Gotham: “The Last Laugh” Review

“Your legacy will be death and madness.”

Gordon and Harvey are back together, and in the wake of Essen’s murder by Jerome the angry (if not dynamic) duo kick down doors and throw thugs out of windows in search of a lead on Gotham’s number one with a bullet. The assault on GCPD pushed them to the edge and Harvey knows they won’t get anywhere without a visit to the Penguin to learn what he knows. Gordon is resistant, and understandably so; his guilt and shame for killing a thug for Penguin has to be eating him up and combined with Essen’s murder, fuel his rage.

This is not the wide-eyed, clean up the streets optimism we saw form Gordon last season. He might be the last honest man in Gotham, but there is some tarnish on that sheen, and it’s not a bad thing. Where Gordon may have had an ideal to follow in season one, now he truly has a purpose, and with that purpose comes a steely-eyed determination. He has also learned that compromises need to be made in order to see the job though.

There are plenty of episodes left, but we haven’t seen any real fallout from Gordon’s compromise with Penguin, save for Harvey visiting Penguin at the end of the episode to check out a rumour he heard about Gordon; Penguin confirms it and Harvey threatens him to stay away from Gordon, whom Penguin professes to be his friend. Perhaps there will be a Harvey/Gordon confrontation in the near future, which would be a nice example of irony; last season it was the clean Gordon who reprimanded Harvey for getting and keeping his hands dirty.

They act on a tip to find Jerome’s father, who left the circus and stayed in town, but reach him after Jerome and Tabitha visit and leave a parting gift – a knife through the old man’s eye socket. Planted evidence suggests Cicero planned and executed Jerome’s breakout from Arkham, though Gordon doesn’t believe it.

Theo’s plan for Gotham is revealed. Apparently his family were the bedrock of the city’s foundations, yet there are no buildings or bridges named after them. So it’s a simple revenge plot in the name of the forefathers. He’s also offered Barbara an opportunity; not to kill Gordon, but to destroy him “body and soul”. He says all of this after interrupting a morning-after moment between Barbara and Tabitha, all the while preparing tea and toast. It’s these paradoxical actions that add layers to the character and differentiates him from a one dimensional villain.

All of this leads up to the main set piece, a televised fundraising gala in which Lee is one of the organizers and Jerome masquerades as the magician, with Barbara as his masked assistant. Bruce and Alfred show up, and Bruce confronts Selina about stealing from those who are benefitting a good cause. In a nice counter Selina reminds Bruce she stole for him when it suited his purposes. Another nice moment occurs when Alfred awkwardly hits on Lee.

Jerome’s magic show starts with Bruce as volunteer in the “cut in half” trick, which goes off without a hitch. However, he kills the deputy mayor onstage, makes outrageous demands and chaos ensues. That is, until Theo stands up to Jerome all heroic-like and stoic, and is promptly “knocked out” by Barbara. A standoff ensures with Jerome holding Bruce at knifepoint in front of an armed Gordon and Alfred, who shows off some of his fighting skills. Theo “regains” consciousness only to stab Jerome in the neck and becomes the hero of Gotham, shaking hands and smiling for the cameras as Jerome bleeds out on the floor.

So, Jerome isn’t the Joker. That isn’t a bad thing, as the hard sell was definitely on for viewers to believe he was. But what the writers have done is far more interesting. Think back to Cicero’s words – “your legacy will be death and madness”. Jerome certainly enjoyed a wild three episodes of Joker-ish theatricality, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

What is meant to be is the influence Jerome has on Gotham, paving the way for the real Joker to make an entrance at some point in the series. Even Penguin, who watches the events unfold on television, muses he “could use the laugh”. The final moments of the episode show several of Gotham’s deranged men laughing manically as they watch Jerome’s antics on the news. Jerome might not have been the Joker, but his legacy of “death and madness” will give birth to the Joker. Whether that happens this season or not remains to be seen, but the three-episode Joker teaser led to a fulfilling conclusion.

Tune in next week, same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.