Originally written June 6, 2016

I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a show quite like Gotham before. For me, season 1 of Gotham was a show that had many ups and many downs, and it was really easy to pinpoint what did and didn’t work on the show. It’s a show that’s fluctuated in quality since its very first episode, and the thing is that this trend really doesn’t stop at all in season 2. There are some storylines, episodes, and even individual moments that are really good, and then others that just aren’t.

I actually find it pointless to even talk about the plot at all, because looking back I noticed that the show was in an entirely different place at the beginning of the season than it was by the end of it. There are story arcs to be found in the season, but truthfully they usually don’t last long and then just move on to the next thing. The show does have two slightly continuous storylines that last for the first and second half of the seasons respectively, but for the most part a lot of characters will just have story arcs that last for a few episodes before moving on to the next one. There were even times when you would think a story is going to last long for a character, only to have it resolved by the end of the episode.

I found this to be a really interesting dynamic because it works both for and against the show. On one hand, if a storyline really isn’t working too well, you can be rest assured that it probably won’t last for too long. On the other hand, it can be frustrating when a storyline IS going really well and you want to see the show do a little more with it only to have it abandoned and moved on from. Without getting into too much spoiler territory, this is found in the first few episodes of the season, where a lot of the focus is on Jerome, a character introduced in season 1 that many people assumed would become the notorious Batman villain The Joker. There is some REALLY awesome material done with his character at the start of the season, but then it winds up being abandoned after about only three episodes and we never hear anything about it again.

As far as characters go, I found that they can be pretty hit or miss too. Characters like Ed Nygma (who is becoming more and more like The Riddler in this season) continue to get better and better, while others like Oswald Cobblepot (or The Penguin) actually seem to be getting less interesting as the show goes on. Most of the characters like Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne wind up being at about the same level of quality, with some pretty good stuff being done with them at times and other times not so much. As far as new characters for the season go, I found most of them to be pretty fun to watch. Characters like new police captain Barnes and new villain Mr. Freeze wind up being pretty welcome additions to the show.

Honestly, Gotham is a show that I can easily talk about individual arcs and episodes for a long time because there is always so much going on it. I’ve never quite seen a show like this where it actually does have a continuous storyline going on for all of its characters and yet it still winds up feeling like an episodic show since each episode has something drastically different going on all the time. Again, this winds up working in the show’s favor at times when something isn’t going right, but it hurts the show a lot when they abandon interesting storylines really quickly. Over the course of its 22 episodes, season 2 feels much like the first season: just a mixed bag. To me, it feels like the writers on the show are constantly trying to throw everything they have against a wall and seeing what sticks. Gotham isn’t even close to being one of the best shows on TV, but it does at least tend to usually find something fun to keep me coming back to watch it.

3/5