The fourth and penultimate season of the American television series ''
Gotham'', based on characters from
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
related to the
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...
franchise, revolves around the characters of
James "Jim" Gordon and
Bruce Wayne
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...
. The season is produced by
Primrose Hill Productions,
DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and was based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery that manages its DC Comics units and characters in other unit ...
, and
Warner Bros. Television, with
Bruno Heller
Bruno Heller (born 13 January 1960) is an English screenwriter, producer and director. He is known for creating the HBO television series ''Rome'' and CBS television series '' The Mentalist''. He has produced the TV series '' Gotham'', based ...
,
Danny Cannon
Daniel John Cannon (born 5 October 1968) is a British film and television producer, director and writer, known for executive producing the 15-season show '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' series franchise (and directed multiple episodes incl ...
, and
John Stephens serving as executive producers. The season was inspired and adapted elements from the comic book storylines of ''
Batman: Year One'', ''
Batman: The Long Halloween'', and ''
Batman: No Man's Land''. The subtitle for the season is ''A Dark Knight''.
The season was ordered in May 2017, and production began the following month.
Ben McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (born September 12, 1978) is an American actor and commentator. He is best known for his starring television roles as Ryan Atwood on the teen drama ''The O.C.'' (2003–2007), Ben Sherman on the crime drama ''Southlan ...
stars as Gordon, alongside
Donal Logue
Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film '' The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', '' Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', ''Terriers'', and, as Detecti ...
,
David Mazouz
David Albert Mazouz (; born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as Bruce Wayne in Fox's Batman-prequel TV drama '' Gotham'' (2014–2019). Mazouz started his acting career with several guest roles before joining the Fox ...
,
Morena Baccarin
Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin (; born 2 June 1979) is a Brazilian actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series ''Firefly'' and its follow-up film ''Serenity'', Vanessa in the superhero comedy franchise ''Deadpool'', Jess ...
,
Sean Pertwee
Sean Carl Roland Pertwee''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer with an extensive career since the 1980s in television and cinema productions.
He is known ...
,
Robin Lord Taylor
Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978) is an American film and television actor and director, known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox TV series '' Gotham'', as well as '' Accepted'' (2006), '' Another Earth'' (2011), '' Would You Rather ...
,
Erin Richards,
Camren Bicondova
Camren Renee Bicondova (born May 22, 1999) is an American actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as Selina Kyle / Catwoman on the Fox television crime-drama '' Gotham'' (2014–2019).
Life and career
Bicondova was born in San Di ...
,
Cory Michael Smith
Cory Michael Smith (born November 14, 1986) is an American actor, known for his role as Edward Nygma / The Riddler in the Fox television drama series '' Gotham''. He appeared in '' Camp X-Ray'' in 2014. He appeared in 2013 in '' Breakfast at T ...
,
Jessica Lucas
Jessica Lucas (born September 24, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in television, such as '' Edgemont'', ''Melrose Place'', ''Cult'', and '' Gotham'', and in the films '' The Covenant'', ''Cloverfield'' and the 2013 ''Evi ...
,
Chris Chalk
Christopher Eugene Chalk (born December 7, 1977) is an American actor.
Early life
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, studied at Asheville High School and graduated in 1996 and went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Career
Chal ...
,
Drew Powell
Andrew Powell (born January 19, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Hoss Cartwright on the PAX series '' Ponderosa'', Cadet Drew on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', and Butch Gilzean/Cyrus Gold/Solomon Grundy, a series regul ...
,
Crystal Reed
Crystal Marie Reed (born February 6, 1985) is an American actress. She came to prominence for playing Allison Argent in the series ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2014). She departed the series after the third season but made a guest appearance in the fif ...
and
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
Siddig i ...
. The fourth season premiered on September 21, 2017, on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
, while the second half premiered on March 1, 2018. The season concluded on May 17, 2018.
