A new and unexpected piece of evidence may hold the key to clearing the names of the whole gang, but reaching it may be an issue.

There are some weeks when I just wish my editor would let me get away with a one word review of a show. This week, Gotham Knights is that show and the word would be: Sigh.

Look, it’s not as if there’s nothing of value here. The performances are still mostly much better than the material they’re working with, and I’m genuinely invested in things like Stephanie and Harper’s budding relationship and the absolute car wreck that is Duela and Turner’s… whatever it is. But the actual plot stuff the show wants me to look at is just dumber week by week, and this week is no exception.

The hook is the sudden reappearance of a bit of tech that might hold the key to clearing our heroes’ names, and that in and of itself is a silly coincidence with no basis in anything approaching sense. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there. Lincoln wins the mayoralty (shock!) and proceeds to immediately fire Harvey as DA (gosh!). Of course that doesn’t stop Harvey being up for one more adventure on behalf of his vigilante buddies off the back of one of the flimsiest leaps of logic ever, but fortunately, the villains in this show are every bit as dumb as they need to be so he finds, if not exactly what he’s looking for, at least what the plot needs to move on to its next bit of dumbness.

Meanwhile, Duela, an undeniably sharp and smart operator who’s survived on her wits for years, continues to be wilfully blind to the obvious fact of what her mother is and what she did to betray all of Duela’s friends. Situational stupidity is one of my least favourite character traits, and it has no place here.

Oh, and we get the full truth behind Rebecca’s involvement in the Court of Owls, which is Dumb On Wheels, and involves a new plan of hers which seems to be ‘Burn Everything’ but with a side order of ‘Snag Harvey as her new love bunny’ even though he’s actively working against her. Like I said, if there was one word to cover how I feel about all of it, it would be ‘sigh’.

Verdict: The end can’t come soon enough, and in spite of myself I am certain I will have no lingering wonderment about where it could have all gone next if not for the capricious gods of television cancellation. 3/10

Greg D. Smith