Sunday, May 10, 2015

Gotham Finale Recap: All Happy Families Are Alike

The time has come — the final episode and the final recap of this season’s Gotham. We would like to remind readers that Gotham contains adult content, and viewer discretion is advised. Spoilers ahead.



Eddie realizes that putting a clue into his note for Kristen probably wasn’t such a good idea when she notices the acrostic message and confronts him on it.

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Though he tries to pass it off as nothing, Kristen leaves still suspicious. Eddie starts worrying this will lead to his murder being discovered, and begins arguing with himself in a way which indicates he’s swiftly going off the deep end.

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At work, Jim hears that Maroni blew up Falcone’s car. Falcone’s still alive, but Maroni’s men are on their way to the hospital to finish him off. What’s worse, the GCPD okayed the hit after deciding to switch allegiances to Maroni in the midst of the mob war.

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As Jim believes Falcone is the lesser of the two evils, and that putting Maroni in charge of the city will only lead to anarchy, he heads to the hospital to try and save him.

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Oswald decides to take advantage of Falcone’s vulnerable state and finish him off himself. He heads to the hospital and admits to his boss that he’s the one who started all the trouble.

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He’s about to slit Falcone’s throat when Jim comes in and handcuffs both Oswald and Butch to the wall. Maroni’s men are on their way, and Jim calls Harvey in for backup. Harvey tells Jim that Jim isn’t thinking straight after the incident with the Ogre and Barbara. Jim, however, is on the verge of giving up on the city, and wants to reinstate Falcone as boss before calling it quits.

Just as he hangs up with Harvey, Maroni’s men arrive, along with Commissioner Loeb. A shootout ensues. Finally, Harvey arrives to help get Jim and Falcone out of there. Jim considers leaving Oswald and Butch handcuffed there to be killed by Maroni’s men, but Oswald reminds Jim of all he’s done for him.

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Once Jim, Harvey, Falcone, Oswald, and Butch escape the hospital in the vehicle Harvey brought, they look for a safe place to hide for awhile. Falcone suggests the old warehouse where he and Fish used to have dealings since (he thinks) everyone else who knows about the place is now dead. When they get there, they’re surprised to see Fish waiting for them.

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Also surprising is she now has a new girl on her side — Cat, who was immediately taken in by Fish’s power and mystique when she watched her arrive on Gotham’s shores.

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Fish is finally reunited with Butch, and is heartbroken to see he’s been brainwashed against her. She knows Oswald must have something to do with it, and swears to get revenge on him.

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Jim’s group is tied up, and Fish goes to each of them, informing them of what grisly fates await them. The prisoners desperately shoot meaningful looks at Butch and Cat, in the hopes they will help set them free.

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But to no avail. Butch is too confused as to which side he’s on. And Cat is too taken in by Fish to betray her.

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It turns out that Maroni told Fish she can have all her territories back if she brings him Falcone’s head. Fish calls Maroni and says she has the prisoners. When Maroni arrives. Oswald stalls by warning Fish that, once Falcone is killed, Maroni will kill her too since he doesn’t want any competition. Maroni says he doesn’t need to kill Fish because she’s not a boss. As Maroni continues being more and more condescending to her, Fish’s anger rises.

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Maroni continues pushing his power with Fish, until she finally shoots him in the head.

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Cat, sensing the oncoming trouble, hightails out of there. Fish’s people and Maroni’s people begin fighting. The captives get free and run off.

Seeing all the chaos up close and personal, Falcone realizes he doesn’t like the world he’s created. Already having wanting to retire for some time now, this mob war was the last straw. And he tells Jim that, though he knows he’s letting him and the city down, he doesn’t want his power back. As they discuss this, they are discovered by Cat and her crew. But when Cat brings them all back to Fish, Oswald surprises everyone.

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After witnessing Oswald shoot all of her newfound supporters from the Dollmaker’s island, Fish flees and Oswald follows her to the rooftop. Jim, Harvey, and Falcone take the distraction as an opportunity to get in a nearby car and drive out of there. They desperately look for another safe place to go, and Jim finally decides to take them to Barbara’s apartment.

Meanwhile, Oswald and Fish are continuing their fight on the rooftop.

