Just as Gotham has teased Bruce Wayne’s eventual evolution into Batman, the series has taken great pleasure in toying with its audience regarding the future of its freshly face-peeled maniac, Jerome. Cameron Monaghan’s take on the would-be Clown Prince of Crime has become a staple of the series, earning him the moniker of Proto-Joker, as his actions and physical appearance gradually became more and more like his comic book counterpart, even as Monaghan’s performance began to mirror that of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.
The character has been put through the ringer in the past few seasons, having been killed, brought back to life, and subsequently having his face removed and reattached, giving him the unique, not-quite-Joker-like appearance he enjoys today. What’s strange is that after avoiding confirmation that Jerome is or is not the Joker for so long, series star David Mazouz recently delivered a surprise, saying Jerome was, indeed, not the Joker, but that he would have a surprising role in the creation of the real deal.
As such, ‘Mandatory Brunch Meeting’ is perhaps the worst kept secret in Gotham’s history, and deliberately so, as the series is certainly in need of a ratings boost that Kid Batman isn’t delivering. So who would the series turn to in its hour of need, but one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. It’s a risky proposition, as Gotham’s take on popular characters has been somewhat spotty over the course of its nearly four-season run. But while the series struggles at times to balance its love of camp with its dark and violent tone, the renditions of some of DC’s biggest baddies have helped toe that line to a respectable degree.
As it turns out, the hoopla over the Joker making an appearance in the episode wasn’t entirely earned. Though ‘Mandatory Brunch Meeting’ certainly delivered a surprise, it wasn’t a hard and fast confirmation on the character finally appearing on the show. Rather it was the beginning of another (potentially long) tease, wherein Monaghan could still one day play the Clown Prince of Crime without Jerome ever actually rising to assume the mantle.
If you had the sneaking suspicion that Gotham wasn’t going to just hand the Joker over to another actor after all the time and effort Monaghan put into the role, well, you’re absolutely right. In the Gotham-iest twist Gotham ever Gotham-ed, it turns out Jerome has a twin brother named Jeremiah (also played by Monaghan), otherwise known as Xander Wilde. While ‘Mandatory Brunch Meeting’ doesn’t come out and say it, the implications of the episode’s reveal are clear, and they certainly make sense in the context of Mazouz’s comments: If anyone’s going to become the Joker, audiences probably just met him.
The sort-of reveal is an appropriately silly, inelegant solution to a problem Gotham created for itself. Yet, at the same time, it’s hard not to applaud the series for taking such an expectedly outlandish approach to solving its unique Joker situation, if that is where things are headed, of course.
Much of what transpires in the hour is akin to Gotham leaving breadcrumbs that eventually lead back to Jeremiah and Jerome’s acquisition of a brand new toxin that will help him fulfill his quest to turn Gotham mad – a fool’s errand according to Harvey Bullock, who is fairly certain the city already is. At this point it’s easy to guess where this particular story arc is headed: with the gruesome grin-inducing toxin coming into contact with Jeremiah and producing the character everyone’s been waiting for. The end of the episode essentially telegraphs as much when Scarecrow and the rest of Jerome’s Legion of Horribles look on with delight as a random fedora-wearing businessman is exposed to the gas and his face contorts into that familiar red-lipped smile while the skin on his face bleaches ever so slightly. Sure, his eyes also start bleeding, but that’s nothing for a show ballsy enough to create deus ex machina twins to get out of confirming Jerome is the Joker.
At this point it seems like a forgone conclusion that things will end up with Jeremiah assuming the mantle and proving Mazouz was right. A bigger surprise might be calling the whole thing off, or doubling back and crowning Jerome as the Clown Prince, but why go to the effort of introducing Jeremiah and his maze house to not follow through on what are some fairly clear implications? Some of those implications are pretty huge, considering if Jeremiah does become the Joker, it’ll be a fairly definitive origin for the character, which is a something of a departure from how his beginnings have been treated in other stories not titled The Killing Joke.
Aside from the Valeska family intervention, the hour was built around a payoff that never truly came – it just got the ball rolling for something bigger down the line. The rest of ‘Mandatory Brunch Meeting’ was less plot driven than the Jerome/Jeremiah story, focusing on situating characters on the board to make bigger moves in episodes to come. Penguin and Grundy’s tenuous alliance proves it’s never a good idea to assume Cobblepot is going to be okay with ceding power to someone else. Meanwhile, Ed and Leslie have a near-death heart-to-heart now that his Riddler persona is back in control, and while it’s great to see those two crazy kids working on their differences, cutting away from the main story to the Riddler’s club sapped the main story of some of its energy.
But with Jerome still out there planning his revenge on his brother and the city of Gotham, there’s a chance this episode will be a major turning point for the series. The question now is: How long will we have to wait until the real Joker makes an appearance?
Next: What Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Season 6 Renewal Chances Are
Gotham continues next Thursday with ‘That’s Entertainment’ @8pm on FOX.
