Gotham: 19 Easter Eggs, In-Jokes And References You Totally Missed
11. Fledermaus...That Name Seems Familiar...
Sometimes, the makers of Gotham just can't help themselves. They latch onto an idea, a stupid little joke, and they have to repeat it over and over. That's the case for, say, everybody always saying that Oswald Cobblepot has something of a penguin about him (foreshadowing his future supervillain name) or all those Joker-related red herrings. Then there's Fledermaus. In the first season's twentieth episode, Charity Case, Wayne Enterprises holds a charity ball that takes place at somewhere called the Fledermaus. Then there's a brief shot of a newspaper on the ground in next episode The Anvil And The Hammer, which is called Fledermaus Chronicles. Fledermaus, for those who aren't fluent in German/using Google Translate, is the German word for bat. It literally translates as flying mouse. How about that for an obscure reference as foreshadowing? Of course, it could be a double-edged Easter Egg, since Die Fledermaus is also a famous opera about revenge, which these episodes are all about.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
