Though I’ve been a pretty big supporter of Gotham, often finding myself going out of my way to defend it when others say a terrible word against it, I have to say that I was not a fan of the season finale. It had its moments, but overall, it was deeply disappointing and underwhelming. Fish’s death, for instance, was ridiculous and contrived considering that she’s been through hell and back. The last time we saw her, she got shot in the stomach and still managed to pilot a helicopter. I can’t believe a little, crippled man like Oswald could wrestle her down and throw her off a building. And Falcone just quits? Like that? The setup was necessary for season 2, but I just didn’t like the way it was executed.
So, with every single crime lord dead (except for Penguin), who else can Ol’ Overeactin’ Jim Gordon battle against? Some over-the-top villains, of course. Back in April, Wondercon took place and producer Jon Stephens revealed that Mad Hatter and Clayface would appear. Earlier this week, Mr. Freeze and the Joker were confirmed for season 2. Bruno Heller, Gotham’s showrunner, has constantly teased that the origins of the Joker will be explored in season 2, with him outright admitting that the beginning of season 2 would focus on it. You may be thinking, “He’s just summarizing stuff!” You’d be correct, but a recent interview with Bruno Heller hinted at something that made things a bit more interesting.
You see, as far as Fox is concerned, Jerome is the Joker. And it seems most of the viewers are okay with that considering Cameron Monaghan’s chilling performance. The thing is, as far as I’ve heard, nobody from within the Gotham camp has really acknowledged any connection that he may have to the Joker. The two always seemed separate. When Heller hinted at the Joker’s origins back in April, he never mentioned Jerome and at Wondercon, Jon Stephens only ever spoke of Jerome and said nothing of the Joker.
Earlier this month, Heller said:
“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. That’s teaser enough, I think.”
To me, that’s significant. He’s outright admitting that Jerome is at the very least a precursor to the Joker. His choice of words pique my interest though. Rather than say how he becomes the Joker, he just says how he “connects.” That’s something on which to ruminate.
In the article, Heller also mentions a few other tidbits. Apparently, the secret passageway that Bruce discovered does not lead to the Batcave, but it’d be interesting what we see down there and how it will affect the creation of the Batcave. He also mentioned that Selina’s fate is still very much ambiguous, claiming that her choice to side with Fish Mooney was simply a move made by a teenage girl, which is a fantastic choice. It makes Selina a very complicated character and a good foil to Bruce who seems set on a certain path.
Also, there wasn’t really a grand plan. They had an objective with this season, but that was it. Everything was being developed… as it was being developed.
“We knew the season was the story of Penguin’s rise to power, so that was always there, but how we got there was up in the air as we were writing it. So much of [the mythology] is laid out before you because of the future that everyone is aware of, but there are many things where, to keep a sense of life and things happening without the knowledge of history, we’d just tell the story and see how things unfold.”
That certainly explains a lot. I really hope that do some better planning in season 2, which premieres this fall on Fox.
What do you think?
Source – Hollywood Reporter
