Now that it’s been well established how Gotham‘s fifth season will indeed be its last, it seems as though the producers will be pulling out all the stops in order to assure that the show goes out with a bang. Don’t forget, we recently received a teaser saying Harley Quinn could show up before all is said and done, and that’s a major box the series has yet to check.
As you may have heard, a huge influence on the remaining ten episodes will be that of the classic No Man’s Land story arc which saw the city ravaged by an earthquake, left to its own devices by the government, and swiftly had the worst criminals to offer claiming their territories.
Likewise, Gotham will follow this blueprint by having the likes of Mr. Freeze, Firefly, Scarecrow and others carve out their niches in the aftermath of Jeremiah Valeska and Ra’s al Ghul’s destructive spree. As expected, Bruce Wayne refuses to sit idly by while his hometown falls into ruin.
In their latest Comic-Con Special, TV Guide was able to learn from executive producer John Stephens that as Bruce “[infiltrates] one villain sector after another, he’ll adopt different identities and at one point even take over leadership of a gang, almost like the way Batman did with the Sons of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns.”
For those unfamiliar with that plot point, Frank Miller’s hallowed graphic novel saw the fractured Mutant gang splinter off into various groups following the defeat of their leader at the hands of the Caped Crusader. One of them christened themselves “the Sons of Batman,” but seemed to miss the mark when it came to the area of morality. Eventually, Bruce himself put them in line and used the crew as a force for good.
Similar to that, I think David Mazouz’s iteration of our hero will serve up a rallying speech of some kind, thus leading to reforming delinquents uniting under his banner. Though they probably won’t bear the bat insignia, fans of the comics will know where the idea came from.
Gotham returns for its fifth season sometime in early 2019 on Fox.