The season received positive reviews from critics and audiences, who cited the character development, writing and action sequences as highlights of the season, with some calling it the best season yet. The premiere was watched by 3.21 million viewers with a 1.0 in the 18–49 demo, which was a 17% decline from the previous season premiere but on par with last season's average.
Despite remaining with consistent ratings throughout the first half of the season, the second half experienced new series lows in the spring and being in danger of cancellation. Despite the ratings drop, Fox renewed the show for a fifth and final season on May 13, 2018.
Premise
Crime in Gotham has been reined in by Penguin, who has issued a law in the underworld that licenses must be obtained before any criminal activity. However, things turn out for the worse when
Jim goes to Carmine Falcone for help; his daughter Sofia arrives in Gotham with the intent of rebuilding her family empire. At the same time, Riddler escapes his icy prison and allies with Lee, who has become leader of the Narrows. Serving as their enforcer is an amnesiac resurrected Butch, who now goes by the name Solomon Grundy.
During the second half of the season,
Jerome Valeska breaks out of Arkham Asylum with the Mad Hatter and the Scarecrow, hatching a plot to plunge Gotham City into anarchy. Although he is ultimately killed, he manages to drive his twin brother
Jeremiah Valeska
Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska are characters and antagonists on the FOX television series '' Gotham''. They are identical twin brothers portrayed by Cameron Monaghan. The series is a crime drama developed by Bruno Heller based on the Batman ...
insane by exposing him to Scarecrow's chemical gas. Jeremiah forms an alliance with the immortal Ra's al Ghul to threaten the city and push
Bruce Wayne
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...
into fulfilling his destiny as "Gotham's Dark Knight".
Cast and characters
Main
*
Ben McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (born September 12, 1978) is an American actor and commentator. He is best known for his starring television roles as Ryan Atwood on the teen drama ''The O.C.'' (2003–2007), Ben Sherman on the crime drama ''Southlan ...
as
James "Jim" Gordon
*
Donal Logue
Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film '' The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', '' Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', ''Terriers'', and, as Detecti ...
as
Harvey Bullock
*
David Mazouz
David Albert Mazouz (; born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as Bruce Wayne in Fox's Batman-prequel TV drama '' Gotham'' (2014–2019). Mazouz started his acting career with several guest roles before joining the Fox ...
as
Bruce Wayne
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...
*
Morena Baccarin
Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin (; born 2 June 1979) is a Brazilian actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series ''Firefly'' and its follow-up film ''Serenity'', Vanessa in the superhero comedy franchise ''Deadpool'', Jess ...
as
Leslie "Lee" Thompkins
*
Sean Pertwee
Sean Carl Roland Pertwee''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer with an extensive career since the 1980s in television and cinema productions.
He is known ...
as
Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman.
Pennyworth is depicted as Bruce Wayne's loyal and tireless butler, l ...
*
Robin Lord Taylor
Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978) is an American film and television actor and director, known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox TV series '' Gotham'', as well as '' Accepted'' (2006), '' Another Earth'' (2011), '' Would You Rather ...
as
Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin
*
Erin Richards as
Barbara Kean
*
Camren Bicondova
Camren Renee Bicondova (born May 22, 1999) is an American actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as Selina Kyle / Catwoman on the Fox television crime-drama '' Gotham'' (2014–2019).
Life and career
Bicondova was born in San Di ...
as
Selina Kyle
Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she i ...
*
Cory Michael Smith
Cory Michael Smith (born November 14, 1986) is an American actor, known for his role as Edward Nygma / The Riddler in the Fox television drama series '' Gotham''. He appeared in '' Camp X-Ray'' in 2014. He appeared in 2013 in '' Breakfast at T ...
as
Edward Nygma / Riddler
*
Jessica Lucas
Jessica Lucas (born September 24, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in television, such as '' Edgemont'', ''Melrose Place'', ''Cult'', and '' Gotham'', and in the films '' The Covenant'', ''Cloverfield'' and the 2013 ''Evi ...
as
Tabitha Galavan / Tigress
*
Chris Chalk
Christopher Eugene Chalk (born December 7, 1977) is an American actor.
