‘Gotham’ Season 5 Premiere ‘Year Zero’ Recap: A City at War

Gotham City is in epic disarray. Months after Jeremiah Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) rained down terror and chaos in the city, various factions have risen up to take advantage of the lawlessness and crime. FOX’s Gotham makes its’ final return with the season five premiere, titled “Year Zero.” I still can’t believe that this is the last chapter of the Batman prequel show, but it’s gearing towards the birth of the Dark Knight himself. Subtitled “Legend of the Dark Knight,” Gotham season five’s premiere sets up a wider narrative than ever before—this time the stakes are higher, and new characters will debut for one final showdown.

“Year Zero” shows the city under control by different heads of the crime syndicates and groups. The remaining seat of “government” is the Gotham City Police Department under Captain James Gordon (Ben McKenzie). He’s taking care of the few residents who stayed after the evacuation. Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) is holed up in the City Hall and took over the bullet factory. The Sirens, led by Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) and Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas), have taken over the major food supply around the Club area. They trade food for information.

Meanwhile, Selena struggles to wrap her head around her condition. After being shot by Jeremiah, the doctors are saying that she won’t be able to walk again (what a weird Oracle parallel). Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) tries to help her accept it, but Selena wants to end her life. Elsewhere, we’ve got Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), AKA The Riddler, seemingly back to his amnesia self. The Riddler doesn’t show himself, leaving Ed confused as to how he ends up waking up in different places every morning.

The Refuge Stronghold

“Year Zero” opens with a time jump, 391 days after the fall of Gotham. Penguin, Riddler, and Gordon suit up with their weapons and have apparently teamed up to fight a rebel army gathered outside the GCPD. It’s a weird alliance, but given the threat of new rogues, it looks like old grievances would have to be forgotten for the sake of Gotham’s survival.

We flashback to 82 days after Gotham fell. Gordon tries to contact a government representative in the mainland. Despite his plea for help, the representative couldn’t give a definite answer for whether or not they’d be able to send in a few supplies. Gordon tells the rep about the dominions established by the crime lords of Gotham, with Scarecrow (David W. Thompson) taking over the West, and Victor Fries going head to head with Firefly in the North.

But no matter how much Gordon tries to keep a stable form of order, Gotham City is left on its own.

Later, an argument breaks out over the food supply. The Gotham refugees want more food, demanding to take what the cops are also getting. Harvey (Donal Logue) and Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk) try to diffuse the tension, to no avail. Then Gordon intervenes, saying that whoever doesn’t agree with the rules is free to leave. Lucius informs Gordon that their food supply is only down to a month’s worth, with refugees piling in every day.

In the hospital, the doctors tell Bruce and Alfred (Sean Pertwee) that Selena is going to need surgery to save her spine. When Bruce tells Selena about it, she agrees nonchalantly.

Gordon then heads over to the rooftop to light up the signal. Bruce joins him and asks about why Gordon wants to light it up. Gordon thinks that it’s a reminder that there’s still hope in the midst of darkness. Bruce then tells Gordon that he had Lucius raid Wayne Enterprises’ R&D department for night vision goggles, something that could help the GCPD become a more effective peacekeeper even at night.

Deals and Losses

With Penguin’s camp running low on food, he entrusts his right hand, Mr. Penn (Andrew Sellon), to broker a deal with Barbara—a thousand rounds of bullets for a thousand pounds of steak. Barbara sees Penguin’s greed, though. He’s not actually feeding his men, this is only for himself. Tabitha, on the other hand, doesn’t want to cave in on the deal. It’s not enough to make up for when Penguin killed Butch. Barbara needs the bullets, though, so she convinces Tabitha to agree on a new deal—three thousand rounds for a thousand pounds of steak.

Giovanni Rufino / FOX

That night, at the GCPD vicinity, a watchtower is attacked by Scarecrow and his minions. They cut the power off, drowning the GCPD and the hospital in pitch-black darkness. The operation on Selena has already started but is cut short when the power also runs out. Luckily, the backup generators activate. The nurses then inform them that some people are raiding the medicine supply. This angers Bruce, so he heads over to the room to prevent Scarecrow’s men from taking the supplies. Before he leaves, though, one of the nurses tell him that only The Witch can save Selena.

