Gotham Returns Next Week
On September 21st, Fox's Batman prequel series Gotham returns for its second season. We take a look back at the first Bat-themed live-action DC TV show since the 60's.
The end of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy certainly left a Batman-shaped void for fans of the iconic comic-book hero, a void even Man Of Steel couldn't exactly make us forget. The announcement of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (and eventually Suicide Squad and Justice League) helped give us something to look forward to but it was Gotham who last year gave us our daily intake of the twisted world created by Bob Kane many, many years ago.
With a vast gallery of rogues to play around with, there was no way Gotham could ever run out of cool villains plus the prospect of a plot centered around a young Commissioner Gordon sounded promising, bringing up fond memories of Frank Miller's inspired "Year One" comic story arc.
The first season would primarily deal with The Penguin's (Robin Lord Taylor) rise to power in Gotham City's underworld but also finding whoever killed Bruce Wayne's (David Mazouz) parents, ongoing mob rivalries, the growing amount of creative baddies in the city and Gordon (Ben McKenzie) earning more and more respect at the heart of the GCPD.
A lot of good came from Gotham: for one thing, some relatively obscure villains got more limelight including The Electrocutioner, Black Mask, Victor Zsasz and The Ogre. We also got to see more familiar baddies get their start as Edward Nygma's (Cory Michael Smith) transformation into The Riddler took a big step forward by the finale, same thing for Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) becoming Catwoman and a new Joker (Cameron Monaghan) was even teased.
"Tease" being the key word here as Gotham, from the very beginning, thrived on its willingness to keep us guessing throughout, almost never delivering full-on Batman iconography, only ever referencing certain elements slyly here and there. Even by the very end of the season finale, we still weren't sure who the Joker was going to be.
In truth, however, Gotham's final episode did rush through a few major plot points and left us feeling a little bamboozled.
To the risk of spoiling the first season for some of you (shut your ears if you haven't watched it yet), The Penguin disposed of new villainess Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett-Smith) minutes after she made her big comeback, one of the main mob bosses suddenly checks out early for good, Selina Kyle gets a random makeover, embracing a thug lifestyle pretty much overnight, Gordon's ex girlfriend Barbara (Erin Richards) goes full psycho and Bruce Wayne discovers what appears to be the Batcave.
Whether the first season of Gotham lived up to its original premise is debatable but whether you liked it or not, it's hard to deny it left enough there to get us excited for a second season at least. The couple of promos we've seen for this upcoming season showing off more rogues with the rise of The Joker at its heart as a key character arc.
Plus there's talk of this season being an infinitely more cruel affair as some big characters might get axed (or killed off) right off the (forgive the pun) bat. Here's hoping it delivers a darker, more consistent and unpredictable watch.
Season 2 of Gotham will be released on FOX September 21st: same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
