After his escape from Arkham Asylum, Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz, Touch, The Darkness) has found evidence of a secret organization that claims to pull many of the strings that govern Gotham and, as it turns out, Wayne Enterprises. While the main characters of Gotham have their hands full with many new and interesting foes, this group, known as The Court of Owls, ends up being the primary driving force of the season as a whole.
Right off the bat (no pun intended... no, really), most of Bruce and Alfred's (Sean Pertwee, Equilibrium, Event Horizon) time this season focuses on discovering just who the mysterious Court of Owls is and what they want, but eventually James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, The O.C., Southland) starts to get involved when his estranged Uncle Frank (James Remar, Dexter), shows up and tries to recruit Jim into joining the organization.
As James digs into The Court, he will employ many tactics to learn what he can, this even means getting Barbara (Erin Richards, The Quiet Ones), Tabitha (Jessica Lucas, Cloverfield, Evil Dead, Pompeii) and Butch (Drew Powell, The Mentalist, Ray Donovan) involved to see what they can find.
Speaking of Gotham's underbelly, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor, Accepted) decides to run for Mayor since the office is once again open. When Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith, Carol) gets out of Arkham, he becomes Oswald's campaign manager and Ed deftly manipulates the public to vote for the man everyone knows is a criminal. When a rift appears between the two though, The Penguin and The Riddler will find themselves at odds, and who exactly has the upper hand flip flops continuously throughout the season.
As for the other main characters, Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) and her relationship with Bruce only grows more complicated. After the events of Arkham last season, the future cat burglar distances herself from the boy billionaire, but when The Court of Owls starts to get involved, Selina has to as well. Meanwhile, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, Grounded For Life, Blade, Zodiac) and Captain Barnes (Michael Chiklis, The Shield, Fantastic Four) continue to hold down the GCPD fort (especially since the season starts off with Jim as a bounty hunter and not a cop). Joining the force is Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk, Underground, Homeland), replacing Ed as the department's tech guru. Meanwhile, Lee Tompkins (Morena Baccarin, Firefly, Deadpool, Serenity) returns to Gotham after her falling out with Jim, and while she takes up her job as GCPD's medical examiner, she also shows up with a new man on her arm.
Like last year, Season 3 is broken up into two story arcs, each one almost a mini-season in their own right. The first arc, titled "Mad City" focuses heavily on a new criminal in town, Jervis Tetch (Benedict Samuel), a character Batman fans will know as Mad Hatter. Gotham's take on Tetch makes him a master manipulator whose sister, Alice (Naian Gonzalez Norvind), has a disease that will radically reshape the people of Gotham, and no-one, not even some of the show's main characters, are immune to its effects. Before the "Mad City" story concludes, Gotham will not only have to deal with Tetch's schemes and Alice's disease, but an old threat that has been slowly building pressure will re-emerge as the strange cult that cropped up after Jerome's (Cameron Monaghan, The Giver, Shameless) death asserts itself more and more. This first half of the season also sees a major change in one of the show's secondary characters. Young Ivy Pepper ends up in trouble, and a misstep later, she is not only older (now played by Maggie Geha), but she soon starts to realize she has some pheromone and plant-based abilities.
The season's second half, "Heroes Rise," really kicks off as The Court of Owls begins initiating their plans. Not only does Bruce find himself in a rather unique situation, but Frank's offer for Jim to join The Court gives the cop a real chance to determine what the shadow organization is up to. These last episodes put the various characters in some new situations that will force them to make choices that only help to push each of them further into their iconic roles, especially when the show ends on yet another main Batman villain making his presence known.
This season's special features include not only featurettes on The Court of Owls, but also on how the season was designed to make the city of Gotham change more and more into a place where Batman would be needed. There is also a featurette on McKenzie's directorial debut in the episode "These Delicate and Dark Obsessions," as well as a collection of deleted scenes and a lengthy 2016 Comic-Con panel with many of the show's cast on the panel.
A lot happens in Gotham: The Complete Third Season and many of the characters are moved further down their inevitable paths by the time this season ends. If you have been following the series from its start, then you won't want to miss this season, and if you haven't seen the show before, then you will want to get caught up and join this ride.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a copy of the Blu-ray. The opinions I share are my own.
