After watching the first two episodes of season two of Fox’s GOTHAM, I’ve officially dubbed this season “The Joker Show!” The character of Jerome Valeska played brilliantly by Cameron Monaghan (Shameless) has a whole lot more screen time than he did in the first season of GOTHAM and to quote Martha Stewart, “It’s a good thing.”
While the main storyline of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) is very engaging and interesting to me personally as a long-time Batman fan but I feel that viewers unfamiliar with intricate Batman comic book lore might find the Bruce Wayne plot slow or drab. This was a criticism that many fans voiced on social media and it seems that Fox has listened to the fans.
The second season of GOTHAM, named “Rise of the Villains” by Fox, has promised viewers many more apperances of new villains. The season has begun featuring the character Jerome, who it is heavily implied is destined to become The Joker, so much and it has me much more engaged than the first season. Starting being broken out from Arkham Asylum and put in control of a gang of escaped inmates, Jerome takes to his new role very well. Random acts of violence then plague the city including a school bus of cheerleaders, a gas tanker, and a lighter. The Joker’s use of televised terrorist threats is heavily featured in GOTHAM as one of Jerome’s first moves is to film him and his gang, aptly named The Maniax, shooting up police headquarters and promising Gothamites even more horrific acts of violence. Cameron Monaghan is one of the best actors I’ve seen take on The Joker character in recent years. Whether or not Jerome actually turns out to be The Joker, Cameron is doing a surreal job of giving us a glimpse of the man behind the grin.
I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for the viewers. Hopefully we see a lot more of Jerome and the introduction of some other famous Batman villains (fingers crossed for Hush). And I can only hope that young Bruce and Jerome will meet face-to-face before this season is over.