Gotham Season 2 Review: A Strange Yet Uneven Comeback

So, another season of Gotham is down. Back when Season 1 was airing, I remember how everyone kept complaining about how terrible the show was. Now, either those people altogether stopped watching the show or Gotham really has improved. Has it, though? I mean, sure if you ask me this season was miles better than the last one. Something that keeps bothering me though, is how the show fell back into it’s old routine at some point. Uneven is the word that comes to mind when I think about Gotham. Of course, our young Bruce Wayne is still nowhere near as interesting as Batman. And Selina Kyle is a bit of a joke but I think the villains are what made this season tick.

The Good:

The Villains:

After all, it was aptly dubbed “Rise of the Villains” and “Wrath of the Villains”. The villains are really what spiced things up. The Joker, Tigress, The Penguin, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange and even Theo Galavan made the show so much better than last season. Whereas last year we had Fish Mooney, this year we had the joker. The improvement here is so obvious you’d have to be dumber than Butch not to see it. In fact I’m gonna go through each of the villain’s positive points:

The Joker’s Craziness:

Seriously, Jerome was the strongest point of this season. I literally went into a frenzy when they killed him off. Although I’m sure they’ll find someone to replace him as the joker soon enough, none can deny that Cameron Monaghan brought something unique to the show. Nevertheless Sarah Essen died at his hands and I would have loved to see him resurrected by Hugo Strange.

The Riddler’s Riddles:

Another excellent character was Edward Nygma. What I thought of him last season was that he’s strange yet likable. Yet now, the guy’s a total nutjob and a serial killer at that. Plus, he still has that carefree attitude and still loves to riddle his foes. This season we actually got to see Nygma complete his transition into The Riddler. I gotta say this: Gotham’s take on the Riddler is excellent and we would definitely like to see more of him next season.

Nathaniel Hard-Ass Barnes:

At this point, I thought the guy would be a fan-favourite. True, he’s not the most likable of characters. But there’s an air of justice around him that can’t be denied. He literally did what Gordon had been trying to do for years in the blink of an eye. He rid the GCPD of many corrupt officers and gave Gordon a really hard time. Sarah Essen was a great character but I felt that the show needed someone like Barnes to challenge Jim right now. Yeah, he’s lying in a hospital right now but fingers crossed for his return.

Crazy Miss Kean:

Yeah, so last season Barbara was batshit crazy. Well, this time she hooks up with Galavan’s cronies and shows Jim just how crazy she really is. She wreaks some serious havoc before finally being defeated. Except for the fact that she gets up and hooks up with Butch and Tabitha this time. I don’t know why but even though she’s supposedly cured, she keeps getting attracted to villains. So, fingers crossed for more crazy Barbara.

Azrael:

He’s Batman! Need I say more? Well, technically someone who calls themselves Azrael is supposed to become Batman. This Azrael gets blown to pieces by The Penguin. It was good to see someone as indestructible as Azrael. I mean he gets shot repeatedly and still doesn’t go out. He stalks around undetected like Batman will in the future. Plus, James Frain’s talents were much better utilized when he played Azrael.

Gordon’s Journey:

Gordon’s story this season was great. He rises high through working with the Penguin and literally threatens Loeb to reinstate him. He makes a name for himself in the GCPD and is brought down really low by the scheming Riddler. He does get his name cleared out but this was a point where the show told us that Gordon isn’t invincible even though he sort of is, being the main character and all.

The Bad:

Batman Junior:

Seriously, Bruce Wayne is a little whiny piece of **** that should be grounded for the rest of his sorry life. This season he whines a bit more and to shut him up the writers decide to give him a love triangle between Silver and Selena. Their scenes together were excruciatingly bad and there was something creepy about that romance. I don’t know. I really think they should kill of Batman and turn this into an Alternate Reality show without Batman. Because Batman is terrible on this show. Maybe Gordon should become batman. Just get rid of Bruce Wayne.

Wayne Family Drama:

The Waynes are the Kardashians of Gotham. They’re ruining the show and they’re ruining our lives. So, the drama between Alfred and Bruce reached some new levels here. Bruce wants to be Batman, Alfred doesn’t want him to be batman. Alfred wants to kill M. Malone, Bruce wants to kill him first. Alfred hates Selina, Bruce loves her. I mean come on? Why do the writers think we’re interested in the lives of the Waynes?

The Sacred Order of St. Dumas:

More like “The Pointless Order of Dumbass Monks Totally Unrelated To The Plot”, these guys were crazy monks who killed random dudes and got shot like…alot. In fact, they somehow managed to not kill anyone who was supposed to play a part in the storyline. They couldn’t even mess up Gotham City like Theo’s maniacs did. James Frain’s Galavan was fascinating and well-acted but even as the main villain, Barbara and Jerome outshone him in terms of villainy. James Frain was a total waste until he became Azrael.

My Name Is…Irrelevant:

Firefly. More useless than nipples on a breastplate(that’s a line from Game of Thrones). She was so bad that she turned every episode she was in into a terrible episode. Firefly’s supposed to be a comic book character but like Bruce Wayne, the show is terrible at portraying her for some reason. Her background was great but what she did with her powers was…meh.

The Strike Force:

It was formed. Everyone died. End of story.

The Finale:

Honestly, Hugo Strange was awesome and well acted but I don’t like what they did to him in the end. He turned into a blubbering idiot and we realized he was taking orders from the court of owls. Suddenly, he just wasn’t interesting anymore. And the finale was just over-the-top crazy and none of it actually made any sense. Those weird as hell creatures wandering the streets of Gotham seem like they cost a lot of CGI budget and they’ll probably make things even worse. A terrible way to end a season that started off so strong.

Fish Mooney’s Return:

Jadaaaaaaa! No please, confine your acting to other shows and hollywood. We don’t want you here. Fish Mooney was so bad that I think she’s the reason the finale was so bad. Did they learn anything from Season 1? Everyone hates her and you decide giving her a superpower will make her better? Not a chance.

Gotham will return in Fall 2016 on FOX.

Photo via IGN.