Entering into its final season, Gotham Season 5 has high expectations on keeping fans engaged long enough to wrap up the prequel series that backstories the arrival of the Dark Knight.
When it was launched five seasons ago alongside the largely booming DC TV primetime universe, Gotham was potentially appeared the easiest sell to fans who were excited that Arrow was about to spin-off The Flash and a certain magic wielder was also arriving on the scene on one of the most mainstream network on the air. The DC boom was about to blossom and everyone wanted a piece of the action. The FOX network landed the prequel series set in the darkest alleys of the DC Universe.
Gotham starring Ben McKenzie as a largely unseasoned detective James Gordon who is unprepared for the corrupt underbelly of his new beat on Gotham City, on paper sounded like the most daring venture but with the most inherit possibilities, especially under the watchful eye of producer Bruno Heller. The series opened with the murder of a wealthy and prominent couple who left behind a sole heir, a ten-year old Bruce Wayne played by David Mazouz who is then placed under the care of the family’s loyal butler Alfred, keenly reinvented by Sean Pertwee.
Jim Gordon begins a perilous journey to clean up the dank and dark streets of Gotham which are mostly all controlled by a colorful cast of underworld crime families, and when Gordon refuses to fall in line, even after the persistent suggestions of his new partner Harvey Bullock (played by Donal Logue) the tipping of the balance is set in motion — and the series begins its decent into darkness, even as Gordon is determined to save its soul. The crafty criminal element ascends to all new depths of villainy introducing the audience to the rise of the Caped Crusaders rogues gallery.
The original cast as they appeared when the show launched.
It’s Curtains!
Outside of the established Arrowverse that has shaped itself into a formidable primetime powerhouse, Gotham continued to beat to its own drum, even as it began to round out the now adolescent Bruce Wayne and followed with great interest the growing attraction the millionaire boy has for the street urchin Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) destined to steal his heart as the jewel thief Catwoman, the insular world presented within the scope of the prequel banked on utilizing familiar landmarks like Arkham Asylum for instance to drive its story arcs.
Batman’s villains after all are really what makes his capers all the more interesting, though audiences did not necessarily appear all that into the diversity of many of those introductions even as the Penguin took over, the Riddler emerged, Poison Ivy was engineered or the Court of Owls were brought out of the shadows. Over the course of its run, even Jim Gordon took an alternate trajectory and dove into the shadows, eventually seeking redemption. Now entering its fifth and final season, all roads on Gotham lead to the formation of the Batman!
After the most jarring two seasons that brought the chaos and insidious rise of the city’s most devious agents out onto the main stage, Gotham ended its Fourth Season inspired by the “No Man’s Land” comic book arc and into “Zero Year”, a very current motive which depicts the origins of the Batman as he emerges from a Gotham turned urban war zone after a major power failure cuts the city off from the rest of the country. Anything can happen on Gotham and it has been allowed to reign insanity over the course of its run; now it has to tie up all its loose ends.
But fear not! The most diehard devotee can take some solace in the recent integration of Gotham City into the Arrowverse, confirmed with this season’s “Elseworlds” crossover event which also has launched the career of Batwoman as portrayed by Ruby Rose. Kate Kane has been left in charge of protecting Gotham during the mysterious disappearance of its most dedicated defender! As Gotham enters its final season iTunes has just released the Season Pass to Season 5 which features a recent interview with the cast gathered for New York City Comic-Con.
With most details surrounding Season 5 still mostly vague, fans can expect to see Bruce Wayne take on the famous cape and cowl, as the series promises that the final episode will propel the storyline forward 10 years into the future! Check out the exclusively bundled interview piece for some additional plot developments that might ensure this final season of Gotham should not be missed.