'Gotham' Receives Biggest Ratings Spike of Season 4 With Renewal Decision Looming

With its future hanging in the balance, Gotham fans rose to the occasion, and the show saw a significant spike in the ratings.

Last night's penultimate episode, "A Dark Knight: One Bad Day," likely benefited from the Joker-centric marketing scheme, as well as the influence of Alan Moore's fan-favorite graphic novel, The Killing Joke.

The episode saw a total of 2.196 million viewers watch the episode live, earning a 0.7 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. While these numbers certainly aren't stellar, nor are they the best Gotham has seen this year, they did make for a significant bump from last week's series lows. According to TV Series Finale, the demo rating saw a 16.67 percent increase, while the overall viewers jumped up by more than 13 percent.

Even though these ratings aren't what the network hopes for, they do prove that there is still life in the veins of Gotham and its fans.

As of now, FOX still has yet to make a decision as to whether Gotham will be renewed for a fifth season in the fall. The ratings have been down about 27 percent this year, which is certainly a steep drop, but the show it's self might not be entirely to blame. This past fall, FOX moved Gotham to the 8pm time slot on Thursday nights, pitting it against some heavy competition in Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, NBC's comedy lineup, and, for half of the year, Thursday Night Football.

If Gotham does get renewed for a fifth season, FOX will have to shift it around once again, because the network signed a deal to begin broadcasting Thursday Night Football. That one program will take up the entire Thursday night lineup on FOX throughout the fall.

Do you think this recent ratings bump helps Gotham's chances of getting renewed? Will there be yet another rise in next week's finale? Let us know what you think by dropping a line in the comment section below!

Gotham's Season 4 finale, "A Dark Knight: No Man's Land," will air on Thursday, May 17 at 8pm ET on FOX.