Early life
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, studied at Asheville High School and graduated in 1996 and went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Career
Chal ...
as
Lucius Fox
*
Drew Powell
Andrew Powell (born January 19, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Hoss Cartwright on the PAX series '' Ponderosa'', Cadet Drew on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', and Butch Gilzean/Cyrus Gold/Solomon Grundy, a series regul ...
as
Butch Gilzean / Cyrus Gold / Solomon Grundy
*
Crystal Reed
Crystal Marie Reed (born February 6, 1985) is an American actress. She came to prominence for playing Allison Argent in the series ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2014). She departed the series after the third season but made a guest appearance in the fif ...
as
Sofia Falcone
*
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
Siddig i ...
as
Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul, commonly pronounced correctly as ''Re'sh'', hence or ; "The Head of the Demon" or, in a rougher translation, "The Chief Demon". is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary ...
Recurring
*
Anthony Carrigan as
Victor Zsasz
Victor Zsasz ( or or , the last being the original Hungarian pronunciation), also known as Mr. Zsasz or simply Zsasz, is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.'' Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' #1. The character first appea ...
*
Maggie Geha
Maggie Geha (born April 4, 1988) is an American actress and model. She is known for playing the adult Ivy "Pamela" Pepper in 12 episodes of the Fox TV series '' Gotham'' and as Susan in six episodes of ''All My Children''.
Life and career
Mag ...
and
Peyton List as
Ivy "Pamela" Pepper / Poison Ivy
* Andrew Sellon as
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010)
was an American director and producer of film, television and theater. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 1 ...
*
Charlie Tahan
Charles Tahan (born June 11, 1998) is an American actor. His notable roles include Wyatt Langmore in the Netflix original crime drama '' Ozark'' (2017–2022), the voice of Victor Frankenstein in the Disney 3D stop-motion-animated fantasy horr ...
and
David W. Thompson as
Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow
* Kelcy Griffin as Detective Vanessa Harper
*
Nathan Darrow as
Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze
*
Marina Benedict
Marina Benedict is an American actress best known for her role in the Golden Globe nominated series ''Flesh and Bone'' as Toni Cannava; '' Prison Break: Resurrection'' as Emily "A&W" Blake; '' Gotham'' as Cherry; '' ER'' as Lois Landry; '' Torch ...
as Cherry
*
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: ''Assassins'', '' Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Pass ...
as
Lazlo Valentin / Professor Pyg
* Camila Perez and
Michelle Veintimilla as
Bridgit Pike / Firefly
* Christopher Convery as Martin
*
Cameron Monaghan
Cameron Riley Monaghan (born ) is an American actor and model. He is known for his role as Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy-drama series '' Shameless'' and as twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who serve as origins for the Joker, on th ...
as
Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska
*
Benedict Samuel
Benedict Samuel (born 15 April 1988) is an Australian actor, writer, and director best known for playing Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter in the Fox crime series '' Gotham'' and as Owen in '' The Walking Dead''.
Early life
Samuel was born in Adelai ...
as
Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter
*J.W. Cortes as Detective Alvarez
Guest
*
Michael Maize as Grady Harris
*
Damian Young as Warden Reed
* Nico Bustamante as Orphan
* Michael Buscemi as Merton
*
Larry Pine
Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor.
A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring roles ...
as Mayor Burke
*
John Doman
John Doman (born January 9, 1945) is an American actor best known for playing Maryland State Police Superintendent, Deputy Police Commissioner and Major William Rawls on HBO series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Colonel Edward Galson on '' Oz'' (20 ...
as
Carmine Falcone
Carmine Falcone is a fictional character in DC Comics, portrayed as a powerful mob boss, an enemy of Batman, and a friend of the Wayne family. He has also been depicted in some versions as the illegitimate father of Catwoman.
