Gotham has finally wrapped up its final season and it was quite the closer to remember in the years to come. Throughout the entire episode, I kept yelling at the screen in both excitement and bittersweet frustration, "Why would you end this show now?!". So many cool Batman fan service moments for both the hardcore fans of the series who feels the show has earned its time jump storytelling and also for the more impatient casual viewers who can now hopefully be silenced and satisfied. Gotham offers up such a huge bag of Batman related treats in the finale that it almost felt like the producers were stuffing in as much content as possible sadly sacrificing strong single episode storytelling in the process.
At any rate, all the core characters make their grand return only now transformed into their decade later Batman: Year One iterations and it's truly quite the sight. Seeing the Riddler fully personified with an incredible new green suit tailored with question marks after seasons of narrative highs and lows was highly appreciated. The same can be said for the Penguin who I absolutely loved presentation-wise being that they finally gave him the iconic heavy set physique and monocle. However, I rather enjoyed Oswald a bit more in the episode than Nygma as they at least gave him a major callback moment by having him threaten to kill Gordon on the same docks that we've seen far too many times on the show. I wished they could've given Ed some Riddler-esque scenes, but alas, we only get one episode to work with here.
As for Jeremiah (who they still can't seem to call "the Joker" even up to the final episode), I'm still not a fan of the new hair choice, but I did enjoy the idea of him pretending to be brain dead in Arkham until Bruce (now Batman) made his return. The Joker-esque suit was fantastic and his encounter with Batman was perfect though a bit too brief in my opinion. Jeremiah's master plan in this episode also falls flat and fails so quickly that it felt rushed in at the last minute. Yet, I couldn't help but smile at the possibilities for future plot points and better hairdos. There's even a nice wink to Ecco's death leading to a future Harley Quinn with "Mr. J" being open to having a new assistant.
That's really what this episode boils down to at the end of the day; a major tease for fans to fantasize over "what could be" which is both awesome and frustratingly bittersweet. I love a good imagination poking conclusion as much as the next guy, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed considering how amazing a season worthy Batman series in the now evolved world of Gotham can be. Talk about dangling keys in front of a baby, only instead of keys, they're shiny new Batarangs.
A perfectly aged up casting and presentation of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and her shaky relationship with a now returning Bruce/Batman is beautifully put on display here. Their chemistry feels immediately strong which is a feat considering the characters never actually speak face to face. The fun nod to Alfred and Lucius being in on Bruce's vigilante deeds while Gordon isn't clued in on the cape crusader's identity was also perfectly done. Aside from a now seemingly mentally stabled Barbara, we actually get to see a young Barbara Lee Gordon who gets temporarily captured by Jeremiah (a foreshadowing for "The Killing Joke"?) before getting saved.
Last but not least is of course the man of the hour himself. After years of incredible foreshadowing and character development, Gotham fans finally get to soak in the fact that the troubled boy from Season 1 now becomes the badass vigilante man of the future.
First off, I loved the creative decision of showing Bruce in present day at the beginning of the episode from when we last left him getting off of a plane and walking into a foreign land to most likely train. This portion of the episode almost felt like the beginnings of a Batman movie and I absolutely loved it. This is where a Season 6 could've perfectly started and...whoops...gotta try my best not to focus on "what could be" (dammit Fox!). I also really loved how Batman gets introduced into Gotham City through stealthy silhouettes and teasing encounters by villains and the GCPD alike who are all trying to figure out who he is and whether he's a friend or foe. Following this is the constant theme of Gordon's decision on retiring and giving someone else a shot at protecting the city. The set up for Batman's debut is near flawless in my opinion.
It was brilliant move never showing future-tense Bruce as the city was expecting his return or Batman's face throughout the episode building things up to the big reveal of the final shot. That final shot being Gordon, Alfred, Lucius, and Harvey looking up at the rooftop as the spotlight shines towards a fully geared up Batman. Talk about a well earned scene for a longform television property adapting an iconic piece of source material.
Now, what I will say about the suit is that I do love how unmistakable it is as a Batman suit. The cape, the cowl, the ears, and the Bat symbol all scream "I'm Batman!" which I was really happy about as I wasn't sure how much Gotham was legally able to do with the property. My only tiny nitpick is that, although the suit is solid, it didn't really have that impact that I was hoping for as a new and unique "Gotham series Batsuit". This is of course what happens when you have years of anticipation leading up to a particular reveal challenging massive expectations. I can't say that I was necessarily disappointed. I was just hoping for something that immediately made me feel the consistently fantastic production design of Gotham all pouring through its spotlight character's legendary presentation much like what they successfully did with the Riddler, Penguin, and Jeremiah's new looks. Still, I do very much like it as Batman's first vigilante attire.
Overall, I really enjoyed this finale with all of its glorious fan service and strong sense of character progression with the 10-year time skip. It's a great and bittersweet conclusion that could've shown off more character moments, but satisfies in the end. Altogether, I can now officially consider Gotham to be a mostly successful comic book series containing both highs and lows. It has accomplished what many shows and even movies in the comic book genre failed at such as adapting certain characters beautifully onscreen and having an unparalleled and praiseworthy cinematic flare. It has also failed where others have with particular creative decisions made to specific character arcs, jarring tonal shifts, and being watered down at times due to fighting legalities with the source material. I see Gotham as a crazy television experiment in genre storytelling that, despite some of its flaws, succeeded at the end of the day.
Episode Rating: 9/10
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