Gotham might not give all the hardcore Batman fans what they were hoping for, but this show has developed into not just a great comic show but also a great cop series. Season four continued the direction from the previous season going down some more of the comic route and fully embraced the variety of villains that inhabit this universe and now you can bring it home with Gotham: The Complete Fourth Season comes.
Gotham follows detective James Gordon and his partner Harvey Bullock as the two face off against the criminal underbelly of Gotham city in the an attempt to clean it up. This season fans witness the emergence of the criminal landscape for which Gotham City is best known while Bruce Wayne begins the path to vigilantism, showing signs of the caped crusader to come. Gotham City Police Department Captain Jim Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock remain at the forefront of the fight against the most depraved and unhinged villains from Penguin to The Riddler and numerous others in between. Detective Gordon also finds himself fighting personal demons like never before. As with the previous seasons outside of the first few episodes in the first season this show just keeps getting better with this one offering up some of the best episodes yet.
I love the growth of everyone on the show with ach season and this one was no different. The arc for Bruce is finally getting him closer to the mantle of Batman and they have done a good job at keeping it interesting and not just the straight forward training and fighting crime. He struggles with his age and the emotional issues as opposed to just the bratty kid that it appeared might be developing. The entire cast are always great with Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin and Cory Michael Smith’s Riddler always steal the show. This season also brought in some great new villains along with a slew of regulars that came together to form a villain syndicate of sorts with Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome at the head of it all. This entire arc with his character is easily the best since the show began and offered up a number of brilliant twists right up until the end.
In the first couple of seasons this show played up more as a cop action/drama and while that is still intact they have fully embraced the comic side bringing some great looks and designs to Batman’s rogue galleries with really only Solomon Grundy being the only one I think could have been visually better. Actor Drew Powell plays him great and the direction was an interesting twist on the character, but just visually fell flat for me. This is a violent dark world that constantly slaps you in the face with new twists, well executed action and great storytelling.
I’m sad that the show is only getting one more season, but hope they use it to keep building on this dark, gritty fun world they have created and give it an ending it deserves. This release includes all 22 episodes of the fourth season as well as bonus content including deleted scenes and featurettes that take you further deeper into this series underbelly. Join the fight against the Dark Knight’s famed rogue gallery when Gotham: The Complete Fourth Season hits Blu-ray and DVD on August 21st from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Review by Bobby Blakey - Bobby reviews way more movies on his own website than the genre-specific ones I post here. Check out Bobby's awesome website and his live show he co-hosts with his wife, Drusilla, at Hollywood Matrimony.
