Gotham Season 5 Premiere: 5 Ups & 2 Downs From Year Zero

4. The Tone

Following on from the previous entry, one of the greatest things about Year Zero is how quickly it establishes Gotham's new tone - which is one of melancholia. The opening segment does much of the work, signifying that the end of days is very much nigh.

Not only does the tone of this No Man's Land narrative intensify everything for the show's central characters, but it also intensifies things for the viewers, as it's pretty clear from the offset that the story is preparing for its final instalments - and thus, we must prepare to bid adieu to this great series. There are certainly pangs of emotion, as we watch our heroes rally the people for one last fight - one last hurrah, as it were.

The dynamic between all of the central heroes also feels very different, in that there's more at stake this time around, and every character's actions possess a sense of urgency. There is an intensity that wasn't present in any of the previous seasons, which makes everything feel so final.