WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for this week's episode of Gotham, "The Beginning..." which aired Thursday on Fox.
It took Gotham's Bruce Wayne five seasons to finally suit up as the Batman, and just as the Caped Crusader finally took to the syiline of Gotham City for the first time, his greatest villain also embraced his iconic, comic book role.
As teased by the series finale promos, Jeremiah Valeska returned to terrorize Gotham City one last time in "The Beginning..." Ever since Jerome Valeska's debut in the Fox series' first season, Gotham has been weaving a twisted and unpredictable tale as it slowly (really slowly) built to the Joker's own origin story. It took a death, a twin brother, a fall into a vat of chemicals, and a whole lot of spilled blood, but finally, Jeremiah was ready to claim his mantle as Gotham finally gave us the one, true Joker.
In "The Beginning...," Bruce Wayne finally returns home after a decade of being away. His return coincides with the opening of the new Wayne Tower, which has garnered a lot of attention in local news. However, someone's looking to rain on that parade by blowing the entire building up. While there is a bit of mystery at play in the first half of the episode, Jeremiah is ultimately revealed as the one pulling the strings.
While Valeska was left in a coma following his fateful fall in a vat of chemicals in Gotham's appropriately titled "Ace Chemicals" episode, the finale reveals that the madman has only been faking being comatose for the last decade. According to him, he was only waiting for Bruce Wayne to return home to wake up. Jeremiah has a special homecoming planned for Bruce, and it involves some classic Joker methodology.
When Jeremiah finally reveals himself to be awake, he resurfaces sporting a green and purple suit, with white makeup and red lipstick to cover his scarred smile. We've seen the character's final form in various previews, yes, but the finale makes it clear that this is the rise of the Joker, not another of Gotham's infamous fake-outs. Jeremiah is no longer the character he was when we last saw him; not only is he now horribly disfigured, he doesn't fully remember who he really is.
Jeremiah is also uncertain of how he came to be the way he is, a take that falls in line with DC Comics' traditional approach to the villain, that the Joker doesn't really know how own origin story. Instead, he makes one up, which is another thing the comics version has been won't to do over the decades.
Thus, when Gordon asks him who he is, he doesn't exactly know how to answer. He tries on a few names, like Jack (a nod to Batman 89's Jack Napier) or simply Jay (a possible nod to his Mr. J nickname). While he doesn't settle on anything in the episode, it's strongly implied he will ultimately settle on Joker. The name itself isn't heard in the episode (much like the Batman moniker), but doesn't need to be spoken. We know what it is.
Valeska's final plan is also perfectly Joker, involving people forced to kill themselves, a guessing game, bombs underneath a table and, of course, a nasty a punchline. It all culminates with him holding Barbara Lee Gordon (aka, the future Batgirl) hostage at Ace Chemicals. It might not be The Killing Joke, but the situation is meant to echo the controversial comic book that saw the Clown Prince of Crime attack Barbara Gordon in order to torment the GCPD's commissioner.
When Valeska finally sees the Batman intervene, when he bursts into laughter at the sight of the batarang sliced in his hand, there is no more guessing. Jeremiah may have resurfaced to mess with Bruce Wayne, but now he has a new obsession: it's big, it's bad, and it's all covered in black. Just as Batman reveals himself to Gotham City, the real Joker is finally born.
Gotham stars Ben McKenzie as James Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and Shane West as Bane. Season 5 and The Complete Series will be available on Blu-ray and DVD June 11, 2019.