Gordon and Bullock set out to stop Gerald Crane, a biology teacher who has been harvesting the glands of his murder victims. Meanwhile, after finding herself in an unusual setting, Mooney continues plotting to gain power, and Falcone attempts to change Maroni’s plan for the Penguin. Then, Bruce takes a treacherous hike.

Gotham bounces back a bit from last week’s slight dip in quality, though this episode isn’t as solid as some previous ones. The big theme is fear, and overcoming it. You’d think this could lead to one rather iconic moment of a certain someone’s origin to keep the theme going, but not so much. Instead, tonight we get the origin of a whole other villain, which seems to be when the series falters.

Gordon and Bullock continue to pursue Crane who is still experimenting with fear. We all know this will somehow turn into the origin of his son’s alter-ego the Scarecrow, and it happens as expected, but in a rather odd way.

But as usual, the episode shines when not focused on its villains and their interesting personalities.  Instead the most important moments are when Edward Nygma meets the Penguin, Leslie Thompkins joins the GCPD, and the Penguin takes over his first business. These are the highlights, but even then, these moments aren’t nearly as good as previous ones featuring all of these characters.

The episode isn’t a bad one, but seems more like filler whose role is to move numerous plotlines forward, and none of them in a super exciting way.

Overall Score: 7.9

Fish Mooney reveals a secret of Oswald Cobblepot’s, prompting Maroni to take him on a trip to test his loyalty. Meanwhile, Gordon and Bullock hunt down a killer who targets victims with severe phobias and Bruce Wayne confronts Gordon for failing to make progress on his parents’ murder case.

Gotham is really kicking things into high gear as the series looks to dive deep into the Batman mythos beginning next week.

Tonight we get a bit of an origin with the introduction of Dr. Crane, the father of that other Dr. Crane we know to be the Scarecrow. The episode is all about fear, which will intelligently go into a certain fear that leads to the origin of a bat like vigilante.

What’s also nice is the movement of a decent romantic interest for Gordon and possibly even Bulloch. Both get a bit of a social life as they attempt to balance work with life resulting in some awkwardness. That work life balance also rolls over to Nygma who is also trying to find some love.

But the big movement is the story of Oswald who’s betrayal is figured out, and leads to some issues with Maroni. The series is best when it moves its mobster storyline along with the police drama. This might also be the first episode where the introduction of a “freak” has worked as well.

Overall, the episode isn’t as strong as last week’s, but it was still a very exciting and entertaining entry.

Overall Score: 7.75

When the key witness in a homicide ends up dead while being held for questioning by the police, Gordon suspects that it’s an inside job and looks to an old friend for information.

Gotham was in top form tonight with two vital storylines running, and a third that’s a bit meh.

The meh is the story with Bruce and his search for Selina. Overall, it’s the weakest part of the series, and the less it focuses on Bruce Wayne and the murder of his parents, the better the series is. It’s particularly weak when it deals with the young Selina or Ivy. They, along with Bruce, feel a bit forced.

The other two storylines have to deal with Gordon’s return to the police force as well as the rise of the Penguin. Both were solid here, moving along each respective plotline well, especially when it comes to the characters themselves.

We slowly see how Gordon becomes the leader we know he becomes, slowly winning over his fellow police, and fighting against the odds and system. This is a great spot of the series, and I think brings some of the strongest character aspects to the series.

Penguin has also risen, taking over Fish’s club, except Fish isn’t exactly out of the picture. Watching Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin is fantastic. He’s probably the best of the series, and to see him grow has been fascinating.

Where these two stories intersect are particularly interesting and some of the strongest things of the series. When it does the mob/cop aspect it shines.

This episode shows what the series can be, and at the same time seems to be phasing out some of the weaker elements. Gotham is back, and it is stronger than ever.

Overall Score: 8.25

In an attempt to get his job back, Gordon seeks to capture Jack Gruber, a deranged electrical genius who escapes Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile, Falcone struggles to hold onto his empire after Fish Mooney makes her next move.

Gotham really shakes things up tonight with some major movement on various plotlines. The biggest of those is the fact Fish makes her move against Falcone public. Falcone is forced into a tough choice and either has to save Liza, who’s kidnapped, or go to war. It’s a pretty bold move storyline taking a lot of the behind the scenes gamesmanship into the forefront.

And that shift also applies to Gordon who’s now a bit more balls out in fighting to good fight, taking his battle up to the current Commissioner of the police. It’ll be interesting to see where this aggressive version goes, especially with Bullock backing him up.

The low point of the episode is Jack Gruber who is still running loose. Again the show attempts to squeeze in a Batman-ish villain with a gimmick. For me, that’s usually where the series falter, unlike it’s focus on straight up mob issues, where it shines.

Really, the episode really comes to a head in its last 5 minutes which sees Falcone confront Fish and Gordon with his own confrontation. All of this sets up what should be one hell of a rest of the season.

Overall Score: 8.25

Detective Gordon’s assignment at Arkham Asylum gets off to a rocky start when an attack ignites an investigation, leading him to meet Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Meanwhile, Cobblepot continues to build his army.

After a short break, Gotham returns with a solid start to the second half of the first season. The episode picks up right where it left off with Gordon now working at Arkham Asylum where things are a bit rough. It seems someone is playing doctor and messing with inmates. That has Gordon taking control, and putting on his police hat to catch the attacker, which involves calling in his old partner Bullock for some help.

