| Episode | Cast | Crew |
- "I'm gonna cure you of this attitude, Oswald. I'm gonna find the entertaining guy I know is inside of you, and when I do... oooh, we are gonna have so much fun together!"
- —Jerome Valeska to Oswald Cobblepot
"A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Gotham. It aired on March 8, 2018.
Synopsis[]
Ivy tracks a secret project on which Wayne Enterprises is working and begins to target anyone that can give her information. Meanwhile, Jerome becomes obsessed with Penguin in Arkham. Also, Gordon begins to second guess his deal with Sofia and an unsettling dream sequence shakes up Bruce.[1]
Plot[]
Ivy Pepper begins to investigate "Project M", which is being conducted at Wayne Enterprises and involves the experimentation and deaths of several plants, much to her anger. After she murders a Wayne Enterprises employee, a horrified Selina Kyle abandons her. Ivy then visits Bruce Wayne and poisons him, causing him to hallucinate his closest friends and allies along with a mysterious cloaked figure. Simultaneously, Ivy hypnotizes Lucius Fox and forces him to take her to the laboratory where Project M is being conducted and she collects a sample of the Lazarus water that is being used in the experiments before escaping.
Jim Gordon tracks them down and rescues Fox before collecting the antidote and rescuing Bruce, who believes that he has seen his future. Ivy also uses the Lazarus water to create a new flower that can immediately kill someone upon contact with the petals. Meanwhile, Jerome Valeska pesters Oswald Cobblepot in Arkham and he subjects him to numerous humiliating tasks in order to turn him insane and upon learning that Jerome is intending on escaping and wreaking havoc in Gotham, Oswald decides to use that to escape.
Trivia[]
- This episode takes place six weeks after A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight and one week after A Dark Knight: Pieces of a Broken Mirror.
- During the lunch scene at Arkham Asylum, Jerome Valeska throws a Joker card at Oswald Cobblepot, referencing his impact on the Joker Legacy in Gotham. In the comics and various adaptions, the character used a Joker card as his signature. The Joker card was previously also associated with Jerome in the episode "Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It".
- Ivy Pepper references the events of Pilot by mentioning Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock killing her dad.
- The inmate designation on Penguin's prison uniform at Arkham shows the number 58. In DC Comics, the Penguin made his first appearance in Detective Comics #58 (1941). At the same time, it could also be a reference to Batman #58 (1950), which also featured Penguin as the antagonist in its cover story, "The State-Bird Crimes!".
- Jerome Valeska's Arkham uniform shows the number E-146. This is a reference to the comic Batman Vol 1 #46 (1948). The cover story of this comic, "Guileful Greetings, or, The Joker Sends Regards!", revolves around the Joker breaking out of jail, which parallels Jerome's plot in season 4 and foreshadows his eventual escape from Arkham in "A Dark Knight: One of My Three Soups".
- At Arkham Asylum, a crescent-shaped wound is inflicted on Oswald's face right underneath his right eye. This is likely meant to foreshadow the Penguin's Monocle, which he usually sports in the comics and will later also wear in the series finale, following being blinded in the right eye during the fight against Bane's army in "Legend of the Dark Knight: They Did What?".
- Project M being in Kane Park is a nod to Bob Kane, one of the most important writers in the Batman mythos.
- This is the first appearance of Batman, or as it named in the episode a "Shadow Figure" and also the fear of bats in Bruce's psyche.
- During the scene in which Bruce hallucinates a conversation with his future self at Crime Alley, it can briefly be seen that the Dark Knight uses a grappling gun to reach the fire escape overlooking the scenery. In the comics, Batman uses his iconic Batrope to scale and climb buildings. Bruce would later go on to use a grappling gun in the Gotham episode "Legend of the Dark Knight: Penguin, Our Hero". In the last scene of the series finale "Legend of the Dark Knight: The Beginning...", the shadow of the grappling gun also makes a short appearance and can be seen when the Dark Knight climbs the building from across GCPD headquarters.
- Bruce's hallucination includes various easter eggs and references to the DC Comics that foreshadow the future to come:
- Jim Gordon has his signature mustache from the comics and other media. It is indicated that the vision gives James the idea to grow one in this universe, since Bruce tells him about it later on. A promo photo for this episode also showed Jim holding a cigar, referencing that Gordon is often depicted as a smoker in the comics. However, the scene showing the cigar was cut from the final episode and only seen in promotional pictures.
- Oswald Cobblepot is seen donning a top hat in the hallucination as well as being seen with a cigarette holder, a nod to how he is usually depicted in the comics.
- Harvey Bullock is wearing a classy suit, has slicked back hair and is seen holding a chicken, resembling Carmine Falcone and one of his beloved chickens.
- Lee Thompkins is seen wearing an Egyptian pharaoh outfit, a possible nod to the Batman villain King Tut, who believes he is the reincarnation of an Egyptian monarch and claims Gotham City as his kingdom. This villain first appeared in the 1960s live-action television show Batman. In a similar fashion, Lee is considered the "Queen of the Narrows" in Gotham.
- After Bruce has his face cut off in the hallucination, his bandaged up face resembles the appearance of Hush, an enemy of Batman in the comics who impersonates Bruce Wayne.
- It seems that Jim and Barbara are a couple again in the vision, alluding to the fact that they are usually married in the comics. It also foreshadows their brief amour in the season 5 episode "Ruin".
- The Batcave is seen during Bruce's conversation with the mysterious shape figure of his future self.