In live-action, the ...
* Ilana Becker as Myrtle Jenkins
*
Dakin Matthews as Niles Winthrop
*
Benjamin Stockham as Alex Winthrop
* Owen Harn as The Hunter
* Anthony Rodriguez as Anubis
*
Albert M. Chan as Pharmacist
*
Will Janowitz as Wally Clarke
* Gordon Winarick as
Tommy Elliot
Tommy Elliot (born 1 March 1941) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
He played for Langholm.
Provincial career
He played for South of Scotland District.
International career
He ha ...
* Samia Finnerty as Grace Blomdhal
*
Tommy Nelson as Brant Jones
* Kyle Vincent Terry as Headhunter
* Stu "Large" Riley as Sampson
* Thomas Lyons as Griffin Krank
*
Chris Perfetti as
Cosmo Krank
*
Francesca Root-Dodson as Ecco
*
B. D. Wong
Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in '' M. Butterfly'', becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Crit ...
as
Hugo Strange
Hugo Strange is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character is one of Batman's first recurring villains and is also one of the first Batman villains to discover t ...
*
Alison Fraser as Gertrude Haverstock
Episodes
Production
Development
The show was officially renewed by
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
for a fourth season on May 10, 2017. Just like the second and third seasons, the fourth season also carried a new subtitle for the season: ''A Dark Knight''.
Writing
The producers revealed that the season would be based on the comic book stories ''
Batman: The Long Halloween'' and ''
Batman: Year One''. According to executive producer
John Stephens, the season would not consist of "direct adaptations", but "loose interpretations" of the comic book series. Ben McKenzie explained that the structure for the season would be "the beginning is more ''Long Halloween'', our version of that, and the end is more ''Year One.''"
According to Stephens, the show would handle a horror-oriented direction on the season: "At the very beginning of the season, Penguin has solidified his control upon Gotham like never before. Where he's kind of unionized crime. And Scarecrow comes in to basically reintroduce fear into Gotham and to remind people that the dark is still scary out there. And we're really going to fashion, especially Episode 2, almost a horror movie episode where we really get to see Scarecrow. I think he's like purely terrifying. Imagine, rather than the other versions of Scarecrow out there—because there are a lot of different versions—what if you just really tell Scarecrow as a horror movie? Because he could be scary as hell."
Executive producer
Danny Cannon
Daniel John Cannon (born 5 October 1968) is a British film and television producer, director and writer, known for executive producing the 15-season show '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' series franchise (and directed multiple episodes incl ...
stated, "When the studio asks you to tone back because it's too scary, you know you've done something right!"
Regarding Bruce's beginning of
vigilantism
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...
, McKenzie explained that "We are definitely leaning into Bruce, having learned some of the skills to be a vigilante, now actually attempting it. Now, we have a long, long way to go before he can realistically be Batman, so there will be many stumbles and falls – and regressions back to being a kid at times – but Gordon will eventually become aware of what he's doing and that will bring them against each other."
David Mazouz
David Albert Mazouz (; born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as Bruce Wayne in Fox's Batman-prequel TV drama '' Gotham'' (2014–2019). Mazouz started his acting career with several guest roles before joining the Fox ...
also added, "Bruce really is taking on this vigilante persona and all the things that go along with that. Whether it be creating another persona, a public persona, that's also definitely going to be a major part of Bruce's journey this year. His relationship as this other person. Batman is coming. Absolutely." Mazouz also stated that he was worried the writers could pull back some aspects from Batman, deeming it "too fast" but he was glad it didn't stop. He said that Bruce would take the "Batman persona" this season. Cannon also explained that Bruce will be seen "as the emerging threat he is."
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
Siddig i ...
stated that his character will seek to make Bruce his heir and will "do anything he can to get his hands on him, to manipulate him into what
a's
The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...
wants him to be." He also claimed that the season is "a season so far of extremes."