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Butch arrives with a gun, but is unsure who to shoot. Each tries to convince him to be on their side. And in his confusion, he ends up non-fatally shooting both of them. Realizing he's hurt his beloved Fish, Butch runs to help her. Fish comforts him and assures him she doesn‘t blame him for what he did.

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Using the distraction to his advantage, Oswald knocks Butch out of the way and charges at Fish.

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He pushes her off the rooftop, into the water below. With Maroni dead, Falcone retired, and Fish presumably dead from the fall, Oswald celebrates his final victory.

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At the station, Lee insists Barbara get trauma counseling after her ordeal with the Ogre. But Barbara insists she will only do this if Lee agrees to be her therapist. Lee reluctantly agrees, and goes to Barbara’s apartment for the session. Once they begin, however, Barbara is more interested in asking personal questions about Lee’s relationship with Jim than she is talking about her experiences with the Ogre. Lee finally gets the conversation back on track. Barbara talks about how, as a child, her parents always tried to erase her identity. Shockingly, Barbara claims that she, not the Ogre, was the one to kill them.

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 Barbara finally reveals the true reason she brought Lee to her apartment, and goes after her with a knife.

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Lee fights her off, and finally has to knock Barbara’s head against the floor until she’s unconscious. It is then that Jim, Harvey, and Falcone arrive, and are shocked at the scene that meets them. Lee explains what happened, and Jim comforts her, horrified at what his former girlfriend has become.

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Later, Falcone is preparing to leave Gotham city forever. As a parting gift, Falcone gives Jim a knife that Jim’s father gave him many years ago.

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He tells Jim that what Gotham needs now is not a criminal mob boss, but a good lawman. After giving Jim his vote of confidence, he leaves Barbara’s apartment and the city.

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At Wayne Manor, Bruce is busy trying to discover his father’s secret. He remembers long ago, his father would play classical music and keep his door locked whenever he worked.

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Much to Alfred’s dismay, Bruce begins searching the room where his father worked, taking books off shelves and searching for clues. Bruce suddenly remembers that Lucius Fox called his father a stoic, and wonders if that was a hint. Thomas Wayne kept a book about Marcus Aurelius, a stoic philosopher. Bruce takes it and looks inside, where he finds a mysterious remote. Alfred tries to stop the boy from using it.

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When Bruce presses the button on the remote, the familiar classical music plays, and the fireplace moves, revealing a secret passageway filled with bats.

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Final Thoughts:

Overall, a great finale, though it suffered from time restraints. I really wish they would have spread the events of this story out over multiple episodes instead of spending so much time on the Ogre, or at least made the finale a two-hour special. They tried to finish too many subplots at once, which made it rushed and therefore not as emotionally grabbing or effective. We could have enjoyed it a lot more, and answered a lot more questions (such as how Fish and her people got from the helicopter to the boat) if there had been more time.

I was also sad they didn’t do more with Kelly, and surprised that Fish was so apathetic toward Harvey. Last time we saw Fish and Harvey together, they were practically in love. Whereas, the most love Fish shows Harvey in this episode is deciding she doesn’t need to kill him.

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I do wonder if Fish really died in that fall from the rooftop. Based on what I’ve read in interviews, I think it’s much more likely she survived. Both the actress and the show producers admit they didn’t know the character was going to be so popular when they decided to kill her off, and I think there’s still a lot of untapped potential in her story. I also wonder if it was meant to be a hint that Fish secretly had something up her sleeve when her last words, just before being pushed off the building, were “I'm going to be fine. You know me.” Though she won’t be a regular in Season Two, I wouldn’t be surprised if she came back as a guest star at some point.

Falcone was an unexpectedly great character on the show. It's amazing how good a person he is considering how... well, how bad a person he is. And I wouldn't have guessed his departure would be as sad to me as it was. I'm glad he wasn't he killed off in the finale. I wonder if this really is the last we'll see of him, or if he'll come back to the show somehow next season.

I am unspeakably happy that Oswald has finally reached the top. It isn’t often that we get to see a villain win, since to do so, they would normally have to do it at the cost of the hero’s life. But the setup of Gotham is so different from other shows, Oswald’s story is an exception to that rule. And I’m happy the exception to the rule happens to be my favorite villain on television.