On the flip side, the mob battle looms closer as Fish hints she wants to take over to a couple of the other mobsters. The Penguin also oversteps his power and winds up beaten and in jail.

The episode does a solid job balancing the two storylines. What’s even more impressive is the episode actually had me guessing. There’s some solid twists and turn throughout to keep you on your toes figuring out who the attacker is.

Also standing out is the general acting. Everyone has brought their “A” game here, especially secondary characters like Butch who steps up in a major way.

The series seems to have benefited from a break, because this episode shows off exactly how good the series can be.

Overall Score: 8.5

Following a misstep, Gordon’s career is in question. Meanwhile, Selina leads a new friend on a perilous journey through Gotham to evade the assassins after her.

The latest episode of Gotham really shakes things up as assassins are sent to take care of Selina, after Dent’s shaking up of Lovecraft who may or may not be behind the Wayne murder. While Gordon follows his leads, Bullock and Alfred team up to find Selina and Bruce who are on the run.

So much happened in this episode. Selina and Bruce’s friendship moved forward. We got to see Alfred’s ability to kick some ass. And the episode reiterates that there’s a whole lot of forces working against Gordon.

There’s just so much that was shaken up in this episode, especially that ending! Gotham started off slow, but its picked up nicely, and has become and awesome adaptation for such a familiar world.

Overall Score: 7.25

Trying to close the Wayne murder case, a young Harvey Dent and Gordon team up, much to Mayor James’ chagrin. Meanwhile, Penguin makes contact with Mooney’s secret weapon, Liza.

The latest episode of Gotham gets back to its solid roots focused as a crime/cop drama with a familiar setting and characters. The episode really moves Fish Mooney’s moves to become to new crime boss forward, as well as introducing Harvey Dent to the television world.

For those that don’t know, Harvey Dent is fated to be attacked by the mob, horribly disfigured he becomes the villain Two-Face. The episode shines with Dent, especially as we see his signature coin, and hints at his split personality. For fans of Batman, it’s pretty awesome, and a welcome addition to the series. Seeing Dent, and Gordon work together, knowing what’s to come creates a sadness to it all.

Also of note in the episode is Selina Kyle’s move to Wayne Manor. Again, it’s great to see her and Bruce flirt back and forth. In some versions of the Batman mythos there’s a strange romance between Wayne and Kyle and their alter-egos. To see that begin here is an interesting take to it all.

It’s episodes like these that I think are the best of the series. The show is best when it doesn’t focus on freaks of the week type stories, and instead gives us a grounded(ish) world… that just so happens to be set in Gotham.

Overall Score: 7.25

Gordon and Bullock investigate a Gothamite who runs a deadly fight club for candidates applying for a job at his financial firm. Meanwhile, Bruce returns to school and gets a visit from a new friend.

The first rule of Gotham Fight Club is don’t talk about Gotham Fight Club. I didn’t read the synopsis of this episode going into it, and it definitely wasn’t what I thought it was. Really, the episode was Fight Club. Yeah, that’s it, not much else. But that plot point wasn’t what the episode was about.

The episode is really about Jim Gordon and his relationship with the rest of his fellow police officers. After the last episode with the attack on Gordon, and abandonment of his fellow cops in helping him, Gordon clearly isn’t well liked. That’s what the focus of this episode is about. We know down the road Gordon has earned the respect of his fellow police officers. Bullock has finally come around, so how about the rest of them? This is the beginning of that. How does Gordon go from an officer to Commissioner? That’s a part of the story that we’re starting to see.

And that growth I think is the interesting thing about this episode of Gotham. I could do without the whole fight club aspect, but the relationship of Gordon to his coworkers is the interesting aspect. That makes the episode worth watching, as it’s a piece of the bigger picture. On it’s own, the episode is ok, but as part of the series, it’s a solid entry.

Overall Score: 7.25

As violence between Maroni and Falcone continues to escalate, Penguin reveals a new component of his manipulative strategy, forcing Gordon to deal with the consequences of his decision to spare Penguin’s life.

The first six episodes of Gotham have been building up to something, and we finally get to see the beginning of what that is. The word is out that Gordon didn’t kill Cobblepot, which sets Mooney, and Falcone on a mission of revenge against both of them.

What the episode shows off is the opening shots of the war that’s to come. The war between the Falcones, the Maronis, and the Gotham Police Department. And there’s a lot of shooting. The attack against Gordon, an attack on Falcone’s men. There’s a hell of a lot of bullets flying in this episode. This is more Untouchables that previous episodes, and that’s a good thing.

This episode is a shift in gears as far as story, and Gordon’s war. I was fully expecting a speech about escalation, and Bullock’s short talk felt like it could come from the classic film. There’s even a silhouette scene that could have come direct from the movie.

The episode also introduces Victor Zsasz to the Gotham universe. He’s a solid addition that fits very well into the tone of the series.

But, the best of the episode is the last few moments, where we see the truth of what’s been going on. It’s somewhat predictable, but confirmation puts what’s going on, and some actions in a new light. It adds a depth to the series that brings some excitement.

Overall, the episode was a solid one, easily the best since the series premiered. It felt more like a movie to me, and instead of focusing on goofy killers with strange modus-operandi. The series is hopefully getting over the hump, and kicking it into a much needed higher gear. Things just got interesting.

Overall Score: 7