Talking about his character, McKenzie stated, "Comparatively, perhaps he's in a better place than some of these other truly evil, evil people." But as the season will be with him dealing with Cobblepot, Gordon "doesn't have a lot of good options. He has to either fight him directly or find allies to fight Penguin—surrogates to fight Penguin—which leads him down a dark path. So, that's kind of the way we start for him in season 4." According to Stephens, "We're going to see Jim make, in some ways, big steps toward I guess what you would call the commissionership. But also we're going to see Jim, in his quest to save the city, cross different ethical lines than he ever did before. It's going to bring him to an ethical nadir that we haven't seen him at, and it's going to be told through the context of a relationship that he has with Sofia Falcone, the daughter of Don Falcone, who's played by Crystal Reed this year. And that's going to be a really compelling and interesting relationship."
Sean Pertwee
Sean Carl Roland Pertwee''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer with an extensive career since the 1980s in television and cinema productions.
He is known ...
also stated that the season will also explore Alfred's mysterious past "indirectly".
McKenzie made his writing debut on the episode "
The Demon's Head", after previously directing the third-season episode "
These Delicate and Dark Obsessions". McKenzie went to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
to work on the writers' room to break the story and then go back to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
and finish many drafts. He explained, "I've been fiddling around with writing for a long time, but I'd never written an episode of television, so it was quite a learning process." He also added that, "From being on a set, the directing came fairly naturally. It was challenging, but there were a lot of things that I understood about directing just from observing, just from watching director's work. Writing often takes place behind-the-scenes. Physical production is not privy to how scripts come out... I wasn't so familiar with that process of breaking a story, of starting with a story document, then an outline, and then a draft; it was informative".
For the second half of the season,
Cameron Monaghan
Cameron Riley Monaghan (born ) is an American actor and model. He is known for his role as Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy-drama series '' Shameless'' and as twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who serve as origins for the Joker, on th ...
stated that "We're borrowing very heavily from some of the most iconic
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...
storylines. I think that they're deep enough, and they show where its really splitting that duality and start totally embracing the main arcs. I think that we did a little bit in
season three to bring it into ''
The Killing Joke''."
He also added that the plan for the final episodes is to adapt ''
Batman: No Man's Land'', stating, "We're really getting into it this year. I think the way that the story escalates is something that shifts and is not anything the show has done before. I think it's going to be a really unique experience. Especially by the past few episodes, it's going to be really... it's pretty insane."
Casting

With the exception of
Benedict Samuel
Benedict Samuel (born 15 April 1988) is an Australian actor, writer, and director best known for playing Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter in the Fox crime series '' Gotham'' and as Owen in '' The Walking Dead''.
Early life
Samuel was born in Adelai ...
and
Michael Chiklis
Michael Charles Chiklis ( born August 30, 1963) is an American actor, television director, television producer and musician. He is best known for his role as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama ''The ...
, all main actors from the previous season returned for the show, with
Maggie Geha
Maggie Geha (born April 4, 1988) is an American actress and model. She is known for playing the adult Ivy "Pamela" Pepper in 12 episodes of the Fox TV series '' Gotham'' and as Susan in six episodes of ''All My Children''.
Life and career
Mag ...
being downgraded to guest star.
Crystal Reed
Crystal Marie Reed (born February 6, 1985) is an American actress. She came to prominence for playing Allison Argent in the series ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2014). She departed the series after the third season but made a guest appearance in the fif ...
joined the series in July 2017 in the series regular role of
Sofia Falcone.
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
Siddig i ...
was promoted to the main cast. In September 2017,
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: ''Assassins'', '' Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Pass ...
joined the show as
Lazlo Valentin / Professor Pyg, in a multi-episode role.
Cerveris stated, "Professor Pyg is a brilliant and chameleon-like person who has a highly developed sense of what's right and wrong—it just might not be a sense of right and wrong that corresponds with everybody else's." He also added that, "When they
he writershad somebody who played
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...
