Well, this is it. We’ve finally arrived. After five years and 100 episodes, Gotham concluded with Thursday night’s series finale. Last week’s penultimate episode felt like a bit of a finale, ending with Bruce Wayne leaving the city on a plane, setting up the 10 year time-jump for the final hour. Of course, this flash forward is set to debut Batman in Gotham City, completing the character’s origin story.
So, for the final time, let’s break down this exciting episode of Gotham, hopefully filling you in on anything you might have missed. As always this article is totally full of spoilers, so beware if you haven’t seen the finale. Ready?
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The whole episode kicks off with one scene of young Bruce heading to the mountains (likely Nanda Parbat where Bruce trained ni the comics). In a voiceover reading of a letter he wrote to Alfred, Bruce confirms that he will return of Gotham City when he feels he can finally protect it. That’s the last we see of teenage Bruce Wayne.
Fast forward 10 years and the city is thriving once again with Jim Gordon having spent a decade as police commissioner. Jim, with a mustache (!), heads to the mayor’s office to hand in his resignation, preparing for an early retirement. However, Penguin is about to get released from Blackgate on the same day as the gala celebrating the opening of the new Wayne Tower downtown. The mayor tells Jim he can’t retire until after the event. Then we get the skinny on the rest of Jim’s life. He and Barbara, who is now a developing tycoon, share custody of their daughter, Barbara Lee, and they seem to get along pretty well. Jim and Lee are still married and, after tucking Barbara Lee into bed, we see that Jim shaved his mustache off already. No one really liked it so he gave up on the facial hair.
Riddler is in Arkham Asylum where he messes with the brain-dead Jeremiah Valeska until a breakout begins. Two men come to take Nygma away, while Ecco comes for Jeremiah. When Riddler wakes up, he’s given a box full of C4, a Riddler suit, and a letter from Oswald. As we learn later on though, it wasn’t actually Oswald who set him up with this stash. In trying to find Riddler, Harvey goes to an empty apartment building where a terrified man hands him a phone. Harvey is shocked by who is on the other end and the scared man kills himself. When Harvey is suspected in the murder, he confesses to actually doing it, which of course means something sinister is afoot.
Jim tried to make sense of everything and follows a lead to an old warehouse. However, someone beat him to the punch. We get a glimpse of Batman’s arm as he investigates the scene, where dead gangsters are strewn all around the place. This is the first encounter between Jim and Batman. They have one later where the hero’s voice can be heard telling Jim “I’m not your enemy.”
When Jim prepares to head back to Gotham Central he’s taken hostage by Penguin, who is pissed that he helped Jim save the city only to be locked up in prison for a decade. He takes Jim to the dock where Jim spared his life in the very first episode. With the shoe on the other foot, Penguin plans to kill Jim but the commissioner escapes. Elsewhere, Selina (who is know a cat burglar) is at the Wayne Gala looking for Bruce, though he hasn’t shown. She notices Riddler heading to the back and goes to investigate with Barbara. The duo stops Riddler’s plot to blow up the mayor and Jim arrives to realize that there is another bomb in the tower. They diffuse the bomb but the small victory leads Jim to a discovery. Jeremiah is behind it all.
Meanwhile, Riddler and Penguin are on the run when their car gets attacked, and they’re strung up together from a light pole. While it isn’t stated explicitly, this is the handiwork of Batman. As the police investigate, Lucius and Alfred have a discussion in which they reveal that they both know Bruce is back and parading around as a vigilante.
So this is where Jeremiah enters the picture. He kidnaps Barbara Lee from Barbara’s club, resulting in the death of Ecco, and he leaves Barbara alive to deliver a message to Jim. Their showdown takes place back at Ace Chemicals, where it’s revealed that Jeremiah has only been pretending to be brain dead the whole time, and he was simply waiting for Bruce to return. Well Bruce does return, only has Batman. Even though we don’t see his face, he takes out Jeremiah while saving Jim and Barbara Lee.
After Bruce and Selina have a conversation on a rooftop where she says she just wanted him to stay in Gotham when he left a decade earlier, Jim appears on top of Gotham Central. He decided to stay on as Commissioner and re-ignites the signal that he put up there before No Man’s Land. He’s joined by Harvey and Alfred as they notice a figure watching them from the ledge of a nearby high-rise. Jim calls the vigilante a friend as the camera reveals Batman, completely suited up with his cape, cowl, and everything.
And that’s how Gotham ends, focused squarely on the first appearance of the Dark Knight. It’s been an incredibly fun ride these last few years, and for those of you still reading, I thank you for coming on this journey with me. There will never be another show quite like Gotham, nor would I ever want there to be.
