Five Big Reasons Why ‘Gotham Knights’ Needs a Season 2

The CW's misfit group of vigilantes has been pulling in good viewer numbers, and the show has developed a dedicated fan following.

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Mal
10 Min Read
The CW

This article contains spoilers for season 1 of Gotham Knights.

This week, Gotham Knights, the fan-favorite series from The CW, aired the 10th episode of its debut season.

Gotham Knights, a new story set in the DC Universe and pulling inspiration from many popular comic series as well as other DC properties, was developed by Chad Fiveash, James Stoteraux, and Natalie Abrams, and is executive produced by Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter, among others. The series is set in a post-Bruce Wayne world. Turner Hayes, Batman’s adopted son, is on the run from the law with a group of vigilantes — the Gotham Knights — after being framed for his murder.

The cast includes some well-known names as well as an array of talented newcomers. Turner Hayes is played by Oscar Morgan (Zero), Carrie Kelley by Navia Robinson (Free Rein), Duela Doe by Olivia Rose Keegan (Days of Our Lives), Harper Row by Fallon Smythe (I Didn’t Do It), Cullen Row by Tyler Dichiara (Relish), and Stephanie Brown by Anna Lore (Doom Patrol). Beyond the core group of Knights, the show features standout performances by Misha Collins (Supernatural) as Harvey Dent, Damon Dayoub (NCIS) as Lincoln March, Veronica Cartwright (The Birds) as Eunice Harmon, and Ethan Embry (Grace and Frankie) as Arthur Brown – this is by no means an exhaustive list, but Gotham Knights displays some serious acting pedigree for a first outing.

The season still has three more episodes to air, but the fan response to the show so far has been incredible. As of writing, there’s been no news from The CW about the show’s future, neither a season 2 nor a cancelation. Given the number of shows that The CW has already cut from their roster this year, this could be good news, but fans will have to keep waiting to hear about more Gotham Knights — likely until after the season finale.

Why is the show so beloved by fans, and why does it deserve a season 2? There are many reasons, too many to list here, but here are just a few for consideration.

Questions to Answer

With only three episodes to go, Gotham Knights has so much to fit in! The pace of the season has really been picking up with each new episode, and the writers have begun to unravel some of the mysteries that have kept fans tuning in all season — while introducing a bunch more!

Fans have no doubt that they will get the answers they need to bring season 1 to a satisfying close, but there are already so many threads that could be — and deserve to be — picked up on for a second season. From identifying more of the Court of Owls members to digging further into the backstories and families of the main characters, protecting Gotham as (hopefully) exonerated citizens, and unraveling the corruption that clearly runs deep through the city, the Gotham Knights have many more stories to tell.

Fan response

As mentioned, the fan response to Gotham Knights has been intense. Viewers have set up season 2 renewal campaigns both on and off social media, including setting up a website where fans can download images to spread around and share, many of them based around the mayoral campaign of Harvey Dent, a storyline from the first season. The postcards and posters have been seen all across the world, from LA billboards all the way to Australia.

The cast and crew of Gotham Knights have been actively engaging with the campaigns, boosting them to their collective millions of followers.

Clearly, Gotham Knights is a show backed by a lot of fan passion, which The CW should certainly try to capitalize on!

Diversity

Gotham Knights gives viewers on-screen representation for many communities and peoples that are still often overlooked in a lot of mainstream media. From POC characters to LGBTQ+ representation, the show contains a diverse collection of characters. Gotham Knights has taken the time to weave stories that break harmful tropes and deliver many lovable — or deliciously hatable — characters for viewers to relate to.

Take Dr. Kelley, for example. Carrie’s mom in the show is a Black single mother who is successful, strong, and present for her daughter (even if that sometimes makes Carrie’s other life as Robin a little harder). There’s also Cullen Row, a trans character whose contributions to the team are never once defined by their gender, and Harper Row, a young bisexual woman who gets storylines involving both male and female relationships on screen. Let’s not forget Cressida Clarke, played by Malaysian actress K. K. Moggie, who is a wealthy and powerful attaché to Bruce Wayne, and also that the writers chose to go with Carrie Kelley for their Robin, who was the first female Robin in the DC canon.  

The diversity that Gotham Knights brings to the screen is woven in so seamlessly that it never feels forced, just presenting the wide array of humanity that walks the streets of Gotham. It’s how modern television for modern audiences should be, and fans deserve to see more of it.

A Gateway to the DC Universe

Gotham Knights is entrenched in a lot of solid DC lore, but it presents itself to viewers in a very accessible way. The show’s inherent “CW-ness” has attracted many watchers who would otherwise not have turned on a DC superhero series, queued up a Batman movie, or cracked open a graphic novel.

The show takes established parts of the DC world and gives them its own spin, resulting in a story that feels fresh and not like “just another Batman story.” The Gotham that the writers have crafted maintains so much of the feel of other Gothams that fans have encountered, but tells the story in an engaging, welcoming way for newcomers, meaning that it is uniquely placed to function as a gateway to the wider DC Universe.

The Writing

It’s not just the creation of a new-yet-old Gotham that the writers of Gotham Knights deserve credit for. The first season has been exquisitely crafted. The pacing has been carefully measured, giving space in the opening episodes of the season to allow viewers to get to know the host of new characters before ramping up toward midseason and stealing their breath away. By the time episodes 9 and 10 aired, viewers were on the edges of their seats every time the credits rolled, already begging for — and theorizing about — the next week’s offering.

The writing is tight and precise, with snappy dialogue and enough plot twists and turns to keep everyone guessing right up until the last moment; viewers are eating out of the writer’s hands and loving doing it.

Even the romantic subplots do not detract from the show’s overall goals, woven into the story in such a way that they feel like a natural progression of the character’s interactions as well as an integral part of the plot itself, not superfluous in any way.

Whether The CW renews Gotham Knights for season 2 or not, season 1 will stand the test of time.

If you want to see more of Gotham Knights, utilize social media to engage with the show, join the fun fandom that has sprung up around it, and keep requesting that the series be renewed. Don’t forget to give the series a watch, or re-watch, on The CW app in the U.S. or on HBO Max internationally.

Gotham Knights airs on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Stay up to date with our coverage on the show here. Additionally, make sure to check out Your Bat Is Dead, a Gotham Knights podcast by Nerds and Beyond! As always, stay tuned for more updates.

Nerds and Beyond is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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