The second part of the season finale provides most of the answers in which we were seeking after the first half. Bruce has to deal with what he did to Alfred, the Nygma vs. Cobblepot feud comes to an ice cold ending and we learn more and more about Barbara, Tabitha and Butch and their decaying relationships.
The major plotline that further weaved throughout was Bruce having to come to realize what exactly he just did. He attempted to kill his mentor, the one who literally cared for him for the past few years. Ra’s exclaims that Bruce will never be his heir, and this kind of makes him become frantic. Bruce is now stuck between not being brainwashed and dealing with the act he just committed. But in Gotham, there is always a way out.
A voice inside Bruce’s head told him to “use the water;†of course, that is speaking of the Lazarus Pit water. While this is most often shown to bring people completely back, it does cauterize the wound well enough to give him time to get to the hospital. While not out of the woods yet, Alfred does pull through, and we get some of the best scenes between the duo here.
Once Alfred comes to, he and Bruce have a talk about how Bruce lost his way. Bruce lost his way when being brainwashed to hurt innocents, when previously he swore to protect them, especially after what happened to his parents. This leads to the sage advice where Alfred tells Bruce that he has to forge his own path. His “boyhood†is over, and he must find his true north. Alfred’s truth North? Of course, it’s Bruce. It was such an obvious line, but that didn’t subtract from the emotional clout in which the scene carried.
The final scene we get with Bruce leads to some questions. It shows Bruce stopping a mugging that is eerily similar to that of his parents’. Are they really going to officially make him Batman? Is he too young? There are so many questions, but that ending certainly did what it intended to and that is causing us to ask questions about everything.
The feud that never dies, actually, will die here, maybe. Nygma and Cobblepot have been intellectually sparring back and forth, with one assuming control over the other as the episodes pass, but we do get a fitting conclusion here. For all the times in which Nygma gloats about his superior intelligence, it’s his ego that is his downfall. That point is ironic considering in this very episode Nygma attempts to showcase his superior intellect, and he is the one that is outsmarted. Cobblepot played Nygma so well that Nygma still felt that he was the one that had the upper hand until the very last minute. At one point, Cobblepot explains to Nygma that he is the true fake here and that his entire persona is based on one big lie, but Nygma is insistent that he can change that.
The pivotal scene has Nygma pointing a gun at Penguins and asks him if he has any last words, in typical Cobblepot fashion, he essentially says, “nope, I’m good.†This enrages Nygma, so he pulls the trigger. But, Cobblepot is once again one step ahead. He took the bullets from the gun, and now he has Nygma right where he wants him. Fries turning Nygma into a human popsicle was a nice touch, and it is going to be hilarious to see him showcased at Cobblepot’s newest nightclub.
If there was one scene that was very lightly touched upon the last couple episodes, it was Butch’s and (sort of) Tabitha’s want to kill Barbara. The motivations do make sense here, but I don’t really understand how this would make their situation that much better. Sure, they wouldn’t be bossed around by Barbara any longer, but what next? Well, we are definitely going to find out because after Barb killed Butch, who we find out is actually named Cyrus Gold (yes, Solomon Grundy), her and Tabitha duke it out, and Tabitha wins handily by electrocution. I’m not willing to say Barbara is dead, but in the meantime, there is a new queen in Gotham. The short scene with Selina looking to thrive versus survive was a nice touch, especially when she tests out the whip and is amazing at it. As far as Bruce’s origin story moves, so too did Selina’s, although hers encompassed far fewer episodes.
Finally, we get to the complicated relationship between Lee and Jim. The two are only similar in the sense that they are both infected, but while Lee has accepted and actually enjoyed having the virus, Jim continues to fight it. It goes to show Jim’s altruistic nature even when being infected by the virus. All the scenes between the two played out well, and they still have that special chemistry. Having said that, there were some very “Jim†things in these few scenes. At one point, he attempts to stab her with the syringe in the most obvious way possible, and it didn’t work. Other than that, I really enjoyed where they went with it. Once he is actually able to inject both of them with the antidote, we see the two diverge paths again.
Lee has turned into a kind of iffy character for me, but her departure certainly makes sense and should allow Jim to get back to police work. The whole virus detonation gave us a nice, crazy look at Gotham, but it did a great job of progressing nearly all plotlines as well.
