Gotham Season 5 Episode 4: “Ruin” Recap & Review

Who Blew Up Haven?

With a third of its final season already complete, Gotham returns for another slice of supervillain drama as we near the final episode of this DC superhero show. With several plot lines firing on all cylinders, the episode is still action packed although slightly disappointing given the resolutions and revelations we have to work with. Still, the promise of our villains becoming their trademark counterparts is intriguing enough and Bruce Wayne donning the Bat persona looks like it might be reserved for the final episode.

We begin moments after the literal explosive ending that closed out the show last week. Haven is a fiery inferno and after clearing up the mess, the residents of Gotham are desperate for vengeance and bloodthirsty for someone to be brought to justice. Thankfully, Penguin’s here to lend a helping hand (and a smattering of guns) as he teams up with Jim Gordon in search of who’s responsible.

A tip leads them both to an isolated area of Gotham where a sniper lays in wait for them. It turns out this man is none other than Victor Zsasz and after being apprehended by the G.C.P.D., proclaims his innocence, mentioning he was simply looting the place and not the one who set off the bomb. While the team debate the validity of his claims, Lucius teams up with a familiar face back at the crime scene to piece together what really happened. It turns out an RPG was responsible for the chaos not a bomb, ruling out Zsasz as the culprit. At this point I did have a slight inkling who fired the rocket and suffice to say, the reveal at the end of the episode proves as much. It’s a nice twist nonetheless though and certainly leaves the door wide open for where this story will lead in the future.

Nestled around this plotline is the somewhat disappointing story involving Selina and Bruce Wayne. After fending off several armed guards, Alfred shows up to lend a hand and free Bruce from his handcuffs. Together, they go in search of Selina whose gotten herself mixed up with Jeremiah’s group. This then climaxes with a possible resolution to her revenge mission although things in Gotham are never quite what they seem.

To be honest, Jeremiah really doesn’t pull off a very convincing Joker. Compared to Jerome, Jeremiah just doesn’t quite have the same maniacal charisma as his brother and pales (no pun intended) in comparison. Although the fractured relationship with Harley Quinn is one that actually mirrors the comic books well, their chemistry together never quite feels natural and comes off as jarring and slightly forced. 

We leave the episode hanging in the balance, with a big reveal over who blew up Haven and Jim Gordon succumbing to his dark desires. The pieces are really starting to align now and knowing what we know at the start of the first episode, everything seems to be leading to this moment. With the show creators promising more comic book nods and references going forward, hopefully Gotham can start really delivering some memorable episodes as we draw ever nearer to the end of this epic superhero drama.