Gotham was a mixed bag of storytelling for both critics and audience members watching from the comfort of their couch. There was a lot of love for the risks the series took to reinvent Batman’s origin story. The audience, however, frequently wished for more comic book related content than what they got, or more time with certain characters, or even more explorations of specific villains instead of Bruce Wayne.

That’s why, after 100 episodes, not every hour ranks near a perfect 10. In fact, the lowest ranked episodes on the Internet Movie Database come in at eight stars or below. They’re not examples of horrible episodes of television, but they’re certainly not favorites of the Gotham fandom.

Mad City: Burn The Witch S3E02 (8.0)

Season three must not have sat well with Gotham fans. There are quite a few episodes from the season amongst IMDb’s lowest rated. In fact, all three receiving a solid. 8.0 out of 10 are from season three.

This episode marked the beginning of the writers not knowing what to do with Ivy Pepper. She emerged in this episode, aged up to her late teens from another person’s power. Though she only appeared briefly, it was clear she was on her way to becoming Poison Ivy, or so viewers hoped.

Likewise, this episode brought Lee Thompkins back to Gotham just in time for Jim to begin a romance with Valerie Vale, though Barbara Kean was still hitting on him. Viewers were likely over his romantic entanglements by then.

Mad City: Red Queen S3E07 (8.0)

Five episodes after Valerie and Jim started dating, they broke up as a result of a “game” with Jarvis Tetch. This episode continued Tetch’s storyline, keeping him a little longer than necessary and making him a major villain for the series instead of a monster of the week.

Here, Tetch was a carrier for his sister’s virus, and that detail set up even more events for later in the series. That payoff wasn’t enough for some audience members who spent this episode waiting for Jim Gordon to get out of his own head. Thanks to being dosed with a chemical called “Red Queen” by Tetch, Gordon spent the hour hallucinating and trying to chase his own demons. 

That’s not a particular style of episodes fans loved since an episode with a similar format also ranks later in the list.

Heroes Rise: Light The Wick S3E18 (8.0)

Though this episode nears the end of season three, it continued the Court of Owls and Jarvis Tetch storylines set up at the start of the season. In fact, this episode is where they began to intersect.

The Court of Owls was going to use the Tetch virus to reveal the darker sides of the Gotham elite, and Jim was stuck in the middle of the plot. It’s clear that season three spent way too long keeping the Court of Owls a mystery, and the Tetch virus as a major plot point. Many of the season three episodes that relied heavily on both ended up amongst the lowest rated episodes.

Legend Of The Dark Knight: The Trial Of Jim Gordon S5E09 (7.9)

The only episode from the final season to rank amongst the worst, this episode actually worked in a similar vein to season three’s “Red Queen.” Much of the episode was spent inside Jim Gordon’s head.

After being shot while trying to organize a cease-fire, Jim spent the hour on “trial” for his life. He hallucinated major figures from his past during the trial, and watched as they attended his funeral.

Less time was spent on the confrontation between Ivy Pepper and Selina Kyle, which was actually the more compelling aspect of the hour. The two former best friends were at odds over Ivy’s latest transformation sending her down a different path than Selina.

Mad City: Better To Reign In Hell S3E01 (7.9)

When season three opened, there were a lot of positive aspects. Selina and Bruce were closer, for one thing, setting up the Catwoman-Batman dynamic. For another, Barbara and Tabitha opened their club. Sirens acted as a staging ground to expand storylines for Barbara, Tabitha, Butch, and Selina as the series continued. 

Unfortunately, this is also the episode that kicked off the Court of Owls storyline for the season, which the audience just couldn’t get into. Jim Gordon was also working as a bounty hunter, which definitely didn’t suit him. 

Welcome Back, Jim Gordon S1E13 (7.9)

It’s clear early on in the series that Jim Gordon would become the moral center of the Gotham Police Department. This episode began that path.

In it, he personally investigated the death of a witness as he believed corrupt cops were responsible. If that was all the episode involved, perhaps it would have ranked higher amongst fans. Instead, the episode had a lot going on. Bruce and Selina came into conflict about what she remembered about the night his parents were killed, Oswald fought about gang territory with Fish’s henchmen, Fish left Gotham to plot her revenge. There were a lot of separate stories to keep track of before the show even really started introducing its “monsters.”

Viper S1E05 (7.9)

Gotham fans were definitely not happy with substances altering the perception or abilities of characters in the series. Just like the Tetch storylines did, the season one episode “Viper” featured a mysterious substance that made people act out of character.

In this case, scientists created it to increase strength in soldiers. Viper did that, but only temporarily, by using the body’s calcium as fuel. Throughout the episode, Jim and Harvey Bullock tracked down its source. The more interesting storyline of Bruce and Alfred investigating corruption within Wayne Enterprises took a backseat.

Including “Rogues Gallery,” the remaining three episodes all tie for the lowest rated of the series. All three are episodes from season one, when the series was still finding its footing.

When an episode gets a title like “Rogues Gallery,” it’s likely the audience will suspect a team up of iconic villains from the past. Unfortunately, with this one so early in the series run, that wasn’t the case. Instead, Jim Gordon worked security at Arkham Asylum with a lot of characters who would never appear again. 

The only bright spots in the episode were Selina and Ivy taking up residence in Barbara’s empty penthouse, and Jim meeting Lee for the first time.

Harvey Dent S1E09 (7.8)

Harvey Dent is one iconic Batman villain. He appeared in multiple movies and animated projects inspired by the comics. There was a lot of pressure on introducing him into Gotham as the first big villain to join the show that wasn’t a main cast member.

Fans were content to watch Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Penguin, and Riddler slowly evolve over the course of the series. That wasn’t the case with Two-Face. When Harvey joined the show for an arc in the first season, the audience kept waiting for a big villain moment to drop. They never really got it. Even his first appearance hinted at anger hidden just below the surface, but nothing ever really came of it.

The Balloonman S1E03 (7.8)

Because “The Balloonman” was only the third episode of the series, viewers will probably cut it a little slack eventually. A lot of shows struggle to find their true voice in the first season. 

This episode, however, featured a lot of items that would become common amongst Gotham’s stories. There was the corruption of high ranking officials, Selina Kyle proving she’ll always land on her feet, Bruce and Alfred training for the future, and Oswald finding a way to stay alive. 

Perhaps it’s the odd crime that turned the audience off: one man using weather balloons to take lives. It was weird, even for Gotham.