, they knew the direction they wanted to go...
roadway fans who don't watch ''Gotham''might give it a look simply because of that, and find that they have a new favorite show." Regarding the
Dollotrons
Professor Pyg is a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly known as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Pyg was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert and debuted as a corpse in the alternate reality stor ...
, Cerveris stated, "You know how much he's liked the Pyg in the comics, but I would say that his focus in ''Gotham'' is more on things to do with ''Gotham'' and with the city and with Jim Gordon. He's certainly is the manipulative character, and certainly, you know, is trying to get people to do stuff whether they know why they're doing it or not. But, that's sort of exclusive. His whole reason for existing is not the Dollotrons." He described the character as having "a
Hannibal Lecter
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character created by the novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FB ...
-ish quality." He also jokingly added that he couldn't eat bacon "because I just can't bring myself to eat my little friends."
Donal Logue
Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film '' The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', '' Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', ''Terriers'', and, as Detecti ...
stated, "We have Michael Cerveris coming in and playing Professor Pyg and he's such an incredibly gifted actor and, as happens a lot, the gentlest and most gifted of artistic souls can play the darkest, creepiest human beings known to literature or film."
Besides, the character of
Tommy Elliot
Tommy Elliot (born 1 March 1941) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
He played for Langholm.
Provincial career
He played for South of Scotland District.
International career
He ha ...
was also set to return to the show, having appeared in the episode "
The Mask". However, co-executive producer Bryan Wynbrandt added, "Obviously when Tommy Elliot is discussed, there's always is that
Hush storyline. That is something that we've discussed. Right now, we're kind of still feeling that out. It could be something on the horizon, but I can't say for sure."
Also,
Peyton List was cast as a new iteration of
Ivy Pepper.
According to Bryan Wynbrandt, "The change was all based on the idea that she's continuing to evolve to become more of the Ivy from the comic books and what we really enjoyed. In this third evolution you're going to see a really self possessed, really scary and driven version of the Ivy character, who is intent on kind of making the world in the image she sees it should be, which is the green world. The world where the plants rule and people are an after thought."
As a concept McKenzie wished to explore, the fourth season was set to bring back the actor
Charlie Tahan
Charles Tahan (born June 11, 1998) is an American actor. His notable roles include Wyatt Langmore in the Netflix original crime drama '' Ozark'' (2017–2022), the voice of Victor Frankenstein in the Disney 3D stop-motion-animated fantasy horr ...
as
Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, who portrayed the character on the first-season episodes: "
The Fearsome Dr. Crane" and "
The Scarecrow
A scarecrow is a decoy used to discourage birds from disturbing crops.
Scarecrow(s) or The Scarecrow(s) may also refer to:
Comics
* Scarecrow (DC Comics), a supervillain in the Batman series
* Scarecrow (Marvel Comics), a supervillain
* Straw Ma ...
".
A trailer was screened on the 2017
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
that showed Crane donning a new costume under the Scarecrow persona.
McKenzie explained: "So we met his father Dr Crane in Season 1. So we've taken our time; we're gonna come back now to his son. You know, in circumstances probably not best described now, his son takes on his father's mantle and becomes the fully-realized Scarecrow. It's great. We're able to use this sort of fear toxin that Scarecrow is able to summon. We're completely unafraid—or perhaps afraid but we still persist–in expanding the universe and our capabilities." Tahan commented on his character, "He's sort of trying to build an army with this toxin. Scarecrow might start brainwashing people. I'm not exactly sure what his endgame is—I don't even know if he knows. He has this revelation that he doesn't have to fear fear." However, due to Tahan's commitment to the series ''
Ozark
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant por ...
'', the role ended up recast with
David W. Thompson, who portrayed him in the second half of the season.
