Friday, April 13, 2018

My Review of Gotham's 4x18: "That's Entertainment"


Written by Danny Cannon
Directed by Nick Copus

Gordon: "It's a long way down. You sure you'll outlive me?"
Jerome: "Oh, I'm sure because I'm more than a man. I'm an idea, a philosophy and I will live on in the shadows of Gotham's discontent. You'll be seeing me soon, Au Revoir."

Last time he was taken out properly, it was in The Last Laugh and back then, Jerome waxed on lyrically about how he'd live on because he was an idea that couldn't be suppressed. This time around, he made sure that his insane legacy would remain in the family as Jeremiah's fate took an exceptionally expected turn in the last scene of this episode.

Unlike some of the more avid fans, I have no issue with Jeremiah actually assuming the role of the Joker but I am surprised that Jerome's potential final act of malice wasn't saved for the finale. Then again, I guess with Gotham's fate lingering in the air, perhaps the showrunners want a Joker hook to help secure them a fifth season but whether or not it works out for them, we won't know until next month.

There is a chance that for now, Jerome might have some life left in him but truth be told, I'm actually hoping his death this time actually sticks. Jerome has been fun to watch as a character but if Jeremiah really is going to step in as the Joker, then Jerome needs to remain dead in order for Cameron Monaghan to help sell the performance as the 'good' twin becoming the city's most iconic and dangerous of criminals.

As for Jerome, I think we all guessed that his hijacking of the festival and demands for both Jeremiah and Bruce was a way to distract Gordon from the main plot of the episode. The laughing gas storyline served a few purposes but mainly it was Jeremiah who really has suffered the worst of it and Oswald got the chance to save the day by actually working with Gordon, even if Jeremiah had spotted his betrayal coming a mile off.

I quite liked the grudging team up with Oswald and Gordon in this episode. The former stopped the city from descending into the brink of madness, if not entirely for selfless reasons while the latter actually got some decent shots into Jerome and even took the latter out. On top of that we also got to see Bruce fighting Firefly for the briefest of moments in this episode as well as Selina stopping by for some birthday cake.

Meanwhile away from the madness of Jerome's latest actions, Barbara found herself getting more and more into being the new Demon's Head while Tabitha's attempts to take some sense into her ended badly for the latter. I'm not surprised that Barbara would believe her own hype but I also don't think Tabitha should be too trusting of those blokes who are claiming to be working for Ras either. Either way, it seems like this storyline will be coming to a head in the next episode.

- Alfred pretty much gave Bruce a proto-Batmobile at the start of this episode.
- We've got a new mayor who managed to survive this episode. Whether he survives the rest of the season will be interesting to see.
- No Leslie, Nygma or Butch/Grundy in this episode.
- Chronology: February 19th, considering that's meant to be Bruce Wayne's actual birthday. The episode didn't seem to specify how old Bruce is meant to be in this episode.

That's Entertainment was certainly entertaining enough, if not as much as the previous two episodes. I get that some fans might not like the Jerome/Jeremiah/Joker twist but after years of skirting around the issue, I'm just glad some proper progress has been made on the matter. Whether it's enough to secure the show a future beyond the four remaining episodes of this season, it's hard to tell though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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