This is just going to be a pointless rant full of spoilers for the TV show Gotham (so if you haven’t seen it and intend to, stay away). Also, if you haven’t seen it and don’t care, you really won’t care for this post at all; this is just something I have to get off my chest because I’m just so irritated.
For anyone still sticking around for whatever reason, a little precursor: I have talked about/complained about this show before in previous posts, but I don’t want anyone to think that it’s a bad show because it’s really not. I have never seen a show that so solidly understands its base content (that being the Batman comics). All the characters thus far have a pretty good origin story and development. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some stupid moments and lame story arcs. However, overall, I’ve liked all the characters that have been brought into the show for the most part. The current season has been by far the strongest.
HOWEVER... as the season reaches its end, I have to say I’m suspecting I might actually witness the first character origin that I don’t approve of... and that is the birth of the Joker. I know, right!? The Joker is not only one of my favorite villains in all fiction, but he is one of the most iconic villains ever written. And stupid Gotham is going to go mess it up!
Let me explain... I’ve been really looking forward to Gotham’s version of the Joker for a long time because he’s been hinted at since season one. A kid named Jerome Valeska was introduced and he was so obviously going to be the future Joker, it was ridiculous. He was so good, right from the get-go, he blew everyone away! I mean, just look at his first scene:
But then the writers of the show began hinting that Jerome would be an “inspiration” for the future Joker. For real now? I mean, Jerome had already been in several episodes and totally was killing it! And suddenly the writers are saying that he’s not going to actually be the Joker? (You can read my full rant in THIS POST). The show sort of seemed to be going in that direction for a little bit when Jerome died and a cult began following him after his death, mimicking his laugh and crimes. But then, the show made a turnaround and brought Jerome back. His face became deranged and a demented smile became permanently scarred onto his face. It really looked like he was headed towards becoming the Joker after that. All he needed was a purple suit and green hair.
So then in this latest season, the writers stated that the Joker would finally be officially introduced. Jerome was slapping Joker cards around, he was making SO MANY references to the original comics (like “you are so incorrigible...or is that me? I can never remember.”), he got a fancy suit (though it wasn’t purple yet), he even used Joker Venom! It was just looking so inevitable that he was going to be the Joker!
But then the photos leaked. Photos leaked of Cameron Monaghan (the guy who plays Jerome) in full-fledged Joker attire (hat, purple suit, pale skin, everything), but with a catch... his face is completely in tact; no scars or demented smile. At first, one might think that something happened to heal his face; like in the comics, he falls into a chemical vat which is what changes his hair and his skin. Perhaps here, the same thing happens and in the process, his face heals.
Unfortunately, there is a much more stupid explanation... Jerome has a twin brother! Yes, that’s right. Jerome does not become the Joker, his brother does. After all this build up with Jerome, after all his development and all this time we’ve spent with Jerome, we get no pay off. We get to see this other guy whom we’ve seen for only a couple episodes ultimately become the fiercest, craziest, most feared villain in Gotham. How freakin’ dumb!
We as viewers deserve so much better. The Joker as a character deserves so much better than such a lame origin. By adding in a twin brother who drove his brother to madness in a roundabout way adds another layer to Jerome’s complexity, but doesn’t do much for the brother. It certainly makes us see that he is capable of madness, but it only makes us see how much more interesting and complex Jerome is. Just ARGH! Why are they doing this!?
Two things give me slight comfort: one, Cameron Monaghan will continue to play the part, which is fantastic because he is brilliant! (Though, I kind of feel like it might be different because they’re supposed to be different characters which annoys me). Two, I COULD be wrong. There is the tiniest chance that maybe Jerome will still be the Joker and somehow his scarred face healed through Indian Hill voodoo or whatever. *shrug* I doubt it though.
Whatever. That’s the end of my rant. Like I said, I just had to get it off my chest.
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