It has been one long and bumpy first year for the Batman prequel series Gotham, but last night’s finale brought everything together in a solid and mostly satisfying way, although the episode did have some flaws as well.
If I had to pick one character that this season finale was good for, it would be, without a doubt, Jim Gordon. I feel that everything we got out of him was the best written and most well used of all the characters. The theme for him this week was really about being reminded why he can’t allow himself to be affected by the corruption in Gotham City and how he needs to continue to believe and be one of the city’s few lights. His interaction with Falcone, who I am so grateful didn’t die in the end, was one of the highlights of the finale, especially their final scene together, in which Gordon got the knife that his dad had given to Falcone, establishing how close they really were. Even though it would have been quite something to one day see Maroni cause the accident that would turn Harvey Dent into Two-Face like in the comics, I was surprisingly okay with his death.
The Gotham finale also finally confirmed what many have been saying all season long: this show never needed the character of Fish Mooney. From day one, I was excited to see what Jada Pinkett Smith would do with the role. Unfortunately, the writers didn’t really seem to know how to write for character, including her not-so glamourous return to Gotham with her new, punk-rockish hairdo. Also, there better be a deleted scene on the Blu-Ray/DVD that explains how in Wayne’s name Selina just agreed to join her so easily; that’s something we never got to see. Even though I shouldn’t be disappointed in Selina for getting closer to her comic book destiny, it was frustrating to see Fish be one of those guides to get her there so randomly. I did enjoy the showdown between Fish and Penguin, mostly for some of the scene’s overdramatic but incredibly fun aspects. With Fish being thrown off the roof by Penguin, into the water, there is always the chance we may see her again in Season 2, but if I were the showrunner, I would move on from this character.
As Penguin’s arc came to a full circle, we also saw the beginning of Nygma’s transformation into The Riddler, as he started exhibiting another personality while at the police station. One villain falls, a new one rises should be the slogan for this city. That scene was chilling and one of Cory Michael Smith’s best performances this season.
One of the issues with this finale was, as you could probably guess based on my previous reviews, the trainwreck that is Barbara Kean, who I thought couldn’t get any worse. This episode shows the true damage that Jason did on her after she stabbed her parents to death, which she reveals to Leslie. For a micro-second, I really thought that Barbara would be able to kill Leslie, which would have turned me off from this show in a very bad way. But luckily, the element of basic logic was used here and Leslie kicked Barbara’s sorry butt just as Gordon and Bullock arrived at the scene. While Barbara may live, the next season needs to either lessen the character’s presence on the show or remover her completely, the latter being my preference.
Last, but definitely not the least, the finally also gave us Bruce and Alfred’s little-that-then-turned-big adventures back at the Wayne Mansion. Bruce discovers his father’s big secret, which is a secret room behind the fireplace that seems to lead to a very specific cave. The second I heard those bats, the Batman fan within me geeked out. I’m dying to see what this will look like when we return in the fall, and hopefully, it will be a very cool take on this as we get further into the mythology.
All in the season finale of Gotham was incredibly solid, while still having some serious flaws. However, the episode provided some good pay-offs and great performances that made up for a lot of the hour’s issues. While all shows have their challenges in their first seasons, I do think Gotham had more bumps in the road than your average series. Hopefully, the showrunners and writers will learn from some of the problems that Season 1 had so that Season 2 can be a stronger year for the series. Gotham has an incredible amount of potential, a stellar cast, and a mythology to build their stories from, so as a viewer, I want it to succeed as much as possible. Overall, I was quite happy with this finale, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we will learn about Season 2 of the show over the next few months, including at San Diego Comic-Con this July.
“Gotham” has been renewed for a 2nd season and will return sometime this fall. More information about the second season will come out next week at FOX’s Upfront, so stay tuned right here at TVOvermind for all the latest about “Gotham.”
[Photo via FOX]
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