I feel where the writing for the show took a dive was that point where the Season got extended from 16 episodes to 22. They developed Season 1 with those initial 16 episodes in mind, and then had to pad when they got the additional 6 episodes. It’s also clear that the writers had “shiny toy syndrome”, as RG would call it, by introducing so many Batman villains so fast. They’re even giving OUAT a run for its money, in regards to how many villains are crammed into one Season. I think we could have had a stronger Season had they kept it to 16 episodes, honestly. We likely wouldn’t have had the whole Fish/Dollmaker storyline and the Scarecrow storyline. Losing those storylines wouldn’t have been a tragedy, especially when that Dollmaker storyline just screamed filler. You’re not missing anything if you just skip the Dollmaker storyline and cut to Fish’s return to Gotham. It’s interesting that this is the opposite of what happened with Agents of SHIELD. Agents of SHIELD started weak, but improved during the 2nd half of its 1st Season. Gotham started out strong, but grew weaker by the end of the Season.
As for the finale, it was definitely a mixed bag. I enjoyed watching it, but I acknowledge the flaws. A lot of the problems RG mentioned are the same ones I have. Cat working for Fish just came out of nowhere. I personally cheered when Penguin tossed Fish off the building, and I’m hoping she “stays” dead. Jada Pinkett Smith only signed up for 1 year, and isn’t set to return for Season 2. It seemed like Fish’s sole purpose was to serve the rise of the Penguin arc, and now that he’s “the new King of Gotham”, is there really any more use for the character? The Barbara and Leslie scenes were uncomfortable to watch, as there was clear tension between the two given their love for the same man. Though I did find the psychopathic twist to Barbara being her parents’ true murder intriguing. I agree with RG and Phee that Nygma’s schizophrenic scene was one of the best scenes. FOX definitely overhyped the reveal that Bruce finds about his parents, as their promo basically already spoiled that it was a secret passageway of some sort, and not much else was clarified when we did see the full scene.
I can only hope that they can make improvements for Gotham’s 2nd Season. Seeing Nygma’s further transformation into the Riddler would be fun. I also definitely want to see the Jerome/Joker storyline expanded, as his episode was one of the strongest of the 1st Season by far.