You know that old adage about killing two birds with one stone? Well, killing off poor Bruce would be the television-equivalent of killing off a hundred birds with an entire mountain. The entire notion of a show killing off characters often comes with its fair share of baggage, much of it emotional, some of it unavoidably cynical. However, the importance of shows retaining at least the mere possibility of killing off its key characters is a crucially important card to hold on to. Ensuring the possibility of death ensures stakes, and ensuring stakes ensures tension. Without either of those, youve gotwell, Gotham. Heller and his crew are in a tough spot: by setting their show in the years prior to the Dark Knights arrival on the scene, they have the chance to play with some truly iconic Batman toys, i.e. familiar characters, locales, etc. Its obviously a huge opportunity, one that most creative types would jump at the chance to have. But theres a catch. While the Gotham team is allowed to muck about all they like in the Batman universe, at the end of the day they are still required to put the toys back in the box: everything that they touch thats even remotely seminal, they have to be sure to put back exactly as they found it. That means that theres absolutely zero threat of death befalling Gordon, Bullock, Oswald, Nygma, Selina, Bruce, Alfred, or any of the mainstaysand thats a big problem. Thats why killing Bruce Wayne off early on in Gothams run would be such an effective move: not only would the show once again have its stakes and tension back, but by taking even the mere potential of Batman ever coming to Gotham off the table right from the start, Gotham instantly goes from being a show where nothing is allowed to happen to a show where literally anything can happen. What would you rather watch: a show that is forever tied to a pre-prescribed storyor a show that takes the trappings of the Batman mythology that we are all familiar with, twists them on their head, and makes from them its very own thing? Gotham can be saved: at only 12 episodes in, its by no means a show that is beyond the point of redemption. All that's needed now is for those behind the scenes to step up and make it the amazing series that we know it can be.
