This half of Gotham‘s third season has been filled with so many moving parts that, at times, it’s been a bit dizzying to keep track of who wants to kill whom and why. But tonight’s two-part finale sews up those dangling threads rather seamlessly and presents a new and, dare I say, optimistic vision for the future of this city.
It’s fair to say that Gotham has moved at warp speed through some of the developments in its most recent episodes — consider Bruce’s almost-overnight personality makeover with the Shaman, Jim’s blink-and-you’d-miss-it ascension through the Court of Owls ranks, and Ivy’s inexplicable allegiance to Oswald. Tonight, though, that breakneck pace feels almost like a bit of mercy because who wants to spend too much time with Gotham in shambles like this?
Yes, the city has fallen right into ruins, just as Kathryn wanted. As it turns out, the strand of the virus that Mario had were merely a prototype, and Strange has since developed something a lot more efficient at consuming its host. This is why the infected are already merrily running roughshod over the city and why Jim is struggling to stave off those effects in himself. The virus gives volume to that little voice inside a person’s head that tells them to act on their darkest instincts, and his is telling him he’s a killer, urging him to own his rage. Harvey knows that he’s trying to beat it back through sheer force of will, but with the department already overrun with looters and shooters swarming the entire city, Jim can’t be trusted with a piece just yet.
The good news is that Lucius Fox suspects that Strange made an antidote to the Alice Tetch virus (next season, this man needs more lines than just these convenient stroke-of-brilliance asides, guys). After being let go by Alfred in exchange for information on the explosive device that would’ve infected more people than it did, Strange is running scared, knowing full well what’s going to happen to Gotham. But tracking him down isn’t the real trouble Jim and Harvey will have when………….
Download Episode 21 and 22