In this season, we see Police Capt. Barnes become the Executioner, Penguin become the mayor of Gotham, Ed Nygma totally lose his cool when Penguin declares his romantic feelings for him (though, in all fairness, Penguin also happens to murder the love of Nygma's life), Lucius Fox start acting like a principal character, and in the final shot of the season, Batman in action for the first time ever.
So, there's a lot to pack into this serialized story. I can't possibly do it justice. Just what happens as a result of the Alice Tetch virus is enough to turn the status quo upside-down and inside out. Gordon shoots Lee Thompkins' husband dead on their wedding day; Barnes becomes obsessed with destroying Gordon; Gordon has to infect himself in order to survive being buried alive; meantime Bruce gets caught up in the conspiracy to destroy Gotham City with a virus bomb. Lured into a plot that ultimately has Ra's al Ghul behind it, he gets brainwashed into becoming something poor Alfred doesn't recognize. The good guys get put through the wringer, but the bad guys aren't exempted, either. Butch first loses a limb, then survives being shot in the head only to be revealed to be someone else entirely. Love, hate, jealousy and revenge come between Penguin and the Riddler. Barbara claws her way to the top of the city's criminal underworld. Harvey Bullock spends a lot of time acting as police captain. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze finds his way to an alpine climate where he can take his shirt off, supplying the first overt moment of male sex appeal in the series so far (that is, if you like bluish skin).
A cute journalist named Valerie Vale catches Gordon on the rebound from Lee, then dumps him when the Mad Hatter forces him to choose which of the two of them must die and he says, "Kill Vale" - though, perhaps ironically, Jim was actually applying reverse psychology at that moment. The guest cast also includes a Tweedledee/Tweedledum pair of heavies, a doppelganger of the girl Ed Nygma loved and killed in a previous season, an anti-Court of Owls group called the Whisper Gang that turns out to be particularly good at getting killed, Selena/Cat's estranged mother who comes back into her daughter's life solely to use her to con money out of Bruce, an uncle of Gordon's who literally kills himself to get his nephew into the Court of Owls, and a cult (led by David Dastmalchian, who played a villain from the future on Flash) that worships, then resurrects, the late Jerome Valeska, who I previously said looked like a good candidate to become the Joker someday. So, yeah, lots of stuff.
Out of all this stuff, however, I think the Three Scenes That Made It For Me (it being Season 3 as a whole) were: (1) Penguin begging for his life when Nygma takes him out to the harbor to kill him. (2) Bruce telling Alfred that his first rule, going forward, is "I will not kill" - a resolution that I think will haunt him after events later in the season. (3) What Tabitha does when Nygma forces her to choose between killing Butch and losing her own right hand. For what it's worth.
It may be a while before I see Season 4, but as I said before, each successive season of this show seems to top all with its relentless exploration of darker, dangerouser, bat-guano-crazier visions of the criminal and crime-fighting lifestyles of Gotham City. Also, it just keeps exhibiting its own unique look - retro-present day, industrial gothic, shadowy urban decay - that goes perfectly with the concept of a city where the only thing that gives people hope amid an apocalyptic cocktail of chaos, corruption, and over-the-top villainy is a flamboyantly costumed vigilante who, at his most effective moments, is almost a villain himself. And what keeps you guessing is how, after all the dark places their journey has led them already, Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne are going to get their act together on time to be the heroes they will someday become.
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