‘Gotham’ Isn’t Even Pretending This Guy Isn’t The Joker Anymore

Video contains potential spoilers.

“Gotham has no heroes. Nothing but darkness. I would like to share that with you.” Proto-Joker Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) made good on that promise during Monday’s episode of Gotham, returning from the dead and setting off explosives along the power grid, plunging all of Gotham into a blackout after telling the public via live TV to do whatever they want and be reborn like he was. Also, his face had been removed and he’d just stapled it back on, like some straight-up Death Of The Family stuff.

This show is bonkers.

Now Fox has released a spoiler-filled three-minute long trailer for next Monday’s winter finale episode, “The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies,” in which Jerome and Bruce face off and Bruce seems to literally punch Jerome’s face off. (Told you this show is bonkers.)

The trailer is filled with misdirection, like at 2:48 when it appears Nygma is shooting Penguin but he’s actually shooting past him at someone or something off screen. And all of this Jerome stuff could prove be a disappointing misdirection.

Even though the Gotham crew haven’t confirmed Jerome will become the Joker — and they could just kill him off again — they’ve been laying the Joker references on thick, especially in the video above. If he’s not the Joker, they have some ‘splaining to do. They’re going to need to introduce Joker eventually (especially since Harley Quinn is supposed to arrive this season), and having him be anyone but Jerome at this point would seem like a simulacrum. Yeah, we usually don’t know much about Joker’s backstory, but this is an origin series set in an alternate universe. Does anyone really mind knowing if the Joker was a parent-murdering carnival worker in his teenage years There are worse versions, is all we’re saying.

Gotham‘s winter finale airs Monday, January 30th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX, then returns again (with or without a Joker) on April 24th.