Contains spoilers forGothamseason 1.

AsWreck It Ralphtaught us all, being a bad guy doesnt make you a bad… guy.

However, too many bad guys can make for bad TV.

Where are we meant to look for future clues if theres a new adversary every week?

But, all around the young orphan, we see villains from the comics.

Arent we just doomed to go round in circles for years, then?

Just how many villains is too many?

But there was a core circle of villainous in-fighting that worked pretty well.

As a set up, its totally viable, and it has clear trajectory to it.

Obviously, Oswald would eventually rise to the top of that pile.

And, indeed, he did.

Cory Michael Smiths Ed Nygma undertook another slow-burn villainous transition over the course of the season.

Also, his arc hasnt been pushed too far.

Hes killed one person, and quite possibly gotten away with it.

Theres still plenty of room for development there beforeGothams eventual endgame introduces Batman however many years from now.

For the time being, we assume Nygma will become even less stable in the second season.

People even call him riddle man, if I remember correctly.

Itll probably be a while before Nygma attempts a big public villainous scheme that requires a moniker, though.

The worst of these came near the start, in the shape of episode 3s Balloonman.

A whole episode is spent on this guys ridiculous M.O.

as Jim runs around trying to work out his identity and eventually stopping him.

Two weeks later, we saw a prototype Black Mask played by Todd Stashwick, too.

Red Hood was thrown in later, as well.

Whats harder is to try and account for the ones who did work well.

Like this fella…

My my, Cameron Monaghan, look how youve managed to ruin my entire argument.

And boy, what an episode it is.

In the space of a single episode, he raised the bar for villainousGotham.

So how can we argue againstGothams weekly villains when one of them went on to steal the show?

I think its down to the standard of the script.

Another villain that worked pretty well was The Ogre, played by Milo Ventimiglia.

Weve got to ask, then…

Gothamseason 2s first trailer came with a subtitle Rise Of The Villains.

Which doesnt sound like Heller and co. are planning on reducing the baddie count.

Indeed, weve already been promised more Oswald, Ed, Harvey, and Jerome alongside introductions for Mr. Thats a sizeable pack of villains and/or villains-in-waiting.

The key now is surely how Heller and his writers room decide to juggle them.

However, theres surely a way it could be done right.

It seems likely that Oswalds role this year will be an amalgam of Falcone and Maronis season 1 efforts.

He may have to do some more killings to cover up his season 1 murder, though.

The same goes for Jeromes potential future as the Joker.

He needs to grow alongside Batman, not before him.

Freeze, Flamingo, and Firefly, who are probably the ones we need to worry about.

These guys could become the new Balloonman if they arent handled carefully.

If any of them are given just one episode, itll probably come out feeling like anotherGothamstuffed-in placeholder.

You cant establish too much before The Worlds Greatest Detective appears on the scene.

He sets fire to stuff.

You cant drag that out for too long.

All things considered, balancing emphasis and careful pacing are the key toGothams villains problem.

Good luck to Heller and co., then.