Gotham 4x21 : One Bad Day review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it

Another week and yet another amazing episode of Gotham. Heavily inspired by The Killing Joke comic this really is the show at it's finest. It begins with a news broadcast of Jim Gordon who after last week's incident involving one of Jeremiah's bombs is presumed dead. We see Bullock watching this at the GCPD and refuses to believe that his friend is actually dead and tells everyone that any minute now Jim will walk in through the GCPD front doors. Speaking of the front doors of the GCPD a certain Jeremiah Valeska is on the outside complete with his followers who he says he has transformed them to be loyal to him as he accomplished something that Jerome could not. He killed Jim Gordon. He tells Bullock of his plan and his demands. He wants the city evacuated within 6 hours or he'll blow it to pieces creating a new Gotham in his image in the process. He shows Bullock that he isn't kidding by blowing up the clock tower and we see it crashing to the ground. Bullock gives in to his demands and works with the mayor to evacuate the city which leads to mass panic by the people as they scramble to get out of Gotham. More on this situation later.

It's Bruce Wayne who is the real star of this episode (at least in my opinion) as he arrives at the GCPD looking for Jim he talks with Bullock who tells him to go home and be with Alfred. Speaking of Alfred Bruce gets a call from his phone but it's actually Jeremiah. He tells Bruce that he has special plans for him that he is his greatest friend and that's why he hasn't killed him yet. He plans on getting Bruce to have just one bad day in the hopes of driving him completely crazy. Bruce agrees to his demands and goes to his stronghold but he doesn't go alone as Selina accompanies him. As Bruce enters he and Selina go different routes. Bruce enters and right away I got some serious Killing Joke flashbacks as images and video of Alfred begin to flash all over the walls of the stronghold. Images of him getting beat up going completely crazy lead to Bruce getting hysterical and crying out to him. Selina hears this and notices 2 of Jeremiah's followers watching Bruce on a monitor. Behind her appears Scarecrow and Selina takes him on eventually outing him and shutting off his gas which was being pumped into the area where Bruce is. But it's too little too late as Bruce is already gassed beyond repair. He manages to locate Alfred who has also been gassed but with the same gas Jeremiah got infected with. He laughs manically and proceeds to cut a smile into his face just like The Joker would (Dark Knight reference) and tries to do the same to Bruce before he is shot in the head and killed. Bruce's emotions run sky high throughout all this ordeal of course but Alfred isn't dead he is alive as the person Bruce saw wasn't Alfred just what Scarecrow's gas did to him. A truly brilliant scene. Selina Bruce and Alfred all escape the stronghold together and head back to Wayne Manor in a state of complete distress.

More on the whole bomb situation and earlier in the episode Bruce mentioned to Bullock that the blueprints for the bombs are kept at Wayne Enterprises and if found Lucius can help in disarming them before Jeremiah sets them all off. Lucius finds the blueprints and Harvey goes it alone in a bid to disarm the big bomb that in the process will disarm the rest as they are all connected much like Jeremiah's maze. Harvey who is sweating bullets at this point manages to disarm the bomb and back at the GCPD gets a round of applause from his fellow cops which was a really cool moment. It's always Jim getting the praise so it was amazing to see Bullock getting some praise. More on Jeremiah and as he attempts to use the bombs to level Gotham his trigger switch doesn't work leading to his followers becoming restless and calling him a whole number of things. He fights back their claims by trapping them all in a room and burning them all alive as he watches from the window. Cameron Monaghan really is spectacular in this role. Back at his stronghold however Jeremiah attempts to come up with a new plan before being interrupted by none other than Ra's Al Ghul who tells him that they should work together as we saw a few weeks ago that a prophecy is coming true in Gotham and it will burn. He also tells him this has got to do with Bruce Wayne which almost changes Jeremiah's mind completely. So a Ra's and Joker team up then? VERY interesting to say the least. 

The episode ends back at Wayne Manor and Selina and Bruce talk before finally after waiting for so long kiss. They talk more for a little bit before Jeremiah turns up shooting Selina in the gut (much like Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joker comic) leaving her for dead. His reaction to this is also rather scary as he just tosses the gun onto the ground before being ultimately tackled to the ground himself by Alfred who lays punches into him as Bruce tries to get Selina to stay with him. What an ending to an absolutely stellar episode that is hands down my favorite this season. Everything about it screamed perfect as far as the Batman universe goes. I know I said this last week but if there's any justice this show will get renewed for season 5. It really is incredible week after week with some immense moments and character development. Long live Jeremiah and welcome to the world The Batman.

★★★★★