When asked about Jerome Valeska's return in the season, Stephens stated, "What I will say about Jerome is that Jerome is in Arkham right now, and when you think about Arkham's record of keeping people locked up, we will probably see him again before the end of the year." In September 2017, Stephens explained, "You're totally gonna see him this year. You're gonna see him in a new position this year", also teasing that Jerome would be an ally to Penguin on the season.
Ben McKenzie said, "Jerome is one of our most beloved characters. The idea here was to really give the audience more time to enjoy and savor
ameron Monaghan'sperformance." Regarding the partnership between Jerome and Penguin,
Robin Lord Taylor
Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978) is an American film and television actor and director, known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox TV series '' Gotham'', as well as '' Accepted'' (2006), '' Another Earth'' (2011), '' Would You Rather ...
said "You have Jerome, who is chaos, and you have Oswald, who is control. So you can imagine, there are ways that those can integrate, but at the same time they're opposites." Stephens also added that
Fish Mooney is "gone for good", saying, "Now, that one was it. At a certain point, you gotta say 'Definitely.' People die at a certain point, and that's the second or third time they die
n ''Gotham''
Filming
Filming for the season began on June 20, 2017, at
Steiner Studios
Steiner Studios is a film studio at Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York City. It is the largest film and television production studio complex in the United States outside Hollywood. Steiner Studios, spread across , contains 30 soundstages as ...
in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
.
In January 2018, it was announced that
Ben McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (born September 12, 1978) is an American actor and commentator. He is best known for his starring television roles as Ryan Atwood on the teen drama ''The O.C.'' (2003–2007), Ben Sherman on the crime drama ''Southlan ...
would direct an episode after making his directional debut the previous season. It was later revealed that he would be directing the 16th episode, titled "One of My Three Soups".
Production on the season officially wrapped in late March 2018.
Release
Broadcast
The season was originally set to air on September 28, 2017, on Fox in the United States.
However, on July 28, 2017, Fox decided to move up the premiere to September 21, 2017 in order to give its companion newcomer series ''
The Orville
''The Orville'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as series protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century ...
'' a continuous run.
The fourth season is moving to a Thursday timeslot, alongside ''The Orville'', after airing its past seasons on Mondays.
Marketing
In July 2017, the cast and crew attended
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
to discuss and promote the season, showing a five-minute sizzle reel from season 3 as well as the debut trailer for the season.
The second episode "The Fear Reaper" was screened on September 23, 2017, when Cannon, McKenzie, Taylor, Bicondova, Mazouz, Pertwee and Lucas promoted the series at the inaugural Tribeca TV Festival.
Besides, the cast will attend the
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a ...
in October 2017 to promote the season as well as a Q&A presentation with the cast. The season was also heavily marketed by trailers showcasing Bruce's beginning of vigilantism as well as Jonathan Crane's debut, both of whom received positive response from audience with ''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
''s Justin Hart commenting, "Sounds like a perfect time for young Bruce Wayne to finally embrace his destiny as a masked vigilante, doesn't it?" while Albert Achar from
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
commented, "it looks like it is going to be a very wild ride."
As part of promotion for the ninth episode "Let Them Eat Pie", Fox released a "
red band" trailer featuring
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: ''Assassins'', '' Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Pass ...
as
Professor Pyg
Professor Pyg is a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly known as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Pyg was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert and debuted as a corpse in the alternate reality story ' ...
, teasing a
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...
storyline in the episode as well as a musical number, which was considered by ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...
'' as "insane."
Home media
The season is set to be released on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
on August 21, 2018. On August 15, 2018, the season was made available on Netflix UK and Ireland one month prior to its Region 2 DVD release.
Reception
Ratings
The premiere was watched by 3.21 million viewers with a 1.0 in the 18–49 demo, which was a 17% decline from the previous season premiere but on par with last season's average.
Critical response
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
reported an 81% approval rating with an average rating of 6.88/10 based on 21 reviews.
Accolades
References
{{Batman in popular media
Gotham (TV series) seasons
2017 American television seasons
2018 American television seasons