Spoilers ahead for the midseason finale of Gotham. If you haven't watched the latest episode, you may want to check out one of our other stories.
It's an exciting week for avid TV fans, as many shows are airing their midseason finale, ahead of the winter hiatus. Fox's Batman prequel Gotham was no exception, as "Queen Takes Knight" brought the first half of the season's conflicts to a boil, while also setting up what will happen in the show's next set of episodes. One of the biggest cliffhanger moments of the episode featured the return of fan favorite Jerome. The show's answer to the Joker will be interacting with The Penguin from within Arkham Asylum, and series star David Mazouz (aka Bruce Wayne) recently teased the anarchy that the villain will be bringing to the back half of Season 4 when he inevitably escapes the Asylum.
The second half of the season will mark one of the worst episodes in Gotham yet. And, the worse the episode is for Gotham, the better it is for viewers, right? Jerome will team up with some less than likable villains and they will take over the city and it will be a terrible, terrible fiasco.
This is equal parts exciting and terrifying terrifying. While his appearances in the show have been few and far between, the walking crazy that is Jerome has always resulted in massive conflicts, especially regarding Bruce Wayne. And if he's able to team up with some of the show's other villains, then there's no telling how much chaos he will bring upon Gotham City.
The last time we saw Jerome was back in Season 3, with his influence reaching more and more followers who are inspired by his anarchist ways and signature cackle. He very nearly killed Bruce Wayne, but Gordon was able to save the future Batman in the nick of time, punching Jerome's face clean off his head after the villain crudely stapled it back on (it's a long story). His face seems to be healing well from within Arkham Asylum, although he's no less creepy.
But Jerome's Season 4 conflict should be quite different from his previous goes on the prequel series. Because this time around Bruce has become a capable (albeit super moody) vigilante. This will be the closest thing we're like to see of a Joker/Batman conflict in the series. David Mazouz teased this to Comic Book, saying:
The one difference this time is that Bruce is involved. It's not just going to be Gordon and the GCPD taking them down. Bruce now has some bearings on what it means to take down a villain and he will be very involved in that as a vigilante.
Now this is certainly exciting. Bruce has spent most of his tenure on Gotham as a relatively helpless kid, and it's going to be very satisfying for fans to see he and Jerome duke it out in a more legitimate conflict.
Gotham doesn't currently have a date for its return, but we'll be sure to update you as details become public. In the meantime, be sure to check out our midseason premiere list to plan your next binge watch, and our cancellation list to see if your favorite show got the chop.
