Gotham Series Finale: 7 Easter Eggs & References You Might Have Missed In 'The Beginning...'
Be still your Batman-loving hearts.
After a successful five-year run, Gotham has come to an end.
The Fox series first hit our screens back in 2014 and was renowned for its bizarre storylines and inventive ways of reinterpreting its source material. That said, it bowed out by presenting us with a familiar - albeit unique - take on Batman's origin story.
The standalone series finale was set 10 years after the events of the previous episode (which saw both the city's reunification with the mainland and the departure of Bruce Wayne) and centered on Bruce's long-awaited return to Gotham. But as his friends, family and enemies gathered in the one place, all hell broke loose, with a disfigured Jeremiah Valeska orchestrating an elaborate 'welcome home' surprise for him.
However, the official birth of the Joker only paved the way for the arrival of the Dark Knight as, after years of building up to it, Batman finally made his debut on the show.
With 'The Beginning...' being both Gotham's series finale and its 100th episode, there were a lot of hidden gems in there, designed to please its loyal Batman-loving fanbase and make the Caped Crusader's debut all the more memorable.
7. Batman Begins
Following on from Bruce's departure in the penultimate episode, the finale opened with the future Dark Knight in a foreign location, as he communicated with Alfred, telling him that he would return when Gotham needed him the most. He then disappeared as we got a close-up on white snow-covered mountains.
Fans of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy undoubtedly noticed the similarities between this opening scene and 2005's Batman Begins, in which Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne also disappeared from Gotham for years, vowing to return one day when the city needed him. He also communicated with Alfred and ventured into the Himalayas.
It's ironic that the episode of Gotham in which Batman finally began his war on crime opens on a direct reference to the last time he did that on the big screen, but it succeeded in making Bruce's final pre-Batman chapter all the more engaging.