Warning: gigantic spoilers ahead for "Queen Takes Knight," the midseason finale of Gotham Season 4.
Gotham has been crazier than ever in Season 4, what with the Pax Penguina licensing of crime, Bruce Wayne killing Ra's al Ghul, and Butch Gilzean literally reanimating into the swamp zombie Solomon Grundy, to name only a few stories. The midseason finale featured some wild twists that set the stage for an intense second half of Season 4 for just about all the characters. Here's what happened.
Don Falcone is dead. Sophia seemed down for the count at the beginning of "Queen Takes Knight," as her father returned to Gotham to save her from Penguin and berate her for being a disappointment. Sophia finally meekly agreed to come along, and only stopped for a moment to pick a rose, at which point a gunman in a van drove up and opened fire on everybody, killing Don Falcone and injuring Sophia.
Sophia showed her true colors. As it turns out, Sophia wasn't actually a victim in the shooting, but rather an active participant. She hired Professor Pyg as a contract killer to take out her enemies in Gotham, then had him shoot her to avoid suspicion being cast in her direction. She finally came clean to Gordon at the very end of the episode, but he was not able to do anything about her crimes due to the fact that she bribed the mayor so he would become captain.
Professor Pyg is dead. Sophia shot and killed Professor Pyg after she was done with him, right in front of Gordon. Instead of taking Sophia back to the GCPD, Gordon called the killing in and copped to it himself. Sophia is poised to rule the underworld in Gotham, and Gordon is already in over his head.
Penguin is locked back up. Despite Penguin spending most of Season 4 on top in Gotham, his actions in last week's episode came back to bite him in a big way. Sophia flipped on Penguin for his actions that seemingly killed young Martin, and Victor Zsasz promised to testify against Penguin in a surprise show of loyalty to the late lamented Don Falcone. Penguin ended up back in Arkham, and his reaction to his imprisonment was berserk enough to indicate that he'll fit right in.
Jerome is back. Penguin discovered a familiar face in Arkham when he heard the characteristic cackle that can belong to no one other than Jerome. He's not looking too bad for a man who had his face sliced off and then stapled back on, and he's apparently in high spirits in Arkham. Jerome and Penguin are poised to clash while together at Arkham. The question is just how long one or both of them will remain locked up before breaking out. This is Arkham we're talking about.
Butch is still alive. Butch Gilzean seemed dead and gone for good when he returned to the action in Season 4 as a swamp zombie with no memory of his previous life and not the sharpest tool in the box. He even took on the name "Solomon Grundy" because he heard the nursery rhyme right after emerging from the swamp. Tabitha was determined not to give up on him, however, and she spent a chunk of the midseason finale alternately kissing him and whacking him in the face with blunt object. By the end of the episode, Grundy woke up still looking like a swamp zombie, but clearly having recovered his wits as Butch. Butch is back, and that doesn't bode well for Ed.
Bruce Wayne is in a very bad place. Bruce has been spiraling into depression and self-destruction in Season 4 ever since he killed Ra's al Ghul, turning to alcohol and partying. Alfred tried to stage an intervention, but it got very violent, and Alfred ended up punching Bruce in the face. Enraged and probably embarrassed, Bruce went to his lawyer and had emancipation papers drawn up. He dropped the news that Alfred is no longer his legal guardian to the butler, then told him to get out of his house.
Basically, Gotham all but blew up the status quo of the first half of Season 4, and it's difficult to predict just where the show will go when it returns in 2018. Our midseason TV guide can point your toward the dates you need for the new year, and our rundown of 2017 cancellations can fill you in on what cancellations you may have missed.
