Gotham 4×21 Review: “A Dark Knight: One Bad Day”

Jeremiah is putting his late brother to shame with the antics he’s getting up to in Gotham City. The emerging Joker caused plenty of destruction to the city within the hour that it almost rivaled Jerome. And what’s even more sinister was that Jeremiah had the sanity to back it up. The gas that corrupted his mind made him evil instead of deranged like his brother. On a scale from Jeremiah to Joker, he’s at the crime lord version of Joker before he assumes the clownish moniker and causes real chaos. A clock tower explosion, burning his allies to death, and making a new alliance with an all-powerful assassin were just some of the stepping stones he made toward becoming the terrifying Clown Prince of Crime we’re all hoping to see.

When he blew up the clock tower, you knew that Jeremiah was playing a different game than Jerome. He didn’t waste any time showing the Gotham City Police Department that he wasn’t kidding around and that if they didn’t listen to him more people would die. If he didn’t already have bombs placed around the city, Harvey would’ve killed him then and there, but he planned ahead. In fact, “A Dark Knight: One Bad Day” showcased how prepared and organized Jeremiah was when it came to committing crimes – it seemed to be part of his character’s personality. He had his brother’s book, but he structured everything perfectly for a Plan A and Plan B. Connecting all the bombs together was a smart ploy, and it would’ve worked had it not been for James and the Riddler.

Let’s talk about the big plan for a moment. Based on Jeremiah’s demonstration, it became common knowledge that the bombs could topple entire buildings. A madman with bombs wasn’t exactly groundbreaking for a superhero show, but the method as to which the heroes (and villains) discovered the plan had an interesting angle to it. Riddler and James showed off their smarts by deducing that the layout of the maze pattern marked which buildings were targeted in the skyline. How did they even think of that? Riddler’s intelligence is underutilized on Gotham. He could be creating grand game designs as the smartest villain, but he’s stuck as Lee’s lackey. When Gotham returns for season five, the show needs to let him explore his intelligence and game side more.

Rarely do we see the villains of Gotham City team up to help save the city – their position has usually been about power, crime and killing everyone. Penguin has dabbled in stopping Jerome and others have helped against the likes of Theo Galavan or Fish Mooney. But, the alliance to prevent the explosions might be their most heroic actions yet. Sure, they were trying to get $50 million out of their deal before killing Jeremiah, but they had good intentions for why they were teaming up. It’s a shame that they were unsuccessful. They would’ve had their money and gotten what they were looking for, like the means to cure Butch and the glory of stopping Gotham City’s biggest enemy yet.

How do you think Ra’s al Ghul will help Jeremiah destroy the city? His vision showed the city being engulfed in flames with many people dying – the bombs would’ve helped with that, but the GCPD stopped it before it happened. The attack could be a simple fire or something more sinister involving serious warfare. Whatever might be planned, the destruction will no doubt be terrifying. Jeremiah is a highly intelligent architect and Ra’s al Ghul is a supernatural fire – one is brains and the other is serious brawn. This is a highly dangerous combination to come together.

Bruce’s journey through Scarecrow’s mind-altering gas continued his theme of fighting his inner demons. After all the people he’s lost (his parents!) and the villains he’s fought (Jerome!), he was bound to be a little scarred over the torment. The gas simply brought out all those insecurities and fear to the forefront so that he could conquer them. And to become the Dark Knight, Bruce needed to conquer his fears of loss and Jerome. Luckily, most of his journey was hallucinations.

For a moment, there was a genuine shock and worry that Alfred had accidentally been killed. You can’t have Bruce Wayne without the witty and sarcastic Alfred by his side. Since this was the penultimate episode of the season, a shocking death wasn’t out of the question. Fortunately for all of us, Alfred lived to see another day. We can’t lose our heroes!

Speaking of fallen heroes, my jaw dropped to the floor when Jeremiah shot Selina. Gotham delivered one of their most shocking cliffhangers yet, and it completely came out of nowhere. Selina can’t die – she’s Catwoman! Her and Bruce finally started exploring their feelings for each other and she has yet to don the iconic moniker as her adult self. With the season finale coming, anything is a possibility for characters dying. However, if Selina does lose her last life, her death will be a devastating loss for the show. She’s one of the more understated characters, but her presence is felt and she’s one of the only characters to root for as a hero.

“A Dark Knight: One Bad Day” raised the drama in Gotham City by letting Jeremiah go to town with his ambition. Everything that was shown with the characters built up toward the upcoming season finale where fire, death and chaos are sure to follow. Hopefully our favorite characters in limbo make it out alive, but if these events proved anything, it’s that things are going to become much more intense next week.