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"The choice is now yours... stay Bruce Wayne, or accept your destiny. Become Gotham's Dark Knight."
Ra's al Ghul to Bruce Wayne before his death.


"A Dark Knight: No Man's Land" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fourth season of Gotham. It aired on May 17, 2018.

Synopsis[]

Jeremiah warns a skeptical Gordon of more destruction coming Gotham's way, and Gordon is forced to make a potentially devastating decision. Meanwhile, Barbara rallies together a team to secure her position, as alliances in the underworld shift and prove no one can be trusted. Then, Bruce is forced to come to terms with the future.[1]

Plot[]

Selina Kyle is rushed to the hospital with suspected spinal damage, while Jeremiah Valeska is arrested and placed in holding at the Gotham City Police Department. Ra's al Ghul puts his plan into motion, kidnapping Bruce Wayne and breaking Jeremiah out of custody. He also arranges for the energy generator bombs to be stolen again.

Jim Gordon is captured by Edward Nygma, who tries to kill him in an effort to free Lee Thompkins from her feelings. Lee manages to convince Nygma that she no longer has feelings for Jim, and Gordon is released after Lee promises to leave Gotham with Nygma.

Oswald Cobblepot hires Hugo Strange to cure Butch Gilzean and return him to normal; during the procedure, he allies with Barbara Kean, Tabitha Galavan, and Alfred Pennyworth to take on Ra's and the League of Shadows. During the battle, Barbara drives Ra's al Ghul's knife into his chest, but makes sure that Bruce's hand is on the hilt so that it kills Ra's.

Elsewhere in Gotham, the bombs kill the mayor, then detonate on all the bridges leading out of Gotham, cutting the city off from the mainland.

Strange succeeds in turning Butch back to normal. Cobblepot then kills him in front of Tabitha as revenge for Tabitha killing his mother. He then shoots Tabitha in the gut, but won't let her die yet.  With the city in chaos, Lee decides to remain in the city to help the people of The Narrows, breaking up with Nygma in the process. Their meeting turns violent, and they stab each other.

With Gotham descending into lawlessness, the criminals begin to stake out their claims to parts of the city. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Lucius Fox, along with a number of GCPD officers decide to stay and try and save the city. Bruce decides to embrace his destiny as Gotham's protector. Alfred decides to stay as well, but Bruce sends him to make sure Selina's recovery goes well. Gordon and Bruce meet atop the GCPD where Gordon shines a giant searchlight into the night sky, giving hope to the people of Gotham.

Trivia[]

  • The title of the episode references the No Man’s Land storyline from the comics where Gotham City was wrecked by an earthquake and is cut off from the rest of the United States for a year, before being rebuilt by Lex Luthor as part of his presidential campaign.  The fifth season likewise shares many plot elements with that storyline.
  • The way Jeremiah sits in his cell at the GCPD is a reference to a scene in the 2008 live-action movie The Dark Knight, where the Joker sat in his cell in a similar way.
  • The news given to Bruce that Selina may never walk again due to Jeremiah's attack is a further reference to The Killing Joke comic where doctors inform that version of Bullock that Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl, would never walk again. 
  • Scarecrow wears his iconic hat from the comics for the first time in live-action.
    • He also makes his first direct kill in the same scene, decapitating someone with his scythe.
  • This is one of two season finales starring Jessica Lucas (Tabitha Galavan), the other being Heroes Rise: Heavydirtysoul.
  • The city map of Gotham used in this episode was created by graphic designer Drew Weininger.[2][3] It is a redesigned version of the original Gotham City map from the comics by Elliot R. Brown.
  • Near the end of the episode, Firefly and Mr. Freeze are seen establishing their own territory in the abandoned Gotham City. After both villains were reduced to henchmen of Hugo Strange, Penguin and Jerome Valeska in Season 2B, Season 3 and most of Season 4, this marks the first time both are truly following their own agenda since early- and mid-Season 2, respectively.
    • This episode also marks Firefly and Mr. Freeze's final appearances in the series, having been recurring in the show since season 2.
  • At the end of the episode, Mother and Orphan debut.[4]
  • Jim Gordon once more dons the coat that greatly resembles his iconic outfit from the comics. This is the second time he has done this since the episode A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight
  • The original script for this episode featured another villain introduction during the end scene montage. According to the leaked script, there was a scene planned in which Lady Shiva fought three thugs in Gotham Chinatown. It is unknown if this scene was actually filmed and later deleted.[5]
    • Lady Shiva was originally going to be one of the villains during No Man's Land in season 5.[6] However, this never came since the show was cancelled and only given a shortened season 5 to wrap things up, whereon the Lady Shiva arc had to be abandoned.[7]
  • The searchlight on top of the GCPD is a proto Bat-Signal.
  • Butch Gilzean is seen in his human form with his hand intact for the first time since "Rise of the Villains: Scarification".
  • Hugo Strange meets Tabitha Galavan and Butch Gilzean for the first time.
  • This is the show's first season finale starring Cameron Monaghan.
  • The first season finale not to feature Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney.
  • A mysterious humanoid with bat wings appears near the end of the episode. This is never followed upon in the next season. As confirmed in an interview with John Stephens, this was supposed to tease the appearance of Man-Bat in season 5.[8] However, shortly after the interview, it was decided by the network that season 5 would be shortened and become the show's final season, whereon a lot of storylines had to be cut short or entirely abandoned, with Man-Bat being one of them.[9]

References[]

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