Gotham: Ranking the Characters from Most Hated to Most Loved

Is Gotham Worth the Watch?

As a seasoned ScreenRant.com writer and a passionate fan of the cinematic universe, I must admit that I’m still on the fence about whether or not Gotham is ever going to be a good show. While it’s had its “improved” moments like two weeks ago when the Penguin’s master plan was revealed and Jim Gordon had to face down the mob and Victor Zsasz with only Bullock at his side, but past that?

Most of the characters seem like over-the-top parodies of who they’re supposed to play. Like I’ve never been aware of “acting” as much as I have while watching Gotham, from its headliners to its one-off supporting cast.

And yet, the show isn’t full of completely unsalvageable characters. That’s why below I’m ranking them from most to least hated based on what they bring to the show. I maintain the show at large isn’t great even if it does have some bright spots, but here we are.

10. Fish Mooney

In case you can’t tell, we’re starting with “most hated” here. There is just no redeeming Fish Mooney on Gotham, as she’s one of the only characters to pair a bad idea with a bad performance. Mooney is dislikable not because she’s a villain, but because she’s such a stereotypical, over-the-top villain she might as well be wearing a fur coat made up of Dalmatian puppy skins. She needs to go, and soon.

9. Barbara Kean

I almost wrote “Barbara Gordon,” but that’s the problem with prequels, you know exactly what’s going to happen. Barbara is a Barbie doll on the show, both in appearance and in having a completely empty head. She singlehandedly ruined Jim Gordon’s plan to bring the mafia down by thinking she could “come talk some sense into the Don,” and in an attempt to make her interesting, they’ve now introduced a lesbian affair subplot that makes no sense (the affair, not the lesbianism) given her past relationship with Gordon. She and Gordon were almost killed and she’s fearing for her life so she….goes and cheats on him? That’s just oddly non-sequitur.

8. Bruce Wayne

Everyone was worried about having a young Bruce Wayne on the show, and they were right. Outside of screaming in an alley, no one cared about Bruce Wayne until he began his Batman training later in life. Here he’s “training” but that’s pretty much just boxing with Alfred and holding his breath underwater while fully dressed. It’s hardly the league of assassin’s, and up until recently, Wayne has spent literally 95% of his screen time in one room in Wayne Manor. They are not using him well, and he seems like a robot someone awkwardly programmed to behave like a preteen.

7. Selina Kyle

I don’t mind Kyle as a character as much as Wayne, but both she and Wayne feel superfluous to the show. Though their “goofying around” subplot this week was surprisingly touching, it makes no sense in terms of Batman lore, and the “if you hit me I’ll let you kiss me” banter was uncomfortable to say the least. She also suffers from “concept being beaten to death syndrome” between having people call her “Cat” (GET IT?) and drinking literal glass bottles of milk.

6. Carmine Falcone

Any time you take an actor from The Wire, they’re probably going to be pretty good, so Carmine Falcone is where the show starts to shift into having decent characters. He’s not especially menacing perhaps, but I really liked his idea that Gotham needs figures like him to lead “organized crime” lest things descend into madness. And given the rogues gallery of villains that end up populating the city in the Batman era, he’s right.

5. Edward Nygma

Nygma is another example of a character played well, but again, the idea of who he “will” be is done to death from his “riddle me this” quips to his coffee cup with a question mark. HINT HINT. He’s played well by the actor, but he’s not the best skinny, awkward white guy future villain on the show, which can make him seem a bit repetitive.

4. Jim Gordon

I suppose it’s good that the lead of the show is at least above the 50% threshold of likability, but Gordon still has a ways to go. I really, really like Ben McKenzie, but he’s been better in other shows when he has better scripts to work with. Here he’s defined by one thing, “honor,” and that overshadows practically every other aspect of his personality or any flaws he could have.

3. Harvey Bullock

Similarly, I also really like Donal Logue, and I think he’s a PERFECT Harvey Bullock. Like the best characters in the show, he’s taken a role and made it his own, paying tribute to the lore’s history, but also putting his own spin on things. He’s funny, and one of the few characters you look forward to seeing.

2. Oswald Cobblepot

These last few “most liked” entries all have in common is that they have a fresh take on their characters that’s different than what we’ve seen before. It’s more than just hints of who they’ll become later, they’re good characters in their own right in the present. Being unique is why Tom Hardy’s Bane or Heath Ledger’s Joker worked so well in Nolan’s film. Here, we have a fresh look at the Penguin, and Robin Lord Miller does an excellent job making the role his own, and putting a new face on a very old character.

1. Alfred

Alfred is far and away my favorite “new old” character, reinvented as a tough guy rather than a posh Brit. Granted, he’s shackled to an uninteresting Bruce and overdoses on saying “Oy!” (especially last episode), but this was a great way to make a subcharacter interesting, and he’s my favorite on the show.

[Photos via FOX]