vinnie mancuso of "collider" wrote, "outside of a few rejected album reviews drunkenly sent to every music magazine in the country at 4 am, i rarely get the chance to compare fox's batshit batman prequel "gotham" to the music stylings of taylor swift. but the show's season 4 premiere, titled 'pax penguina,' provided a surprisingly prescient opportunity to do just that. much like swift hinted at her transition from a sugar-laced pop-singer into something angrier and more prone to shop at hot topic by declaring the old taylor was dead, young jonathan crane announced that he, too, has officially become something darker. 'jonathan crane isn't here anymore,' he says at the episode's conclusion. 'it's just the scarecrow.'" lisa babick of "tv fanatic" gave the series a 3.5 star rating out of 5, writing "'pax penguina' was a bit of a rocky start to the season, but there are good storylines that show promise; bruce's being the most of exciting of all. will baby batman decide to take on scarecrow, or will that be jim's villain to catch? " robert yanis, jr. of "screenrant" wrote, "seasons 2 and 3 may have introduced some thrilling villain origins, but aside from that, its narrative has felt jumbled and erratic. the show has long been fans' guiltiest pleasure, but bruce's storyline this season could legitimize "gotham" once and for all. for as much fun as penguin and company are, the real reason fans tune in to a batman prequel is to see the character's evolution. now he has arrived: a dark knight."