"Gotham" EP Breaks Down the Setup on "The Last Laugh's" Shocking Punchline

[CBR News]

Bruno Heller explains the reasoning behind tonight's episode's shocking ending and building a new mythology for the Dark Knight's most infamous foe.


Full article here.

[ComicBookMan]

I really don't like this series. They reboot the classic Bat villains and make them all connected as youngsters and so on. No thanks. There is no appeal here. The characters have all been changed again. Also, I don't want to see about boy Bruce. So, yeah, pass.

[Andy E. Nystrom]

I understand why they went the way they did, but Cameron Monaghan as Jerome was such a pitch perfect Joker that I wish they had changed their mind. He captured the Joker's madness so perfectly that killing him off does reduce my interest in this series. It feels like the had captured lightning in a bottle and then poured the lightning down the drain.

[Millertime]

I agree, and, there's a reason why there isn't a lot of response to this show. It sucks the sections out of a fruit.

[Millertime]

No offense, Andy. Just bad timing. But I still don't agree with anything positive written about this show. It blew last year, and continues to do so. Worst writing, cast, etc... Let this piece of crap die.

[Andy E. Nystrom]

No offense taken, Millertime. I probably like the show overall and the acting more than you do, though I concede that there are more missteps on Gotham than on most of the other comic related shows. And as noted above I wasn't enamored by the latest episode. In terms of whether the show dies or not, in the end the ratings will make the final decision there. Bottom line: if the show's making money, it will continue.

[Millertime]

Andy, if you think that show will be on by the time L'il Brucie hits 16, then a batarang has hit you in the certifiable ball bag. Hold out hope for DK3 in November. That's what REAL comic book fans live for. All the best!!

[MarvelMaster616]

This was a very powerful episode. I really enjoyed it. I didn't think anyone could match Robin Lord Taylor's performance as the Penguin in the first season. But Cameron Monaghan raised the bar as Jerome. It's a very interesting way of handling the Joker. He's always been more of a symbol than a man, just like Batman. He's the embodiment of chaos, someone who sees every aspect of law and order as a joke. And that ending where others start laughing nicely reflect that. I think it would've been a disservice if the Joker had a name and a clear backstory. The comics have always tried to keep it vague to an extent. And I like how the show handled it.

[Andy E. Nystrom]

Andy, if you think that show will be on by the time L'il Brucie hits 16, then a batarang has hit you in the certifiable ball bag. Hold out hope for DK3 in November. That's what REAL comic book fans live for. All the best!!

Millertime: I actually don't have any opinion one way or another on how long it will last. I've seen shows I don't like last a decade and shows I love get cancelled after a few episodes. Conversely many great shows do last a long time and many weak shows do get cancelled quickly. For shows somewhere in the middle, same applies. I've long since given up trying to second guess the general public's tastes and just enjoy the ride until either the show ends or I lose interest, whichever comes first. My only prediction is that if it does survive this season it will probably survive season 3 as well, but that's solely because due to syndication deals it's extremely rare for a show to end after season 3. So my one prediction is it will either end this season or last four plus. I can believe either way.

[JBatmanFan05]

I don't like this idea of a proto Joker that apparently Jerome was. Makes real Joker less special, some imitator.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of this show anyway. It's a very poor Gotham Central attempt.

[WeaponX]

I don't like this idea of a proto Joker that apparently Jerome was. Makes real Joker less special, some imitator.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of this show anyway. It's a very poor Gotham Central attempt.

Agreed total cop out too. The Joker is an original I have never considered him a symbol like batman. The joker has never struck me as someone interested in anyone but himself and certainly wouldn't be interested in carrying on someone else's legacy.

[WeaponX]

I understand why they went the way they did, but Cameron Monaghan as Jerome was such a pitch perfect Joker that I wish they had changed their mind. He captured the Joker's madness so perfectly that killing him off does reduce my interest in this series. It feels like the had captured lightning in a bottle and then poured the lightning down the drain.

Exactly sometimes a performance demands a rewrite see Jessie Pinkman not dying in the first season of breaking bad as originally planned. This was a total waste and I think really makes it hard to invest in any Joker to come because we know he'll just be killed off to add to the myth. Also how many villains are they going to use this on they already did it with Red Hood now the Joker too. And let's face facts it's going to be very hard to find someone that will do better than the kid who played Jerome.

[taylortexas]

I really don't like this series. They reboot the classic Bat villains and make them all connected as youngsters and so on. No thanks. There is no appeal here. The characters have all been changed again. Also, I don't want to see about boy Bruce. So, yeah, pass.

I dropped out of this show fairly early so I can't really speak to the current quality of the show but this thing in particular never really bothered me. I approached Gotham the same way I approach any of the Batman films: it's an Elseworlds story. It's not a literal adaptation of anything but a reworking of elements that we're familiar with. That doesn't automatically make it good (apparently I didn't really think it was) but it's my way of accepting the differences. If this was a comic book and DC announced, "This is on Earth-53 where many of Batman's villains showed up first and some even grew up with Bruce and featured prominently in his young life" then I don't think many would be upset that it was different from the usual.

Now on this topic in particular... like I said, I stopped following this show. I've been thinking about picking up with this season again as I've heard it's improving. But this seems like a total waste. The one thing I did check out from last season and got excited about was Monaghan's performance in the interrogation scene. I thought he was marvelous -- invoking Nicholson, Hamill, and Ledger all at once. I figured if he wasn't initially their pick for a Joker that they'd need to make adjustments once people saw him in action. They killed him off? Bummer. This honestly decreases my chances of checking it out as I was mostly interested in seeing more of him.

[superduperman]

Hollywood suspense 101: It's never the most obvious choice. The fact that Jerome looked and acted so much like the Joker is exactly why we should have seen it coming that he wasn't going to be the Joker. This deflection type of ploy has been used since The Usual Suspects. If I had to guess, it sounds like they're kind of making some of this stuff up on the fly. I just hope they don't fall down the Lost rabbit hole where they get so many subplots they can't tie anything up. Anyone who is frustrated by the idea of all of Bruce's enemies showing up a good decade before he starts his Batman career must not have watched Smallville. That was basically the same premise with Superman. The problem was, it ran so long they had trouble keeping him out of the suit and his feet on the ground and still making it look believable. So you ended up with all of his rogues gallery out there running around and no real Superman to challenge them. It was a Superman show in all but name only. And my favorite villain, Parasite, only got a ten second cameo in one of the later seasons.

[j9ac9k]

"So, as the show rolls on, people will see how a mythology is born, how a kind of cultural mien is created that will lead us to the Joker himself." ::cough::Grendel!!::cough::

I can see Joker becoming a social meme (I liked the Joker gang in "Batman Beyond") but THE JOKER should be the progenitor!! Not just someone who picked up on a cultural meme. Lame.

Jerome never resonated with me either. If you wanted to remake Batman '66, or have him voice the Joker in animation, good. But this seemed hammy to me. I see someone doing a good job *playing* the Joker, but not an actual crazy psycho who could *be* the Joker.