You know what the best part about my TV reviews are? I give you 2 or 3 years to watch the first season before we move on to the next.
Well Gotham has begun it's last season and I desperately wanted to talk about the other 3 seasons after all this time. And I got plenty to say, both incredibly positive and very negative about this particular season. And this is gonna be one of those long ones, so for those of you don't want to read a 10,000 word review I'll make it short and sweet, Gotham is a great show and it can be a fine introduction to the characters and setting for non-Batman fans but can also be heavily enjoyed by hardcore fans even if they don't particularly care for a young Bruce Wayne story. I urge you to see it regardless because there may be something here you can get into. And, here we go! So about 2 months after the last season finale, the mob war has ended and the dust has settled. Penguin is now the major crime lord in Gotham, Bruce has discovered a new lead in his parents deaths a lot closer to home than he would think, Gordon has been facing extreme resistance in the GCPD regarding his standards and ethics, and a new face by the name of Theo Galavan has hit town with an agenda and an eye for the mayor's office. Starting now with this season, not only was it split in half by a mid season finale but they actually named both halfs, Rise of the Villains and Wrath of the Villains which has never been more appropriate, the rogues gallery roster and time we spend with our beloved criminals of Gotham is astounding with excellent casting as always and the performances are what makes you want more. It's great to see Penguin go from umbrella boy to the king of Gotham's underworld and it doesn't stop there with his character development! There's some twists and turns that always keep you on your toes and wonder what could happen next for him. I'm pretty sure this was the season that finally made me settle my heart on Edward Nygma as my absolute favorite character, and not just because I'm a fan of The Riddler. I won't dare spoil what all happens but I will tell you this, I was so proud and impressed by his first true puzzle crime. They grow up so fast. And the hits keep coming from our fine villains including a rework of Mr. Freeze's origin, the first female Firefly, and even a fine Professor who I will talk about shortly, but with 2 ever so slight stumbles. I hate what they did to Barbara. She went from a sweet, slightly broken character to Stabby Babs with that wild look in her eye and a fixation on reuniting with Jim and she's....problematic. She just doesn't work as a psycho villain, I can't see Jim naming his daughter in loving memory or trubute to his first wife, or in this case fiancee! She doesn't really do anything in the grand scheme of things, just pops up, goes bananas, goes on a bit of a rampage and then is promptly stopped, then just kinda goes back to normal...(?). It really doesn't work. And then comes the "sidekick" of Theo Galavan, Tabitha. *RED ALERT RANT INCOMING* Holy dogshit I cannot stand this woman!! She infuriates every fiber of my being, she is the bane of my existence in this show, she cheats death more than the f***ing X-Men!!! She is nothing but a petulent child who needs to be Max Schreck-ed off the tallest skyscraper in Gotham!! I hate, hate, hate this character, with the fury of a trillion suns, she contributes nothing to the story, her character is an absolute ****, something hardwired in my DNA despises this woman, and I would rather be locked in a small cell with Mr. Zsasz and Killer Croc for 3 days and nights than ever have to see 1 minute of her on screen! Whew.......but that's okay. Cause whatever raw emotions of hate I feel for Tabitha, there is tenfold that amount of love for the best character of this season. My heart will always belong to Ed, he really comes into his own and becomes a fantastic character but my sweet beautiful stars! BD Wong as Professor Hugo Strange is perfection. I love and praise every deliciously devilish moment he is on screen, to the point where I don't think it's a performance anymore! You know how some actors fully envelop the character they are potraying to the point where you can't discern between actor and character? Like how, in The Dark Knight you don't see Heath Ledger you see The Joker, or how you don't see Chadwick Boseman you see Black Panther! Like, I am seeing Hugo Strange right in front of me, and BD Wong is a glorious choice, they got the look down to the letter, his voice is smooth pimp daddy levels of awesome (and they say...part of that in the show), ugh he is absolutely incredible. How incredible you might ask? He literally gets stuck in the middle of a flamethrower and an ice gun, and survives! He's such a glorious villain that they couldn't even kill him off! That is what I am talking about. So I can get over the bad stuff very easily when he's on screen. I get the feeling the writers know how to write villains better than heroes, not that the heroes are bad, Jim and Bruce are still likable characters, Alfred is still awesome, we even get a young Lucius Fox who's pretty great! All our main good guys are written just as well as the last time with slight issue. Nothing show breaking, but more I don't know how to explain it. Conflicting? Confusing? Schizophrenic? Give you an example, Bruce comes to a point where he says killing is crossing the line and he will never cross the line but then actually gets a gun and confronts the man who killed his parents with the intention to kill him. Do you see the issue? That happens several times, especially in Selina's case, my God she might actually be schizo cause she goes from likable, sweet, and on good terms with Bruce then at the drop of a hat she gets all angry, resentful of her friendship, and is kind of a massive jerk. Why?? It's like they can't ride that line of complicated relationships because of worldviews and ethics, so it's either she's nice and likable or mean and being ugly. That's a problem. But honestly, beyond those 3 minor problems the season is a big hit! I like what they did, giving a centuries old backstory to Theo Galavan, new characters and old favorites including Jerome, bringing a more cinematic look to it and you use those dutch angles good just sayin', and most importantly progressing the story for Bruce and Jim. There's so much to talk about, if I need to take a notepad to keep up with everything I noticed for good or for ill, then there's a lot. I knew people including myself that thought Gotham was gonna crash and burn, but I wanted to give it a shot regardless and found a fine show that gives a new look into the Batman mythos. And with such a massive season with tons of stuff that happened that I want you to see, all I can give is an opinion of what they did while trying not to give away everything because I want to talk about everything. There's tons of great stuff to be found in Gotham if you look past the bad parts, I guess it's very much like the famous city itself in that regard. So yeah, two big thumbs up from me for season 2 and season 3 is coming right up!
