Gotham has had tonal problems since day one. Mixing a crime procedural approach with outlandish comic book elements has worked surprisingly well for the most part, but the humour has not. While the show doesn't need to go too dark, Gotham has too often veered into silliness, something which ultimately undermines much of what they're going for. The Penguin's mother is the perfect example of this. She comes across as ridiculous and cartoonish, sticking out like a sore thumb in every scene she's in. Oswald is such a complex character that they could have developed a very disturbing and interesting relationship between him and his mother, and while it no doubt comes across as unhealthy, she's just too laughably bad to ever take seriously. This was a problem with a number of characters in Season One, and it appears to stem from a lack of understanding of how best to adapt the source material. Heller isn't a comic book reader, and it shows. When the focus is on Gordon and Bullock investigating a serial killer it works, but as soon as Gotham tries to throw in some stuff from the comics, we end up with a killer who ties the people he murders to balloons and some not great examples of over acting (here's looking at you, Ed...). Much of Fish Mooney's dialogue was cringe worthy thanks to this level of cheesiness, while The Penguin standing on top of a building and declaring himself the King of Gotham in a Titanic-esque moment that's more goofy than epic. Gotham basically needs to just get serious in Season Two. The show isn't on cable, but can still go to some pretty dark places. That should be the priority - not cheesy moments which remind viewers more of Batman And Robin that Batman Begins.
