Gotham Season 5 will be the series’ last, where they attempt to finally bring the show to where it needs to be in relation to its characters and what the fans have come to expect. It’s been an interesting road thus far as the show has managed to carve out a strange and unique path. For the most part, several of the characters in the series have not yet become the ones that we know and love. Personally, and although I’m not disappointed, I really don’t believe they’ll be able to do it, especially not within the 10 episode order.
Newsarama managed to visit the set of Gotham season 5, where they spoke with several cast members who seemed to hint that in this season, fans should be happy with certain relationships.
So much to do, so little time.
Of the 10-episode order, most of the cast members are trepidatious about accomplishing the gargantuan task of ending the series in 10 episodes, with some commenting about how jam-packed this season will be.
Ben McKenzie, who plays series lead, Jim Gordon, had this to say on the subject:
So many shows get cancelled at the last minute based on things outside their control so they don’t get time to ramp up towards the conclusion or sense of closure and we are absolutely trying to give the fans a lot of these iconic moments that everyone is thirsty for. Everyone is going out of their way to take time and appreciate each other.
Overall, there seems to be pressure on the team to make sure that fans are pleased with the outcome. At the very least, it seems that the writers will try to acknowledge as many things as possible in a creative way.
McKenzie invokes his time at SDCC this year and the many questions from fans:
All the questions we got at Comic-Con International: San Diego were ‘When are you going to do this’ and the answer is right d*** [sic] now! We don’t have any more time so might as well throw it in here, though, you know, in a well-constructed way. John Stevens and the writers have created a plan to sprinkle in things they want to see that doesn’t come across as lip service, but actually part of the 98 episodes that we made.
It looks like they’re trying, folks. It might not be exactly what you want, but they’re trying.
David Mazouz, who’s clearly not prepared for the show to end, talks about how stuffed each episode is:
It’s so action-packed and we really do cram into the action from twenty-two episodes into ten which makes it a fascinated [sic] read when you’re looking over the scripts. It makes me think how the hell are they going to get the money to do that. Every episode is huge and almost its own finale and as an actor the hard part is keeping up with it and knowing what’s going on.
Robin Lord Taylor, who has been absolutely owning this incarnation of Oswald Cobblepot since season 1, also comments on the overwhelming task:
I mean, I think there’s a lot to cram into 100 more episodes, you know what I mean? We’ve shown in previous seasons this story, this city, these characters…there’s so many of them and they can go in so many ways. I think the way it’s coming down it’s very concentrated. We’re bringing storylines to a close, relationships to a close, and it feels like a rush.
It’s to be expected from a show with so many plot threads and loose ends to tie. At the very least, we will not be bored with season 5.
And the more exciting news from this set visit, in my opinion, is that the writers have every intention of playing at some iconic Batman relationships.
A hero can be anyone, even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that world hadn’t ended.
The relationship between Batman and Commissioner Gordon is so full of respect and camaraderie. Most incarnations show that they trust each other implictly and, over the years of Gotham, it looks like Bruce has managed to earn that respect from Gordon and fans will be able to see the fruits of that development. At least, if we’re to believe McKenzie, as he teases that relationship in season 5:
I think we are definitely leaning in to giving the fans those iconic moments between Gordon and eventually adult Bruce. There will be more of those to come but it’s been such a rewarding thing to watch, and of course it mirrors real life over the course of over five years, to see him grow from a boy into a man.
“No, You Complete… Me.”
The relationship between the Joker and Batman has probably been one of the most fascinating things to consume in Batman media. It’s not always clearly black and white between the two rivals. There’s a certain level of begrudging respect and sometimes, love, romantic or otherwise. According to Cameron Monaghan, the man responsible for bringing the proto-Joker twins, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, we will be seeing that type of relationship between Jeremiah and Bruce.
Though Jerome didn’t feel any attachment to Bruce, Jeremiah has shown in season 4, that he definitely feels a kinship to the teenage Batman, referring to him as his only friend. Monaghan seems particularly excited about showing us some iconic moments that will please fans. He teases Newsarama quite a bit:
I have a couple moments this season, especially deeper towards the end where the character gets to play with some iconic imagery that I love that we’re bringing from the history of the character and there’s moments that are huge for people who are fans of the comics.
I will say that the final episode of the season there’s some stuff that I’m really excited for. I’m champing at the bit to get to that.
Monaghan continues to tease that the show will most certainly explore that strange, wondrous relationship that fans have come to love:
That’s sort of Jeremiah’s main plot point this season, he’s relating into Bruce. I think the main difference between Jerome and Jeremiah was that Jerome was destructive and most of his anarchy came from the fact that he wanted to destroy things and didn’t have much of a plan. What’s interesting with Jeremiah is that he’s this strange craftsman. He gets his joy from engineering these things that tend to hurt a lot of people. So most of his amusement is coming from his influence on Bruce and I think the reason he’s so obsessed with Bruce is this strange sense of love.
I do think there is this weird sense of appreciation for each other in this strange way. Jerome wanted to kill Bruce since he didn’t care for him that much, but Jeremiah very much does and that it is emblematic of the Batman/Joker relationship and I don’t know if it’s been really explored enough in live-action yet so I wanted to push that if we could.
Mazouz eventually made a brief tease of his own by saying
I won’t say much about it, but it’s very reminiscent of other incarnations of the Joker.
There’s actually a lot more wonderful cast insight from Newsarama’s set visit that you can check out yourself here.
Overall, Monaghan’s comments regarding the Jeremiah/Bruce relatiionships are extremely exciting. Though he’s supposedly not the Joker, he’s a pretty fantastic version of him and I’d love to see exactly what they’ll be able pull off to please fans. It’s such a creepy relationship and I’d love to see Gotham‘s spin on it.
Season 5 of Gotham will air on Fox sometime in 2019. DKN will keep you posted.