Though Fox's pre-Batman saga, Gotham, concluded with its epic Season 5 finale, there were about 10 different storylines from the crime/action drama that were never resolved. Based on the dark knight's supporting rogue gallery, audiences watched as the infamous DC Comics super-villains underwent their own origin story. Before the caped crusader's iconic arrival, detective James "Jim" Gordon (Ben McKenzie) kept watch over the corrupt Gotham City, protecting the innocent from the malevolent.
Gordon protected the very same city that would eventually create The Batman. There was a lot still to be told here, of course, and by the time the series concluded, there was still potential left to explore when the vigilante made his first arrival. Here are some of the biggest plotlines that weren't given a resolution.
10 Is He The Joker Or Not?
In the live-action series, Cameron Monaghan played the sinister twins, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska. Either of them could have been playing the Clown Prince of Crime, but neither of them actually referred to himself as "Joker" by name. The ambiguous twist was very confusing because Jeremiah dressed up in purple like his comic counterpart.
Even Jerome disfigured himself, cutting his face, like the infamous character did in the recent comics. During the fifth and final season, Jeremiah (Monaghan) underwent a major transformation in the recreation of the villain's origin tale. Wayne (Mazouz) fought against Jeremiah before finally sending him down into a vat of chemicals. The show decided to remain unclear and cryptic whether Batman was indeed fighting the Joker in the series finale.
9 The Unsolved Wayne Murders
Since the first season, detective Jim Gordon promised young Bruce that he was going to find out who murdered his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. In comic canon, Joe Chill is the culprit responsible for pulling the trigger. In the show's alteration, Ivy Pepper (Claire Foley) discovered her father was being framed for the Wayne murders.
Viewers are never quite sure how Matches Malone (Michael Bowen) became involved, especially when The Court of Owls arrived, claiming responsibility as well. How did the Court of Owls manage to infiltrate Wayne Enterprises, hire Malone, frame Ivy's father, and associate themselves with the diabolical Theo Galavan (James Frain)? With so many convoluted twists and turns, the tragedy that steered Bruce Wayne into creating the Dark Knight was never given proper closure.
8 No Justice For Solomon Grundy
Unsuspecting viewers were surprised to find out they were watching Solomon Grundy's origin story through mob enforcer Butch Gilzean (Drew Powell). Named after the 19th century nursery rhyme, Grundy was a murder victim brought back to life as a reincarnated zombie. The show did slightly alter the comic's origin as Penguin (Taylor) was the one who murdered Butch. As part of his lab experiments, Doctor Hugo Strange (B.D. Wong) re-animated Butch from the dead, transforming him into the undead Grundy.
As payback for the death of his mother, Penguin murdered Butch (Powell) in front of his lover, Tabitha Galavan, also known as Tigress (Jessica Lucas). You would think Season 5 would set up a subplot for the revenge-seeking Tigress to hunt down Penguin. The show actually went in a different direction, killing off Tigress at the hands of Penguin in the fifth season premiere. There was no payback for Butch's murder and Tigress was never mentioned again.
7 Where's Nyssa?
Gotham had a regular habit of forsaking comics continuity for its own needs. In the episode, "I Am Bane," the DC Comics super-villain has a genesis that was mostly resembled The Dark Knight Rises. In this alternate version, the person solely responsible for creating Bane turned out to be Ra's Al Ghul's vengeance-seeking daughter, Nyssa Al Ghul (Jaime Murray).
Wanting revenge against Bruce Wayne and Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) for the death of her father, Nyssa (Murray) transformed Eduardo Dorrance (Shane West) into the superhuman monster. After Bane was defeated, Nyssa promised she would return to destroy the city. With Nyssa on the loose, no one in the ensemble appeared to be worried about her promise.
6 What Happened To Sofia?
Before playing Abby Arcane, Crystal Reed was seen as Sofia Falcone during the fourth season of Gotham. A key figure within the Falcone crime family, Sofia (Reed) orchestrated a major plan to take control of organized crime within Gotham City. During her downfall, Sofia ended up getting shot in the head by Leslie Thompkins (Morena Baccarin).
Her head wound wasn't fatal, though. In her open ending, Sofia is expected to wake up from her coma. The writers put a lot of emphasis on the surviving member of the Falcone family and set Sofia up to take her rightful place as Gotham's crime boss. After the time-jump in Season 5, you would think someone would have mentioned if Sofia woke up from her deep slumber.
5 What Happened To The Executioner?
Actor Michael Chiklis (The Shield) was introduced as Nathaniel Barnes during the sophomore season of Gotham. An inspiration for Gordon, Barnes was established right off-the-bat as a no nonsense cop, who never faltered from his moral code. After becoming infected by tainted blood, Barnes lost his mind and became the evil madman known as The Executioner.
Gordon managed to apprehend his former idol, but the Executioner escaped during his prison transfer to Arkham Asylum. Gordon and his partner, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), were afraid to confront Barnes again, but he was never seen, nor heard from again.
4 Cat & Firefly's Friendship
Before she became known as the super-villain Firefly, Bridget Pike (Michelle Veintimilla) was one of Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova)'s few and closest friends. At first, Selina (Bicondova) was determined to keep her friend from falling into a life of crime. After being experimented on by Strange (Wong), Bridget (Veintimilla) became obsessed with her flame-throwing suit.
Gotham never explored Selina and Bridget's friendship, even after she became one of Penguin's top enforcers. With the show over, this is a truly missed opportunity that could have pushed Catwoman's origin story to new heights.
3 What Happened To Renee Motoya?
In the comics, Renee Montoya is one of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon's closest allies on the force. On the show, though, Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) is partnered up with Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart Jones). Unbeknownst to Gordon, Montoya had a previous love affair with Barbara Kean (Richards).
Nothing much happened afterwards as Montoya and Allen disappeared completely from the show. The rivalry between Montoya and Gordon would have been entertaining to watch, but this subplot would have altered Barbara's personality shift in the second season. Would Montoya have visited Barbara in Arkham Asylum? We'll absolutely never know.
2 Mister Freeze
Introduced as a tragic figure in the second season, Victor Fries (Nathan Darrow) failed to find a cure to save his dying wife, Nora. Forced to survive in subzero temperatures, Victor (Darrow) crossed paths with young Bruce. As if destined to fight the immortal Victor, Bruce witnesses the super-villain known as Mister Freeze murder Karen Jennings.
With so much potential to explore, Victor dwindled into a mob hit-man, who was called upon whenever Penguin needed him. During the fifth and final season, Gordon mentioned Mister Freeze and Firefly were in a turf war against each other, but we never found out who eventually won.
1 What Happened To Two-Face?
During the first season, audiences were introduced to Two-Face by his altenate personality, Harvey Dent (Nicholas D'Agosto). After making his presence known in six episodes, Dent (D'Agosto) disappeared from the show and was never mentioned again. D'Agosto was bumped from guest star to series regular, but nothing came from the character. Dent started out as a prominent and virtuous lawyer, but he never switched over to the dark side.
Dent's evil half didn't pop up by the time Season 5 premiered. You would think Batman's most notorious enemy would show up in the final season after having been established already. Where was Dent during the series' final arc, "No Man's Land?"