TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Gotham Season 03 Winter Finale: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

So…that happened.

Yep, Gotham was only back for 3 weeks, however, those three weeks were pretty epic, and “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies” was a great way to send off the show…again…again…

I feel like starting off with the best stuff first. Jerome vs. Bruce was great on many levels. Bruce has had many triggers to set him down the path of being Batman, but it was clear that more than anything that’s happened to him, Bruce was deeply affected by what Jerome not only did to Gotham, but said about Gotham. About how people in Gotham only needed someone to tell them it was ok to kill, that it didn’t matter what they did, that was very haunting, and something both Bruce Wayne and Batman don’t believe in. You could the reverberations in time when Bruce said, “There are good people in Gotham.” As well as when Jerome said, “This city has no heroes.”

And you have to admit, they sold this notion very well, with not only the Joker Cult rising up in the wake of a blackened Gotham, but also, the common folk taking part in the madness as well. Seeing the “carnival games” was a grim reminder of how dark Gotham can get when they want to. That “dunk tank” was especially dark.

Yet, nothing compared to the true fist fight between Jerome and Bruce. It may not have been a full-on Batman and Joker fight, but it had merit, and Bruce nearly killing Jerome, then stopping when he realized what he would become if he did, was really cool. I particularly liked how this event led to the Batman creed of “I won’t kill”. Which Batman’s “one rule” we hear a lot about.

Sadly, the Riddler/Penguin stuff was very uneven. At times, it was great, like Nygma confessing about all the stuff he did to make Penguin break, and even the classic overelaborate trap. But…then Penguin was saved by a random security guard…? Then forced to “confess” to Barbara…? Really…? But, it made up for it, for just when you thought Nygma would spare Penguin, he shot him in the gut (aim higher!)  and pushed him into the Gotham river….WHERE WE SAW HIM SINK!!!!

Now yes, we know he’s coming back, but unlike the series premiere, it’s not going to be as clean as last time.

Again, I’m not happy we have to wait until April for Batman to return, BUT, with the tease we got of Riddler truly coming? It’s going to be one heck of return.