Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Episodes: 12
Duration: 42 min (per episode)
Gotham: Season 5 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
We have reached the final stop after nearly five years of watching Bruce Wayne grow up to eventually become the caped crusader. We have had a lot of laughs with Gotham, but also seen a lot of dark and gritty violence and betrayal. The series was a beacon of quality in DC’s cinematic universe, which is not always as intriguing or qualitative when looking at other series such as The Flash, Arrow, and so on. These aforementioned series succumbed to routine and hardly ever presented us with a surprise beyond the first two seasons. Gotham picked up the pace when needed and never truly dipped in its story value. That being said, we were not quite ready for our final tour down Gotham City.
At the end of Season 4, we saw all the bridges leading out and to Gotham City being blown up. While there was an evacuation in progress, James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and many others decided to remain behind in order to create a safe zone for the innocent people left to fend for themselves in the midst of many criminals. Now, a few months have passed, food rations are running thin and the city has been divided into different territories all under the leadership of figureheads of different gangs.
It’s hard to properly tell the events of this season as every criminal strives for supremacy, while others struggle to survive and some simply want to leave the city. We see different alliances being forged only to crumble mere moments later. We see young characters grow up, while others cling to disbelief and distrust. It’s all about getting Gotham City connected to the main world again for those seeking justice.
Right off the bat, we noticed that the season was only half the length of the previous ones. The final season had to wrap things up in only twelve episodes, with the final episode being somewhat fan service to make the series go full circle. Nonetheless, the flow was great in this conclusive part of Gotham, as there was a lot of action to be found and not a single dull moment to break your immersion. Everything does get a bit chaotic, as every villain strives to become the kingpin of the city, preventing the city to be annexed again.
In terms of cast choices, not much has changed. We see the same characters on the good side of the fence, but also a lot of familiar faces on the evil side. There are a few new additions that only have a limited amount of screen time, and to reduce the chance of spoilers, as they appear quite late in this season, we will not discuss them thoroughly. Nonetheless, another set of big characters in the Batmanverse will make their appearance before the credits start rolling.
The Blu-ray version of the conclusive season comes with a decent amount of special features. You’ll have a making of featurette that tells us about why certain choices were made, but you’ll also have a Comic-Con panel to enjoy, as well as a long sequence about the villains in the DC universe. While you won’t learn that much new about the series itself, you’ll still have fun with these extras.
Conclusion
Gotham’s fifth and final season is a great ending to an equally great series. We have to commend the creators for their hard work, as they created an original origin story for many of DC’s beloved Batman characters. These characters might not always follow the source material by the letter, but they create an interesting whole and drive the series forward. While in some ways we are sad that the series has come to an end, we are also relieved that there is a conclusion before everything became stale and boring. If you haven’t watched the series yet, we can wholeheartedly recommend this dark trip down Bruce Wayne’s teenage years.
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