To say that Gotham had a lot of threads to wrap up in last night’s fall finale was an understatement. In short, it had to deal with the escalating Jim Gordon-Penguin-Sofia Falcon situation, Bruce Wayne continuing going off the rails, Tabby trying to make Solomon Grundy recall his life as Butch Gilzean, and the imminent return of Jerome. But, somehow, the producers managed to pull it off in a coherent manner.
Much like many of you reading this, my attention is captured whenever Jerome Valeska puts in an appearance. Having already showered actor Cameron Monaghan’s fantastic performances with a litany of compliments in the past, this time, I’ll instead place the focus on his evolving appearance.
When we last saw him in season 3, it was obvious that the creative minds behind the series were paying homage to Batman: Death of the Family by having Jerome wear his face as a mask of sorts. But after having it punched off by Jim Gordon (yeah, it actually happened on network television), it was said the young knave was returned to Arkham Asylum where he’d have his face reattached.
Now, we see Jerome looking more Joker-ish than ever as his skin is getting all the more pale: He has a scarred smile permanently affixed to his face, the area around his eyes has become discolored, and he’s sporting a haircut right out of Batman: Endgame, yet another story crafted by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
What’s kind of funny about all this is that the producers have stated Jerome isn’t the Joker, but in the trailer for “Pieces of a Broken Mirror” that can be seen at the top, a Joker card is plainly displayed for all to view. To be honest, I think the situation here is that they’re not allowed to call Jerome “the Joker” as to not interfere with anything WB’s motion picture division is cooking up. But, we all know the path he’s going down, so he is and he isn’t, if that makes sense.
Gotham returns with new episodes in spring of 2018.