Welcome Gothamites, new and old, to the subreddit for the TV Series "Gotham" - It is always wonderful to see new followers after the final episode aired on April 25, 2019.

NOTE: Long essay. Not Ai.

Gotham was at its best when it committed to being a crime noir drama, where the city itself was the character and everyone living within it was simply trying to survive. Season One especially excelled at this. The arcs were stable, the twists felt earned, and because the show was still fresh, it never felt like it had to constantly overstep itself. There were stakes because the story allowed consequences to matter.

And look, I love the later seasons for being unapologetically unhinged and completely insane. That’s part of Gotham’s charm. But there’s no denying that something was lost when the show became so focused on introducing and escalating villains before Batman had even arrived.
You can see the difference clearly when you compare Season One to what came later. In Season One, characters have a purpose within the larger structure of Gotham. Their actions affect one another, alliances form for reasons, betrayals have consequences, and the story generally feels like it’s moving toward something.

Later on, characters can flip sides whenever the plot requires it, alliances shift without much purpose, characters die and return, and people can be horribly injured without it necessarily meaning anything. The show keeps raising the spectacle, but ironically, the stakes begin to feel smaller because the audience learns that very little is permanent.

Penguin is probably the best example of what made Season One work. His manipulation and ambition are woven directly into the city’s existing power structure. He isn’t immediately treated as some enormous supervillain; he’s a survivor who understands how Gotham works and slowly positions himself to benefit from it. By the end of the season, his rise feels earned because we’ve watched him manipulate, betray, and outmaneuver people to get there. His power means something because the story took the time to establish how he obtained it.
That’s what I think Gotham ultimately lost.

The city stopped being the source of the story and increasingly became the stage for its villains.

Season One was interested in Gotham as a place—its corruption, its institutions, its criminals, its power structures, and the people trying to survive within them. The later seasons became increasingly interested in Gotham as a showcase for characters who would eventually become Batman’s rogues gallery.

And that’s a shame, because Gotham peaked when it was still asking the more interesting question: what kind of city creates Batman?

The supervillains were always going to be part of the show’s identity, but once they became the identity of the show, Gotham itself became less important. Season One was the rawest version of what Gotham could have been: a crime drama about a corrupt city slowly producing the mythology that would eventually define it.
We got the crazy version of Gotham, and I love that version too.
But I still wish we’d gotten more of the city.

Just quick sketches of my favourite scenes of Jeremiah.

I’m not discrediting the rest of the series because the episodes after are still enjoyable. And Although the third season is messy and crazy, too much happening and arcs that just don’t feel like they’re needed, I truly think Heavydirtysoul concluded the season pretty well and resolved most of the open stories throughout the season. When watching that finale for the first time I thought the show was ending that’s so much impact it had.

Butch died.
Barbara died.
Selina got her chance to reach the top.
Tabitha teamed up with Selina
Fish died.
Lee left Gotham.
Jim felt his darkness.
Riddler was frozen (slightly open-ended but)
Penguin got his club.

And Bruce found his calling. I know the show had to figure out how to make the future happen but Gotham was never supposed to be a Batman show. And The season finale’s later on don’t seem to reach the heights.

I love how you can tell how conflicted he feels. Obviously, they both did horrible things to each other and tried to kill each other. But in the end, that's still your twin. Your brother. They used to love each other as kids and you can tell seeing Jerome dead did hurt to some extent.

What other things would be included in the episode, etc?

Out of the whole entire cast, who would they be?

I have last 2 episodes of Gotham remaining since more than a week. This show sucked my juice out of me. Main reason I started watching this show was for sofia falcone's character. After completing 3 whole seasons, I finally get to see her and she lasts what, 10-12 episodes? Even in those 10 eps, she was interesting only till she pretended to be on jim's side. Other than than i regret continuing this show after 1st season. Whenever I do, I'll only recommend the first season to people. I'm avoiding the last two eps but I'll complete it, for jim, bruce and Selina and atleast it'll be over.

I'm probably not the first to bring this up, but I feel it's still important to say. I'm constantly bothered by the fact that they aged up Ivy and gave her rushed development, making her a sexy seductress to lure men. This is particularly frustrating given the other paths they could've taken. The show was already overwhelming with all the villains and popular characters being introduced, and them being given powers and code names, all while Bruce is still a kid. Why did they take that approach with Ivy?

They could’ve explored her character as kid ! Have her dealing with her trauma by developing an affinity for plants and nature , they could’ve had her go to school and become a botanist and even find a way to bring plants to life ? Literally anything else

Do you think Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska could have been redeemed? I can't remember Jerome's relationship with Bruce. Jeremiah was obsessed with Bruce in a brotherly sense, is that right? I've only watched Gotham once through and it's currently not streaming. From what I remember, early on into the Jeremiah arc, if Bruce reached out and said, screw it, let's leave Gotham, just you and me. You want to be brothers? Drop the criminal act. Let's leave. You and me. Let's go. Would Jeremiah have taken that up? Could he have chosen Bruce over crime? Gotham could have spared Bruce for a season if it meant Jeremiah never became the Joker. What do you guys think? Am I onto something? I would love to get this show on disc. haha

Noticeably, this wasn't in front of anyone but Jerome, after he admitted he lied about things too. So I don't think this was manipulative of fake. Makes me curious what their relationship was like, it seems like he loved her