Gotham City may need to brace itself for a laughing attack: The Joker could soon arrive on Gotham. During “A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting,” we explored more of Jerome’s past and learned secrets about the character, like the fact that he has a twin brother. The introduction of his twin sparked A LOT of theories and questions on Reddit/Twitter/everywhere regarding what this could mean to The Joker’s storyline. Gotham seems to be leading to this big revelation, so it’s only a matter of time before the Clown Prince of Crime puts on his makeup for good. But could this be a case of which brother gets the last laugh? Only time will tell where this story leads, but for now it’s Jerome’s world.
The brunch meeting run by Jerome between most of Gotham City’s villains was a (pardon my pun) hilarious scene. Brunch seemed like the most random moment to bring all these deadly characters together, but there they were discussing their next dastardly move over tea and sausages. Mr. Freeze, Firefly, Scarecrow, Penguin and Mad Hatter created the earliest incarnation of the Batman Rogues Gallery that we’ve seen yet; it’s a shame that other villains like The Riddler and Poison Ivy weren’t there to join the group.
Jerome’s pursuit of Xander Wilde didn’t make any sense until his identity was revealed. At first, his shooting in the building felt like any other crime he had done before; he’s killed people for the fun of it and to get what he needed. Though, when James Gordon and Harvey Bullock found Jeremiah (Jerome’s twin brother) in the secret bunker, most of the pieces made sense. Jerome wanted revenge against his brother for the life he had and now, with his freedom from Arkham Asylum, he was going to take the opportunity to kill him. However, there has to be a bigger reason why he needed to go after Jeremiah so soon; him getting revenge on his brother could’ve happened at any time, but he made sure to see him now.
There’s no way Jerome will stop in his pursuit of getting Jeremiah, even if he’s under the protection of the GCPD. Jerome wants revenge and he will stop at nothing to get it. And with the iconic Joker laughing gas at his disposal, he could destroy Gotham City with bodies to complete his mission. As I mentioned above, there’s a hot debate going on right now about which brother will truly become The Joker: Will it be Jerome or could Jeremiah be infected by the gas?
A new character introduced in “A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting” was Ecco, Jeremiah’s skilled fighting proxy. Who else loved this character? She barely had any words, but in the few scenes that she was in, Ecco ruled every moment. She easily disarmed and knocked out Jerome, Harvey and James in her fighting scenes, and if Mad Hatter and Scarecrow hadn’t hypnotized her, she could’ve defeated them, too. Having the character survive the drama in the bunker was a great choice by the writers; it would’ve been a shame to lose her because she has a lot of potential. We need to learn more about why she dedicated her life to protecting Jeremiah; it’s almost like she’s another prototype for Harley Quinn, similar to how Barbara Kean was Jerome’s assistant/ally in the second season.
When it came to Grundy’s storyline, he could end up regretting teaming up with Oswald again. The promise of using the Indian Hill chemicals to reverse the transformation is a lofty goal; Penguin made a promise he most likely can’t keep. Solomon Grundy didn’t return back to normal in the comic books, video games or cartoon series. Penguin could be setting Grundy up for more disappointment, but at least he’s now a part of the main storyline with Jerome’s group of villains.
What did you think of Riddler’s new romance with Lee? I’m on the fence about this pairing because they don’t seem like endgame or one that will last beyond this season. Edward Nygma may have feelings for her, but Riddler would rather protect himself over anything else – and Lee could be using Riddler to get her way. There’s an unspoken tension between them in the Narrows and these two villains want completely different things. Now that they’re working together, let’s see if their alliance will hold out.
On the other hand, one of Gotham’s highlights this week was Riddler’s game show and their electricity together. Lee knew exactly how to get under Riddler’s skin and win the competition for herself. She manipulated the game perfectly. Holding these riddle games fit perfectly to The Riddler’s personality, so hopefully we see more of these games and challenges on Gotham.
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“A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting” laid the groundwork for the climactic drama that will soon be arriving near the end of Gotham’s fourth season. New partnerships were formed and the missing piece about Jerome’s big plan was revealed. We already know what trouble that gas will cause in Gotham City, so it’s only a matter of time to see if the heroes will stop them or if the villains will win out. And which other villains will return to the city to join in on the fun.
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