Prisoners (Gotham)

In March 2016, it was announced that the sixteenth episode of the season would be titled "Prisoners", and was to be written by Danny Cannon, with Scott White directing.[1]

David Mazouz, Morena Baccarin, Sean Pertwee, Erin Richards, Camren Bicondova, James Frain, Jessica Lucas, Chris Chalk, Drew Powell, Nicholas D'Agosto, and Michael Chiklis don't appear in the episode as their respective characters. This makes it the episode with the fewer cast members as only four main characters appear in the episode. In March 2016, it was announced that the guest cast for the episode would include John Doman as Carmine Falcone, Paul Reubens as Elijah Van Dahl, Melinda Clarke as Grace Van Dahl, Kaley Ronayne as Sasha Van Dahl, Justin Mark as Charles Van Dahl, Ned Bellamy as Warden Carlson Grey, Peter Mark Kendall as Peter "Puck" Davies, Marc Damon Johnson as Wilson Bishop and Christian Frazier as Henry Weaver.[1]

The episode was watched by 3.82 million viewers with a 1.3/5 share among adults aged 18 to 49.[2] This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 3.89 million viewers.[3] With this ratings, Gotham ranked first for FOX, beating Lucifer, fourth on its timeslot and sixth for the night on the 18-49 demographics, behind Blindspot, Scorpion, Supergirl, Dancing with the Stars, and The Voice. It was also the 24th most watched of the week in the 18-49 demographics and the 54th most watched overall in the week.[4]

With Live+7 DVR viewing factored in, the episode had an overall rating of 5.72 million viewers, and a 2.1 in the 18–49 demographic.[5]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	91%[6]
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	7.3[6]
IGN	6.8[7]
The A.V. Club	B-[8]
TV Fanatic	[9]
TV Overmind	[10]

"Wrath of the Villains: Prisoners" received positive reviews from critics. The episode received a rating of 91% with an average score of 7.3 out of 10 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[6]

Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode an "okay" 6.8 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "'Prisoners' primarily focused on Gordon and Penguin's separate stories, heaping on an impressive amount of misery while also giving us a languid episode full of predictable beats."[7]

The A.V. Club's Kyle Fowle gave the episode a "B-" grade and wrote, "Relatively speaking, 'Wrath Of The Villains: Prisoners' is one of the more memorable — Note: memorable ≠ good — episodes of Gotham in recent memory because it isn't bogged down by all that canon superhero stuff. I've mentioned before that the show is usually too overstuffed with characters, most of whom don't even have a meaningful or engaging arc going on, to really focus in on a single story and make it have an impact. Dramatic stakes get lost in the continuous shuffle of villains and crooked cops, and the ever-shifting morality of Jim Gordon. Without those dramatic stakes Gotham ends up feeling like a parade of villains with no staying power, meaning that there's no tension to the season-long narrative, meaning that there's hardly a reason to tune in every week."[8]

Andy Behbakht of TV Overmind gave the series a star rating of 4 out of 5, writing "Overall, despite my issue with how fast they ended the Cobblepot reunion, 'Prisoners' was a solid episode. It gave both Oswald and Gordon a lot of screentime as they have sort of taken a backseat since Hugo Strange and Mr. Freeze's introductions in the past few weeks."[10] Robert Yaniz, Jr., writing for ScreenRant also praised the episode: "The 'Wrath of the Villains' storyline continues to unfold on Gotham, but unlike the game-changing events that took place last week, the new episode is more concerned with developing those established storylines – rather than introducing yet another future member of Batman's rogues gallery. In many ways, this one feels like a return to the season 1 dual focus on the contrasting journeys of both Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor). With Gordon and Penguin as the sole focal points this week, there wasn't room for a whole lot else. The show's other major figurehead, David Mazouz's young Bruce Wayne, was nowhere to be found, as was recurring baddie Hugo Strange (B.D. Wong). However, this episode almost undoubtedly will be followed by a string of episodes that see the former continuing his criminal education and the latter kicking off his reanimation project with help from Mr. Freeze. That being said, one of the most interesting aspects of recent episodes has been the shift in Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) into full-on Riddler mode. It's an evolution that will likely be largely completed by season's end – and one that longtime fans of Gotham likely can't wait to finally see come to fruition."[11]

Keertana Sastry of EW stated: "Monday night's episode of Gotham may have been titled 'Prisoners,' but really it should be called 'Jim Gordon and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.' Because not only did Gordon have to tolerate several weeks at Blackgate, but he also encountered a corrupt warden, all kinds of violence, and bad news after bad news about his loved ones and friends."[12]

Karmen Fox from The Baltimore Sun wrote positively about the episode, stating: "Was the doomed sidekick/heroic sacrifice trope necessary to help lift the guilt-ridden Jim's spirits so he could escape prison? Sure. Could the prison escape have been less over the top, without Jim running back into the infirmary to rescue Puck? Yes. Yes, please. In spite of all the schmaltziness, the episode wraps up nicely with the sun rising over Gotham's skyline. It echoed Elijah's optimistic advice to Penguin: 'The sun will come up tomorrow'. With a new day breaking, will Jim find Leigh? How will he prove his innocence? We're not sure, but at least he's not in the World’s End."[13] Lisa Babick from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.0 star rating out of 5, stating: "Really, Gotham? How long are you going to add drama to the drama of Jim's tortured soul? There are no redeeming qualities to Jim Gordon. Forget about him saving Gotham City. He'll be lucky if he can save himself. Yes, I get the whole point of Jim's overblown drama this hour, but it still doesn't make it any less infuriating. So, Puck had to die and Lee's baby had to die just so the story could move forward, and Jim could have some new anger with which to wrap his pathetic life around? Whatever."[9]