SEASON FINALE: Gotham 1.22 “All Happy Families Are Alike”

So this is it. The Big Finale. The long promised gang war is here and there’s no stopping it. The gloves are off, and Sal Maroni (David Zayas) continues intent on destroying the kingdom that Falcone (John Doman) had built in Gotham.

All that while we still have the lingering mysteries of Barbara Kean (Erin Richards), who seems to be going to the dark side, and Bruce (David Mazouz), desperate to find out his father’s secret.

Finally, as a subplot that’s been getting a lot of traction lately, there’s the breakdown of Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), a character for whom there seems to be no going back, as he definitely falls prey to his urges, starting to become a crazy, raving, very logical lunatic.

All of this put together should have given us a really satisfying finale; and sadly this wasn’t the case.

The episode had substance, action, some surprises, interesting character interactions (mainly on the subplots, but oh well) and, while this all built to a strong goodbye to Gotham’s first season, it lacked the necessary punch to leave you breathless, something this series had succeeded at in other episodes.

Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie)’s facial expressions when facing a villainous Selina (Camren Bicondova) – who gets “transformed” off-panel by a returning and almost-triumphant Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) – or being ambushed and captured a couple of times, were priceless, and along with the performance of Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), making once more, the perfect team with Gordon, gave us some of the funniest moments of the whole episode.

I found myself wanting to enjoy the episode so much that it was maybe because of that, that I suffered even more when I felt some action scenes were rushed, badly constructed or choreographed…a problem that I thought Gotham had already left behind.

Maybe it was a matter of packing too much meat into the Finale, of wanting to close so many characters’ plot points in the same episode, I don’t know; but even though the beats played one after the other, giving the viewer almost no time to think or make a comment in between scenes, I had this feeling that there was something amiss.

However Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) delivered again one last time, giving us plenty of his in-character moments: trying to kill Falcone when he was tied up and defenseless, reminding Jim that he owed him and therefore couldn’t let him die, or begging Fish to spare his life as he tried to convince her with his sneaky arguments…this is pure Penguin in all his glory; someone that doesn’t care to walk through the mud, to lose his dignity, as long as that guarantees that there’s a tomorrow where he’ll end up victorious.

I hope that the way the episode ends doesn’t imply that we won’t get more mobsters fighting for Gotham on the next season, as that has been without a doubt one of the high points of this one. However, as long as Penguin sticks around, there’s plenty of madness to enjoy.

Bruce’s desperate attempts to find out what his father, Thomas Wayne, was all about – honorable man or crooked figure with a lot of secrets not even his butler knew about – pays off, as each time the scene shifted to the library in Wayne’s Manor, we knew Alfred (Sean Pertwee) and young Master B. were closer to finding what really was behind the “stoic” figure of the mysterious Thomas Wayne; that second life he hid so well.

Even if old fans have a really big clue as to what the reveal is going to be like, more or less, that last scene resonates with an impact that gives hope for next season.

Sure, we won’t see Batman as of yet, but with Alfred, Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk), an eager Bruce and the cave all in the same picture, there’s room for many interesting developments. And maybe now that the creators have taken the leap forward, they shouldn’t back down from really exploring the Batman mythos more deeply.

If you have missed this first season of Gotham, you made a mistake. It’s ok, everyone does once in a while. Now go fix it before season two starts!