is kept busy trying to fulfill a favor for Galavan; and Nygma asks Kringle out on a date.

Gotham‘s fourth episode has gotten better, but that’s not that difficult considering the season has been rather poor overall.

To correct the stumbling direction, the writers have decided to do their best Untouchables, with the new head of police forming a strike force of fresh police recruits to take the battle directly to those committing crime. There’s an outright reference to the “broken window” theory of crime.

This leads to some scenes that might as well have been out of the movie of the cops heading down alleys in idiotic gun fights.

The episode also continues the illogical plan by Galavan to run more Mayor to take over the city. The convoluted plan now pits the GCPD against the Penguin, instead of just rigging the election, a much more straightforward plan.

The series is more focused on cops versus criminals, and like last year this was the strongest episode, but still, the plot is just so out there, it’s kind of hard to take serious.

Overall Rating: 6.75

Gordon and Bullock hunt a nemesis from the past, which leads to a standoff between Jerome and Gordon; and a magic show at a Gotham Children’s Hospital gala results in a hostage situation.

Gotham‘s second season is so uneven this season and this episode continues the mix of campy and serious. The series can’t figure out what tone to keep, with this episode shifting more towards the serious.

The big bad has decided to hold a fundraiser hostage, and he uses Jerome to do so. That at least gets us a shocking moment, but the overall play and big picture makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

There’s some decent moments such as Alfred hitting on Dr. Thompkins, but the episode is uneven, and making absolutely no sense at all. And that confusion and weirdness isn’t helped by acting that feels generally phoned in.

The highlight of the episode is Jerome who does his best Joker impersonation, and maybe gets the last laugh? That’s about the one good thing of the episode. We’ll see where that goes.

Overall, the episode feels unfocused, confusing, and a plot that is so over the top confusing and pointless that it makes no sense at all. At least over the top plans are over the top lunacy, this just seems idiotic. It’s better than last week, but not by much.

Overall Rating: 5

On the heels of his reinstatement, Gordon is thrust onto the high-profile case tracking the deadly inmate escape from Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile, Galavan plans his next move, while Bruce asks for help from his father’s old friend to unlock the secrets in his office, and Nygma asks out Kristin Kringle on a date.

Much like one of it’s famous villains Gotham‘s second season is having a bit of split personality. With a tone that mixes Burton and Schumacher’s the show isn’t sure if it wants to go with a gothic noir-ish vibe, or a campy over the top fest. It attempts to do both, and neither succeeds.

The episode has the group of villains running around and causing chaos. They kill a bunch of people by throwing them off a roof, they attempt to burn a bus, they attack the police station. It’s chaos for chaos sake, and I guess that’s the point? None of it really makes any sense at all, and only shows utter incompetence, even when the villains WALK INTO THE POLICE STATION.

Judging by this episode Gotham needs Batman just do to the stupidity of its police force. Or it deserves to be erased from the planet. No one leaves the bus? Really!?

In, just as stupid plots, Bruce decides to check out his father’s computer which gets Alfred to lose his mind and the two break up and make up. Then enters Lucius Fox who is now a team player I’d expect to see more of. It all seems a bit put on, and WAY too early…. Bruce heads to the police station? C’mon writers!

The only highlight is Cameron Monaghan as Jerome Valeska, the pre-Joker who is showing more and more signs of his unique character. His take is a nice blend of whats come before.

The episode has shaken up a lot, a hell of a lot, and not necessarily for the better. Nothing like killing off one of the few African-American characters (and a woman on top of that too), to move the story along. The first episode was a step back, and this is a giant leap off the cliff. The word “hate” doesn’t do justice to my dislike of this episode.

Overall Rating: 4

Penguin is King of Gotham and after a shakeup at the GCPD, Detective James Gordon’s moral compass wavers, as he seeks help from Penguin.

The first season of Gotham was very hit and miss. By the end, it had gained some focus, and was much better than how it started. Focusing more on the mob machinations, and less on the crazy villains, the series was stronger.

This season has been dubbed the “Rise of the Villains” which reminded me of the poorer episodes of the first season, which featured these villains. THere was exceptions, but generally they were the worst of the season.

This first episode of the second season seems like what I feared. The overall vibe is everyone is going through the motions without much interest (there’s some exceptions again). The episode focuses on a few things.

1. Bruce trying to figure out what’s behind the door
2. Jim getting back on the force
3. Penguin consolidating power
4. The villains busting out by a mysterious benefactor

Other than the Penguin consolidating power, each of these storylines feel either rushed in when they take place in the Batman mythos, or just completely bizarre. The story line of Jim getting back on the force especially tarnishes a character who’s supposed to be clean and above corruption. The villains escaping goes against the grain and concept that Batman is part of the reason they were created (escalation), and Bruce’s discovery feels about a decade too early.

This episode feels like the beats are attempted to be there, but completely off, about a half step too slow, or half step too fast.

For a show I was so excited to see return after seeing the promos, I can’t help by feel let down. Not a good start for the new season.

Overall Rating: 6