This Gotham review contains spoilers.
And, thank god.
Its so much more fun outside of the lines.
The first three episodes of this second season could really be viewed as a trilogy.
Lets call it The Rise and Fall of The Joker.
It wasnt until The Last Laugh that the shape ofGothams new season really started to take shape.
It wasnt until The Last Laugh that this show really made me sit up and take notice.
The death of The Joker.
Be inspired by it.
But dont treat it as gospel.
Otherwise, why retell the story at all?
Through his death, Jerome has inspired countless others to pick up the villany torch where he dropped it.
Perhaps one of them will become the true Joker.
Perhaps Jerome is the only Joker this branch of the DC Comics fictional universe will ever see.
If thats all he ever does,Gothamwill have paid sufficient homage to this iconic character.
Within the immediate plot, Jeromes death serves a much larger purpose, of course.
With it, Theo Galavan has ingratiated himself to the inner circle of Gothams crime-fighting elite.
Bruce, Jim, and Alfred all basically pledged their allegiance to him.
In this city, a favor is everything.
It is one of the only things that seemingly both ends of the hero-villain spectrum respect.
A (mostly) streamlined plot.
Something else this episode did splendidly?
Bring most of its disparate storylines together.
But, oddly, the Childrens Hospital Gala and Jeromes takeover of the event did just that.
I liked the check-in with the Bruce and Selina dynamic, as well.
As for the mechanics of the magic show itself, it worked well given Jeromes upbringing with the circus.
Barbara was sufficiently hidden and then sufficiently maniacal.
Rating:
4 out of 5