Gotham Season 4 Episode 20 Review: That Old Corpse
Lisa Babick
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Jeremiah was the craziest of all on Gotham Season 4 Episode 20 when he revealed himself to be Jerome's puppet master.
It's hard to believe that Jeremiah was the one in control all along.
It wasn't made clear whether this control happened after Hugo Strange revived Jerome or if it happened back on Gotham Season 1 Episode 16 when Jerome murdered his mother.
If Jeremiah has always been in control, it leaves more questions than there are answers -- and none of them make sense.
But Gotham isn't a show that always makes sense, so let's go along with its story that Jerome was only a puppet.
It's disappointing that Jerome's madness was only an offshoot of Jeremiah brilliance, but it is what it is.
Fans wanted Cameron Monaghan to be the Joker, and that's what they got no matter if the pieces fit into the overall puzzle. Gotham forced the pieces to fit and what we ended up with was a weirdo Jeremiah that wasn't nearly as fun as Jerome.
His relationship with Bruce wasn't natural either. There was a chemistry between Jerome and Bruce that was blatantly absent in his interactions with Bruce. Jeremiah has no style, so it's going to be difficult to accept him as Gotham's Joker -- even with Echo as his proto Harley Quinn.
It doesn't matter that he wears purple. What's missing is that special panache that comes along with The Joker. Jeremiah has no panache. He's as dull as watching paint dry.
I get that Cameron Monaghan has to make this character different from Jerome, but the mistake is that a twin brother should never have been created. Jeremiah shouldn't exist.
Jerome could have become The Joker. I hate to cry over spilled milk, but had Theo Galavan not been allowed to kill Jerome on Gotham Season 2 Episode 3, it could have been different.
Jerome wasn't as crazy then, and he could have led his Maniax to wreak havoc on the city in an insane way without going over the top like Jerome did the last few episodes before he was finally killed off for good.
And then we could have had Barbara (yeah, I know it's a stretch) as a proto Harley Quinn. My favorite Barbara is still the Maniax era Barbara. She was crazy, but not completely out of her mind like she is now.
Related: Gotham Season 3 Finale Review: Hello and Goodbye
We all know that Jim didn't die in the bunker explosion so I don't know why it was made out to be a big deal. Jim might be down, but he's not out. He's still the star of the show, so he's not going anywhere.
Gotham, if it gets a Season 5 renewal, is apparently going to do some sort of reboot and that's where Jeremiah's bombs will come in, but didn't we already have an end-of-the-season bomb issue on Gotham Season 3? Or was that mid-season?
The point is that this is a regurgitated storyline, and I'm just not that into it.
What I am into (surprisingly) are Lee and Ed. There's no way Lee is in love with Ed, but it's fun to watch her string him along. It wouldn't surprise me if she killed him at some point to punish him for what he did to Kristen. She has got to remember what he did to her friend, right?
Still, out of everything on "That Old Corpse," Riddler planning to breakout Lee from the GCPD was great. It reminded me of something the Riddler on the original Batman series would have done.
Ed is going to try to kill Jim because he realizes there is still a spark between Jim and Lee. I have to wonder if Lee would go running back to Jim if he quit the GCPD and helped people in the Narrows as she suggested.
Related: Gotham Season 4 Episode 18 Review: That's Entertainment
I'd hate to see that, but it does seem like Lee is starting to revert back to her old self. Her badassness is starting to fade, so I hope Ed can keep her on the dark side where she should be.
Who wants to see Lee return to her goody-goody ways?
Penguin and Butch have nothing to do. Their characters are getting wasted which is a shame. I don't even understand why we went down that whole Solomon Grundy path with Butch in the first place. That was a complete waste of time.
Penguin can't seem to get back into his groove, and that's highly disappointing for one of the best characters on Gotham. There's been so much focus on Jerome and the want for him to be The Joker that Penguin has been relegated to an afterthought.
Lee: Jim, you wish you could do what I'm doing. Helping people without the straightjacket of the law? As if the law means anything in Gotham.
Jim: If the law has lost its meaning, it's because people like you are turning your back on it.
Something happened to Alfred which was interesting. I'm going to guess it was Ra's al Ghul or his men who broke into Wayne Manor and left a bloody mess. It could have been Jeremiah's people, but what would be the point when Jeremiah left Bruce for dead?
I didn't particularly care for "That Old Corpse" all that much. It was too all over the place, and I'm not buying into Jeremiah as The Joker anymore. I don't like what they've done with Penguin and Butch either.
There are only two episodes left in the season. I hope Gotham pulls it together and gives us a satisfying end for all our characters before the big reboot whether it's via an earthquake or a Jeremiah mass bombing.
Over to you!
What did you think of "That Old Corpse"? Do you like the new Jeremiah?
Are you tired of the lack of Penguin's story?
Will Lee and Riddler rule Gotham?
Hit the comments and share your thoughts! If you need to catch up, you can watch Gotham online right here via TV Fanatic!
