This week on Gotham season 4, Bruce Wayne hit a major development in his character arc. The plot was a big swing, but one that I believe worked well. Meanwhile, the show brought back Butch Gilzean as their version of Solomon Grundy. His instant friendship with Ed Nygma was a reminder that no one does weird, fun dynamics better than Gotham.
Bruce spent the episode trying to track down Ra’s al Ghul and the knife, with assistance from Alfred Pennyworth and Jim Gordon. But, in the end, Ra’s revealed that he didn’t want to destroy the knife. He wanted Bruce to kill him. He believed that only Bruce was capable of this. After enough terrifying threats, Bruce drove the Ra’s into blade and apparently killed him. It seems most likely that this is some sort of trick. It’s hard to believe Ra’s al Ghul’s storyline would end this early. Regardless of whether the death was real, Bruce still made the decision to kill him. This was a big decision on Gotham‘s part, but I think it worked. This is primarily because Bruce’s instant regret was obvious. He’s not trying to justify this decision and his guilt will clearly drive him to becoming the disciplined, principled Bruce we all know.
Meanwhile, the delightful Grundy plot nicely balanced out the seriousness of everything Bruce was going through. His friendship with Nygma was full of awkward conversation and great physical humor. Nygma is at his lowest and it’s great watching him respond to someone who thinks he’s smart because he knows that water puts out fire. The dynamic between the two was instantly wonderful and already rivals Nygma’s dynamic with Oswald Cobblepot.
Speaking of Oswald, this episode he slowly started to trust Sofia Falcone. In one of Gotham‘s best moments, he told his assistant to add a question mark after “kill Sofia Falcone” on his to-do list.
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