Why Gotham Might Win Over the Haters With Season 4

Russ Burlingame

11/09/2017 05:43 pm EST

FOX's Gotham is one of the highest-rated comic book adaptations on TV, but it is not as universally-acclaimed as something like The Flash or even Agent Carter (back when that was a thing). With tonight's season 3 finale, though, it seems as though they've taken a big step toward becoming a show that everyone can love.

Spoilers ahead, obviously, for tonight's season 3 finale of Gotham.

One of the consistent criticisms of Gotham, ever since the pilot episode, is that it is a show that sometimes feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be: a prequel series that dabbles so freely in the tropes and characters of stories that wouldn't happen for years in-universe, the show has aggravated hardcore comic book fans in its desire to embrace the trappings of being a Batman show before Bruce ever puts on the cape and cowl.

On the other hand, audiences less familiar with the source material expect more supervillains, and more of what makes Gotham City both crazy and special in the adaptations they recognize and the comic book stories they enjoy.

While it might seem like tonight's aggressive steps forward for Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, in particular, might further alienate some of the hardcore comic book fans, it occurred to us that the episode might actually solve more problems than it creates even for those most critical viewers.

How so? Well...

GOTHAM CENTRAL

With the absence of Lee, it seems likely that Jim's life will become even more centered on the police department.

Meanwhile, his comment at the end of the finale -- that he wished he could go back to being a "normal" detective -- is something that's unlikely to happen for him, considering that the finale featured Penguin, Riddler, Freeze, Ivy, and other future Bat-villains in their best-known forms, as well as a proto-Batman and Catwoman, and plenty more.

Comic book fans, upon hearing about Gotham in the first place, had hoped for a closer adaptation of Gotham Central, a comic that dealt with how hard it is to be a cop in a city where both the good guys and the bad guys are masked lunatics with way more power than you.

It seems, especially as the "good guys" are starting to come out of the woodwork, that Gotham is coming closer than ever to that high concept -- something that could very well win over some of the people who were frustrated with the story bringing in so many Batman-esque elements without actually committing to being a show that has vigilantes in it.

(Photo: DC Entertainment)

THE NEW STATUS QUO

It seems like every character on the show underwent a significant status quo change in the finale, except for Bullock -- and that's likely to attract people who maybe don't love Gotham but loved the finale.

The series essentially got a bit of a soft reboot in tonight's finale, setting up so much new stuff while closing so many old doors that it's difficult to imagine anyone who has even a passing interest in the Batman mythology not giving season 4 at least a chance when it comes back in the fall.

That includes the revelation that Butch is actually Cyrus Gold, the villain known as Solomon Grundy -- one of the only characters not appearing in TV or film who made an appearance on the recently-altered DC Films animation/logo.

There's also both Bruce and Selina officially on the road to becoming Batman and Catwoman now -- something that pushes the show more into Smallville territory. This is kind of a distinction without much of a difference, of course, but it's something that will combat the frequent criticisms that FOX wanted to have its cake and eat it too by incorporating Batman elements without actually showing a ton of change in the characters themselves.

The end of some long-running subplots like the Barbara/Tabitha partnership and the Fish Mooney character will also likely open up some real estate to try some cool new stuff in the coming season, potentially injecting some fresh blood into the series.

(Photo: FOX)

MORE GOTHAM

In crime ridden Gotham City, Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered before young Bruce Wayne's eyes. Although the idealistic Gotham City Police Dept. detective James Gordon, and his cynical partner, Harvey Bullock, seem to solve the case quickly, things are not so simple. Inspired by Bruce's traumatized desire for justice, Gordon vows to find it amid Gotham's corruption. Thus begins Gordon's lonely quest that would set him against his own comrades and the underworld with their own deadly rivalries and mysteries. In the coming wars, innocence will be lost and compromises will be made as some criminals will fall as casualties while others will rise as supervillains. All the while, young Bruce observes this war with a growing obsession that would one day drive him to seek his own revenge as The Batman.

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