Gotham Season 5 - a war cry of sorts.
Something I’m finding interesting about the whole shebang in the run-up to Gotham’s fifth and final season: it’s remarkable how there hasn’t been any (known) leaked spoilers for episode 1 following the Paley Center screening. I mean, there’s always the occasional smart aleck who gets past the hallowed gates and can’t resist leaking stuff, but this time …total radio silence.
Somebody’s clearly working overtime to ensure that shit stays locked up tight. I checked out Tumblr. I checked out Reddit. I even checked out 4chan’s /tv/ boards, because they literally couldn’t give less of a shit about leaking stuff over there, but … nothing. Not a sausage.
This, potentially, is a very positive sign.
Firstly, it creates an aura of mystique around Season 5. A sense that season 5 is worth waiting for. Which implies that TPTB are confident that whatever’s in that opening episode – and all the episodes that follow it - is definitely worth waiting for.
Any leaks, and the impact of the opening episode will be lost. But as things stand … there will be hype. People working themselves into a tizzy, speculating and hoping, only this time without any pieces of the puzzle in place to guide them.
This might increase the likelihood of everyone being pleasantly surprised when the show finally hits screens. Ecstatically surprised, even.
Has Gotham’s PR team finally got things right, 5 years later, on the very cusp of the end?
And where can it possibly lead?
A couple of things give me hope, actually. Firstly, TPTB could have banished the final season to the Friday night death slot to fade away unheralded. They haven’t done this. Gotham will return on Thursdays, and although the move to Thursdays didn’t work out for the best last season, it at least shows a little faith that Gotham is capable of recapturing lost viewers, in addition to winning over new ones.
But this will only happen if the final season is great, and Gotham remaining in its Thursday night slot does seem to indicate a certain amount of confidence in this regard. Knowing that this is the last season, TPTB could have taken the easy way out by treading a well-worn path, minimising their efforts, rushing things, and tying up a few loose ends in a haphazard way before closing the door. What’s the point, after all, in going all out for a show that’s supposedly dead in the water?
But efforts have clearly been made. Yes, at this point in time it could simply be a case of Gotham wanting to go out with its head held high – but a strong final season could potentially prove to be a gamechanger.
If season 5 is literally that good – if it exceeds expectations, blows everybody out of the water, basks in critical acclaim like a boss, sends a clear fuck you and all who rode in on you to the CW, screams to the whole damn world that THIS is how you do a fucking Batman show - it will, inevitably, whet appetites for an actual Batman show. A Batman show, set in the Gotham universe, with Gotham’s versions of the characters, with Gotham’s actors.
And in the midst of all those whetted appetites, representatives of other networks will be lurking. Netflix has lost, or is about to lose, all of its Marvel content. It’s quite possible they’ll want to fill the empty space with quality DC/WB product. And quality DC product doesn’t get much bigger than Batman. Failing that, DC’s own channel may see an opportunity and pounce.
TL/DR: Season 5 could very well be an audition piece for a fully-fledged Batman show. Let’s hope so.
