Aside from one cringeworthy musical moment, season four of Gotham was very enjoyable to watch and showed a deeper look into the lives of beloved characters in this doomed city. If you’re a fan of the Batman universe (or have watched seasons one-three of Gotham) this is for you.
This season of Gotham starts with a city in chaos and Penguin in charge. He’s got total control of the criminal underworld of the city and has even convinced the GCPD that he can control crime better than they ever could. His licensed crime system doesn’t sit well with our protagonist, Jim Gordon. Throughout the entire season, Gordon’s morals are put to the test. He is challenged with keeping the people of Gotham safe, and is often tempted to break the rules to do so.
As the season moves forward we see more criminals make their moves for power in Gotham. Sophia Falcone, Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, The Mad Hatter and Scarecrow are just a few that compete in the ongoing criminal power struggle. The final rise to power of a Gotham criminal in this season is none other than Jeremiah Valeska, the identical brother of Jerome Valeska who was in Arkham Asylum. Together, these characters have a Joker-like persona that they use to terrorize Gotham. Their criminal minds prove to be one of the most challenging obstacles for our heroes this season.
Bruce Wayne has a journey of his own this season. He plays many different roles while trying to discover who he really is. He fights crime in a black mask and armor, then he turns to a self-indulgent billionaire lifestyle, and is eventually shown a vision of who he could be (hint: there are bats involved). Along this journey he has to face many of the villains in Gotham, mainly Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s claims that Bruce is his heir and must ultimately kill him. Bruce struggles with this idea and whether or not he is capable of killing anyone. Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska also take their turn to go after Bruce. He is kidnapped and almost made insane as part of their twisted revenge plot.
The end of season four promises more chaos to come as criminals carve up their territories of the city, and only a few brave policemen stay behind to defend it (including Gordon, Harvey and Bruce of course).
Overall, I thought that this season of Gotham was very entertaining. There are a lot of characters and storylines at play at any given time, but they all balance nicely and never become overwhelming. Sometimes when there are so many details and plot points to remember, some of them fade into the background or are forgotten entirely by the time they are focused on again. I don’t think this was the case at all in Gotham. Like any show or film set in the Batman universe, Gotham has plenty of moving pieces that each have their own significance that is crucial to the story.
This season brought lots of surprises and unexpected twists. However, there were just as many predictable moments to dull it down. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, but it did take a while for the season to get exciting because there’s a lot of plot build up in the first few episodes and not a lot of action (compared to later ones).
