Gotham Season 1 Finale Review: Not With a Bang...

Gotham S01E22: "All Happy Families Are Alike"

Thomas Wayne had a batcave. Selina Kyle and Fish Mooney have suddenly started taking fashion cues from Mad Max. Carmine Falcone just decided, "Nah, no more gangsta life for me." When Gotham is great, it's really great, and I have plenty of confidence in the next season's ability to deliver, but OMG, "All Happy Families Are Alike" was a hot mess.

And, strangely enough, a boring hot mess. How much time did our intrepid heroes spend just standing around talking to whichever villain-of-the-moment had them tied to meat hooks? A lot.

As usual, the mob stuff was the best stuff, with Maroni launching a full-scale attack on Falcone, complete with channeling his inner Godfather to try his best to take Falcone out at the hospital. It was a tense scene—one of the better ones in the episode—and Penguin's heartfelt soliloquy about the conflicting emotions regarding his thirst for power versus his dedication to Falcone was a great moment for the character. The feeling that Gotham itself was a literal powder keg at risk of blowing up in the middle of this mafia firefight carried the episode when, at times, it should have dragged.

Gordon's own conflicting emotions towards Falcone, Maroni, and the mafia were pragmatic and realistic, empty of the heroic idealism he came to Gotham with. After all, if Gordon cleaned everything in Gotham up before Bruce Wayne finished junior high, what then was the point of a Batman? There's no need and his quest seemed more insane than it already was without the realities of Gotham's extreme corruption fueling him.

"He's a bad man, but he's the best bad man we've got," Jim said, and he's been making deals with devils for the greater good all season long. Despite all that he's seen and experienced, it's almost as though he still can't fathom there not being a glimmer of hope, even in the darkest souls of men. On some level, Gordon realized that choosing the lesser of two evils was still siding with an evil. He just didn't see another way and most likely won't be able to until Brucie makes his caped debut.

This was one of the potential draw-backs to Gotham's restrained narrative. If Jim never wins, well, who wants to watch an hour of depression every week? However, Jim can never win too much, lest he overshadow Bruce and his legacy.

Of course, Bruce's legacy in Gotham's finale got both more interesting and more asinine. The late Thomas Wayne worked behind the scenes to realign his company's morals, which was probably what got him gunned down and traumatized his kid for life. That's fine. Gotham had to redeem the Waynes somehow.

But seriously? Thomas had a secret lair and a hidden doorway and an elaborate display of public and private persona? He was basically Batman without a cape?

Whyyyyy? WHYYYYY?

Why do you do this to me, Gotham? Why can't we just be friends? Why do you have to make questionable decisions and then ask me to accept them?

Like, why was Selina so eager to work for Fish? She's not exactly the most trusting girl and she's not exactly textbook "bad" and she seemed to be more of a "look out for herself" kind of girl than anyone who was eager to join a crime posse. Why did Fish come out of a fascinating storyline and go immediately back to her mob queen plan? Why can't Gotham just be consistent in its quality? On the plus side, Barbara going all American Psycho on Leslie was divine.

As far as finales go, "All Happy Families Are Alike" wasn't the greatest, but it did perform the fundamental function of planting the seeds for next season's crazy, and those seeds are full of potential. Fish is dead (as far as we know). Falcone is retired. Maroni is dead. Penguin has ascended to the height of the crime hierarchy and it's apparent that his ruthlessness will not be tamed by the accomplishment. Gordon has seen the danger of the game he's been playing with Gotham's underworld; he can't control it the way he thought he could and in some ways, Gotham is worse off than it was before he arrived.

And as much as I don't love the Thomas-Wayne-was-pre-Batman storyline, I will admit that the closing visual of Alfred and Bruce peering into the cave gave me chills and left me wanting more, which was something Gotham often excelled at during its inaugural season. What Gotham did well, it did exceptionally well. Going forward, hopefully the series will work out the kinks and bumps, avoiding the cycle of alternating great and sucky episodes and managing to wow even the most picky of Batman fans.

It's not you, Gotham, it's us.

And also you.

NOTES FROM THE BATCAVE

– Butch and Fish. D:

– Fish's half-baked death sentences were great. "You're okay."

– Nygma finally snapped. I don't know how I feel about it. It was such a gradual build and then all of a sudden he's got voices in his head.

– Jim's dad was tight with Falcone. This show has such daddy issues.

– I so called it on Barb killing her parents herself. #win

– What do you hope to see when Gotham returns? What worked this season, what didn't? Are there any stories from the comics you'd like to see portrayed on television?