Gotham Season 2 Review

So, while Gotham continues to struggle to tell the stories of at least some of its villains, the good guys fare a lot better. The series takes Jim Gordon on a very interesting journey as he effectively sells his soul in order to get back on the force and do what he can to clean up the police department. Seeing just how far he’s willing to go reminds us that not even Jim is perfect, leaving the viewer and character with an interesting moral quandary as both are left to decide just how much bad one has to do in order to ultimately do good.

Ben McKenzie remains the main reason for watching Gotham, as does Donal Logue’s Harvey Bullock (even if he is frustratingly pushed aside for the majority of the first two episodes). Bruce’s discovery of his father’s cave is also a solid direction to take that character in, and young David Mazouz does some very impressive work in these first two episodes, including delivering a speech at the end of the premiere which drops the biggest Batman reference to date and is sure to send shivers down the spin of any comic book fan.

Refreshingly, season two of Gotham looks set to move the spotlight away from organized crime and instead focus on the introduction of a brother/sister duo – Theo and Tabitha Galavan – as they assemble a team of escaped Arkham inmates and enact the opening stages of a very intriguing plan which has yet to be fully revealed.

Both James Frain and Jessica Lucas make quite a significant impact, and while the latter probably isn’t going to fill the void left by Fish Mooney (she simply doesn’t have enough dialogue to get the opportunity to do so), it’s great to see an ass kicking strong female character make such a quick impact. Barbara Gordon on the other hand remains a problem, and as she’s taken further down the path of madness, they might as well just have her become Harley Quinn at this point than attempt to salvage the Barbara we met in the first half of season one.

Despite some problematic character issues, the show features such a large enough ensemble cast that these are relatively easy to overlook as they don’t steal too much time away from what does work so well. Gotham remains a series that goes to the darker places which the likes of Arrow and The Flash do not, and the violence remains as shocking and brutal as ever. The action sequences – usually shoot outs rather than superhero showdowns – are also top notch, and the show is as gorgeously shot and as slick looking as ever. There are definitely a lot of great moments in the opening episodes and some genuine shocks which should dramatically alter the status quo of Gotham moving forward in a positive way.

While the fact that the series doesn’t pay more attention to the source material when it comes to its villains can be frustrating, it’s also that lack of faithfulness which leads to some surprising and very unique alliances and interactions in season two. For better or worse, each of the characters in the show are being set up for new story arcs which are hard to not be intrigued by, even if they’re not working right now, such as in the case of The Riddler.

The quality of these first two episodes signals a level of consistency which season one was lacking, and while it may not have dramatically altered itself, enough has been improved that it deserves a second chance and should remain a must-watch weekly piece of television for those who are fully engrossed in this prequel.