The funny thing is, I couldn’t celebrate the victory along with Oswald when I first watched the episode, because I was too distracted, worried he was going to fall off the roof along with Fish.

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Seriously, after already being disabled in his leg, and then getting shot by Butch, who in his right mind stands on the very edge of a building? I’m also surprised Butch didn’t push him off in revenge for killing Fish.

I have so many thoughts about all the surprising twists in this finale. I wonder, did Eddie always have dual personalities internally arguing with one another, or is that a new thing he suffers after the guilt from the murder? Did Barbara really kill her parents, or was she just trying to scare Lee? Did Alfred know about the passageway behind the fireplace, and that’s why he tried to stop Bruce from looking for clues? What will happen to Butch now that Fish is dead, and he’s begun questioning his allegiances? And finally, how will Harvey Dent become Two-Face now that Maroni — who originally turned him into Two-Face in the comics — is dead? Lots of interesting questions, and I’m excited to find out which of them will be answered next season.


What’s To Come: 

Gotham is now on its summer hiatus, which means now is the time we’ll start hearing clues and spoilers about next season. In fact, we’ve already heard about a number of things that will be coming up.

The Gotham showrunners have indicated we’ll witness all the problems Oswald will face with his new job, now that he’s the head mob boss in Gotham city. Bruce will learn more about his father’s secret life, and enter into his public millionaire/socialite persona, all while he continues to investigate his parents’ murder. We’ll be seeing more of Eddie as the Riddler, though he won’t be the major villain of the season. And we’ll possibly be seeing more happen with Harvey Dent.

As for new villains, the showrunners have stated we’ll be meeting Dr. Hugo Strange, Clayface, the Mad Hatter, and Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze I am particularly excited about, as I’ve always loved the tragic backstory he has involving his wife Nora. I really hope we get to know her while she's still alive and well, and witness all that happens to her. The showrunners have also said they are considering doing a Court of Owls storyline. I haven’t heard any word yet that Harley Quinn is coming to the show, but I really hope they bring her in during Season Two — a hope in which I definitely know I’m not alone.

(Source: Buzzfeed)

As for the major villain of Season Two? Well, while this season was dedicated to the Penguin, the showrunners have stated next season will be the Joker’s. We’ll definitely be seeing Cameron Monaghan come back as Jerome Valeska. But the question remains, is Jerome the Joker? Show creator Bruno Heller had this to say:

“We’re going to answer a lot of questions about The Joker that were raised this season … There’s so much revealed in the first three episodes [of the next season]. Jerome contains the DNA of The Joker, but if he isn’t him then how does someone else appear to be the Joker? How does The Joker’s identity transfer into somebody else’s body? …We're going to find out how the hell Jerome, the proto-Joker we met earlier in this season, connects with the Joker as people known him. That's the big focus of the beginning of the second season. We're going to tell the story of how the Joker came to be.”

Intriguing. It almost sounds like Jerome himself isn’t the future Joker, but rather something in him will be transferred to someone else, making them the Joker. Perhaps he becomes the subject of one of Dr. Hugo Strange’s experiments? Strange will be coming to Gotham in Season Two, after all. Whatever happens, I hope we get to see a lot more of Cameron Monaghan acting like the Joker, and preferably playing the Joker himself. He gave a great performance in his Season One episode, and it would be a shame to waste the talent he brings to the Joker persona.

And that’s it! Season One of Gotham has come to a close. A brilliant show, I have to say, and I hope you all enjoyed these recaps as much as I enjoyed writing them. I will see you next season!

Also, please remember if you have any friends who have yet to watch the show, now is the time to convert them. The entirety of Season One has now aired, and now is the time to binge watch. Keep in mind that, though Gotham had a strong start, even the best of shows get cancelled nowadays. We don’t want Season Two to be Gotham’s last. So it’s up to us fans to let the world know how great this show is, and bring new people into the fandom. So convert a friend ASAP! To help you out, next week I’ll be posting a spoiler-free article on why people should give Gotham a try if they haven’t yet. So look out for that, and feel free to use it as a tool in hooking those new converts!

Thanks for watching with us!

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