Gotham Review: That’s Entertainment (Season 4 Episode 18)

Since the introduction of Jerome Valeska, fans having been asking the same question over and over again: Is Jerome the Joker? And on Gotham Season 4 Episode 18, “That’s Entertainment,” we finally get our answer.

Okay, spoiler alert: the answer is… no.

Sorry, but there is no way for me to avoid dropping this bomb before attacking the problems I have with this turn of events. It is, after all, the only major impact that this episode lands.

My problem with the death of Jerome and rise of Jeremiah is that it doesn’t seem 100% necessary. A majority of fans are happy accepting Jerome as Batman’s ultimate nemesis, so why mess with a good thing?

This gives me a mistrust of the writers of Gotham.

Seriously, how am I supposed to believe that Jerome’s twin brother is going to morph into the Joker? Are they sure that Jeremiah doesn’t have some other sibling somewhere down the road?

Who knows? Maybe Jeremiah’s albino half-sister can have a chance at the throne too. They did make Barbara heir to Ra’s al Ghul, so it wouldn’t be that far-fetched.

And don’t get me started on this convoluted mess of a storyline.

Barbara, Barbara, Barbara. What is going on with your character? Why can’t they decide which way you are going? Will they ever make you Jim’s wife?

But back to the main disappointment.

The only way I can defend this switch of characters is if they swapped out actors — obviously, they didn’t. What a missed opportunity.

Scarecrow’s actor has been switched along the way, as well as Ivy Pepper, repeatedly. It would make sense to change out Cameron Monaghan to introduce this new iteration of the character, but they didn’t even do that right.

Maybe this is to soften the blow of the old bait and switch that Gotham is known for. Or maybe it is just plain laziness.

Not to add to the fact, but Jerome’s death isn’t even that spectacular. A couple bullets and a fall from a building is a fizzle of an ending.

Now, if somehow Jerome got caught up in all the explosives that are planted on his victims, he could have gone out with a real bang. Yes, the pun is intended.

Don’t get me wrong, people — this isn’t the worst thing Gotham has ever done. In fact, it is a petty squabble compared to some of the choices they made in Season 1. But I just wish they could give us good reason to jump on the Jeremiah bandwagon.

It really isn’t that clever of a twist or even intriguing for that matter. Hopefully, Jeremiah will grow on us, and we will be left saying, ‘Jerome who?’

All I know is that they better up the ante fast, before the fans see the similarities between Scarecrow’s and Joker’s origin story. Oops, it looks like I just spilled the beans on that one!

Just give it some thought and tell me I’m wrong.

Enough complaining for now. People are going to start thinking I hate this marvelous show — and that is far from the truth.

On a positive note, it is great to see Oswald play the unwilling hero again. The things this man does to save the city almost seem (dare I say) sacrificial.

“Oswald Cobblepot, Gotham thanks you. – Jim Gordon

His confession to Jim about being scared of Jerome seems a bit out of character, though. Not the fear part, but choosing to voice his concerns to the police captain, of all people. It’s kind of out there.

Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if this somehow plays into a devious plan that Penguin has up his sleeve.

He told Solomon Grundy he was cooking something up. So we will just have to wait and see how it unfolds.

Aside from all this, the episode leaves me with a fistful of random questions that I will sinisterly place in your mind one by one:

• What will become of Jerome’s Legion of Horribles now that their leader is gone?
• Is the car that Bruce received for his birthday going to be a Batmobile prototype?
• Where is Ivy Pepper in the midst of all this?
• Where are they taking Tabitha, and what was that green stuff they injected her with?
• Why couldn’t we see Selina give Bruce a birthday kiss?
• Jerome’s swan song on a stage, but no singing? Missed opportunity here!
• Are the similarities between this episode and Tim Burton’s Batman intentional?

What did you think of this episode of Gotham? Is Jeremiah going to be an even better Joker? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Gotham airs Thursdays at 8/7c on FOX.

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