Originally written June 26, 2017
Well, I have to give Gotham one thing…it’s stayed pretty consistent in quality. I looked at my reviews of the first two seasons, and I gave both of them a 3/5, which is what I’d give this season too. This is a show that even now, with 22 new episodes in a third season, has been the definition of “average.” It’s had moments where it’s gotten pretty good, and other moments where it’s been kinda bad, but usually it just falls somewhere in the middle. If you’ve seen either of the first two seasons, you know what to expect with the show by now.
It’s hard to talk about the plot of a season of Gotham because the show is usually all over the place. I’m not talking about the quality of it either (although that is true as well), but that the story of the show goes in so many different directions throughout its season that you would swear it’s an episodic show (it’s not). I don’t think season 3 is as big of a culprit of this as the first two seasons, as there are two distinct storylines that come to mind that basically ran through the entire season. The season focuses a lot on the relationship between Penguin and Riddler, and that goes in all sorts of interesting and sometimes weird directions. However, the main through line of the season actually revolves around the villain Mad Hatter. More specifically (without getting too spoilery), his sister’s blood holds a virus that makes people insane with power, and so this element is explored a lot. Other than that, it’s the same sort of mini-arcs for everyone that are found throughout the show.
Since one of my usual complaints about Gotham is that it lacks focus, I do appreciate season 3’s attempt to have a more straightforward plot and not abandon interesting storylines after 2 or 3 episodes. However, while all three seasons have been pretty close in quality, if I had to pick a favorite it would still be season 2. I dunno, while I felt Gotham was starting to slightly improve its direction in season 3, I just didn’t find myself as engaged.
This really is one of those guilty pleasure kind of shows for me. I can 100% acknowledge that it’s not that good of a show, but it always somehow manages to keep me entertained enough to keep me coming back. It’s like that soap opera that you hate to love, but you can’t turn away. Just when I start to feel like I’m done with the show, it manages to give me something to keep me invested. I think it’s just fun to see origins of classic Batman characters, and so when I see a character starting to come more fully into their archetype, it’s rewarding. For that, I can congratulate season 3, as we’re really starting to see the seeds of their characteristics starting to grow (there’s even a character that actually starts to go by his villain name in this season). It’s to the point where I’m not sure how much longer they can stretch this show out for. I always think that a lot of the best shows end after 5 seasons, so I really hope they don’t continue Gotham past that. And so, another average season is in the books.
3/5
