Gotham Season 5: 4 Ups & 0 Downs From Penguin, Our Hero

Jan 19, 2019 January 19th, 2019

1. The Explosive Conclusion

Gotham has never been a fan of the rulebook, which is perhaps why so many people still rave about it, and structural conventions of network television have been almost non-existent since the Fox series dropped the plot-of-the-week format after the first season. After shedding this formulaic stricture, Gotham has been more unpredictable, which goes hand-in-hand with the off-the-wall tone of the series.

This unpredictability is on show once more in Penguin, Our Hero, as the closing moments of the episode are shocking to say the least. After a heartfelt moment with one of the young boys he rescued in last week's episode, Gordon confronts Barbara outside of the Haven complex, as she attempts to kill Penguin. The confrontation is short-lived, as Haven is blown to smithereens, leaving the GCPD captain in a state of shock.

Some might argue that the decision to blow up Haven is a waste considering the amount of time the writers had devoted to this storyline, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Killing all these innocents will further antagonise Gordon, and he'll no doubt search for the person responsible, which will provide for many more compelling scenes.

What's more, the fact that someone would blow up the building only further intensifies the fact that this No Man's Land version of Gotham city is not a safe place to be in.