It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…to Catch Up on ‘Gotham’

Peak TV giveth and it taketh away. We get that there is so much to watch and only so little time, which is why the holidays are such a grand time to avoid family obligations and bone up on the shows you may have put aside—especially those network shows you think “oh, I will DVR that and catch up when I get a chance.”

Well, now is your chance, people. Almost everything is in reruns and those that aren’t are mostly VH1 reality shows about people we’ve never heard of. So I suggest streaming yourself some Gotham‘s thrilling Season 3, which has seen the pre-Batman drama happily wearing its crazy on the outside with the introduction of the Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel).

In addition to the Mad Hatter storyline—and the peek it gave us into the effed-up psyche of our hero Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie)—the excessively entertaining Season 3 has also delivered on the Penguin front as Robin Lord Taylor’s villain rose from a two-bit baddie to Gotham City mayor, with the help of Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith). Not only did this development allow for these two characters to ramp up their evolution into master criminals, it also led to a plot development a lot of fans had been hoping for ever since Smith and Taylor shared the screen for a hot second in Season 1.

And finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the gloriously increased visibility of Gotham’s secret weapons, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) and Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas). This year, the ladies stepped into the spotlight to form what executive producer John Stephens called “a nexus of villainy” as the owners of Sirens nightclub and we ate. It. Up. Do we ship them as a couple? Sure. But we also dig Tabby and Butch (Drew Powell) and would love to see what could happen if Babs was able to bed ex-fiance Gordon for old times sake.

It’s all been too much fun so far and there’s more to come in 2017 (hello, Joker!). So bail on that Ugly Sweater party, spike up the egg nog and get thyself to FoxNow or Hulu for the last five episodes.

Gotham returns Mondays in January, 8/7c, Fox