As I've told anyone who gave up on Gotham early in its run before it gained its footing, the show really found itself as the the season went on. Without a Batman to speak of, the series finally embraced the true stars of this era in Dark Knight history: the bad guys. The second season of the Fox drama has been subtitled "Rise Of The Villains," and that's interesting, because generally subtitles are the domain of anthology series like American Horror Story. It's a clever way to re-engage fans who may have drifted or to draw in new ones who weren't interested in Bruce Wayne's childhood. So Gotham has a miniseries kind of title structure; does it have a miniseries-style length too? How many episodes are in Season 2 of Gotham ?
Season 1 consisted of 22 episodes, though the network ordered it in two pieces. An initial run of 16 was extended by the time the show had been airing for just about a month. Season 2, however, got a full 22-episode order right off the bat, and Fox is keeping the show on Monday nights. With that many episodes to play with, Gotham can dig into the backstories of a handful of Batman's greatest enemies and go really dark with them, like it did with the Riddler towards the end of Season 1. In a series like this, the bad guys are even more important to the show's mythology than the good ones. (No offense to Jim Gordon, but...) And, let's be honest, they're more fun to watch.
In anticipation of Gotham's baddie-focused season, here are some other TV villains who made a habit of stealing scenes right out of the hands of the heroes.
1. Spike In Buffy The Vampire Slayer
James Marsters' sexy accent is probably due most of the credit for this vamp's fan favorite status. And I'll admit to heavily 'shipping Spike and Buffy; their banter was way too passionate to be platonic.
2. Missy/The Master In Doctor Who
The Doctor's lifelong best friend/nemesis got a makeover this season when the Time Lord regenerated into a Time Lady. Michelle Gomez is visibly having the time of her life in this part; and I'm tremendously fond of this character, even when she's murdering humans with impunity.
3. Joffrey Baratheon In Game Of Thrones
Yes, Joffrey is a human cancer. But wasn't it satisfying to watch him get what was coming to him?
4. Harrison Wells In The Flash
Much of the action in the first season of the CW superhero series pivoted on the secret identity of kindly scientist Harrison Wells. The reveal lived up to the mystery, which is all too rare.
5. Moriarty In Sherlock
The most charming villain in the British television canon, to be sure. Moriarty is Sherlock without his humanity, and the only equal match for the detective. Did we miss him? You bet.
6. Sylar In Heroes
One of the main reasons I'm hesitant about the Heroes reboot is that it doesn't include Sylar, the depraved serial killer character who launched Zachary Quinto's career. Ask people what they remember about the original series, and his name will be the answer 9 out of 10 times. (The tenth will be "Save the cheerleader," naturally.)
I'm so ready to watch the villains take center stage in Gotham Season 2. The city has to get a little dirtier before Bruce dons in the suit to clean it up.
Images: Nicole Rivelli/FOX; Giphy (6)