Back at the GCPD, Scarecrow and his men loot the food supply. Gordon investigates the power room and is confronted by Scarecrow. The two engage in a brawl, with Scarecrow disappearing when Gordon got the upper hand. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Bruce takes out the minions one by one while wearing the night vision goggles. But the lights come back on just when he was about to take out the last man, blinding Bruce momentarily. The man escapes with a bagful of medicine.

The next day, Lucius gives a damage report to Gordon and Harvey. They’re now down to a week’s worth of food and supplies. As they struggle to find a solution, Bruce offers his help after telling them about the medicine raid. It turns out that he had Alfred contact a few Wayne Enterprises subsidiaries to deliver food and medicine via chopper.

A Cause for More War

Back at the hospital, Bruce tells Selena that she’s going to be fine. But Selena doesn’t care. As long as she couldn’t walk anymore, there’s no point in being fine. “I just wish Jeremiah killed me,” Selena says, turning her back from Bruce. Meanwhile, the refugees at the GCPD are in a slightly positive mood considering what just happened the night before. Jim’s a hero. But Harvey’s concern is that Jim’s good faith will only last until the chopper comes.

At Penguin’s stronghold, Mr. Penn informs him that bullet production has dipped to another low, with the quality suffering because of hunger. As Penguin eats his steak, he tells Penn that he can’t give what he doesn’t have (while feeding his dog the steak because it’s overcooked. That fucker?!). At the Club, Tabitha tells Barbara that she can’t stand sparing Penguin’s life and providing for his food after what he did to Butch. Barbara urges her to be patient. Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a chopper arriving. Penguin hears it too and suits up.

Bruce and Gordon watch as the chopper arrives, only to be shocked when the helicopter is shot down. Gordon has his men respond to the crash site.

Giovanni Rufino / FOX

True enough, looters have already seen it. As they raid the supplies, Penguin’s crew arrives and kills the looters. Gordon also arrives with the police in an attempt to take what’s theirs from Penguin. When Gordon asks about why he shot the chopper down, Penguin admits that he didn’t know who did it. The standoff is cut short when Tabitha appears and takes Penguin at gunpoint. But her hostage situation soon turns against her when the bullet she fires malfunctions. Penguin then stabs her dead, shocking Barbara who also just arrived on the scene.

A shootout ensues between all the groups present, with the GCPD eventually losing ammo. Penguin then has Barbara at gunpoint. Bruce, however, sneaks up to a couple of guards stationed outside Penguin’s truck and steals the ammo for Gordon’s men. He brings it to them, and Gordon acts on a new plan.

Gordon proposes to split the supplies fifty-fifty and for Penguin to let Barbara go. Penguin refuses, so Harvey and the other cops shoot Penguin’s men down. Left with only one man, Penguin flees after Gordon shoots him in the knee. Gordon takes back the supplies to the GCPD. When all is good, Bruce takes the other medical supply to bring it to the hospital and check on Selena. Gordon then tells Bruce to help whenever he wants to because he has earned a place in the GCPD.

Later, Ecco (Francesca Root-Dodson), one of Jeremiah’s loyal followers, appears and examines Gordon’s map of Gotham just as a voice comes in from the radio. Gordon answers and finds out that it’s a friend who wants to help. When he looks at his map, he’s shocked to find the words “HAHAHAHAHA” vandalized across it. He looks around to find no one there. But it does look like Harley Quinn (via Ecco) is making her way into the narrative pretty soon.

The Beginning of the War

Elsewhere in the episode, we see Ed waking up in different places every morning. He even has a map to pinpoint his wake up locations, but can’t seem to understand why. He tries to call the Riddler out from hiding, but he doesn’t show himself.

At the Club, Barbara hosts a funeral for Tabitha and vows to exact revenge on Penguin. At Penguin’s citadel, he screams in agony while a surgeon attempts to stitch his knee. He then has Mr. Penn put out a word for 100,000 rounds of bullets to anyone who kills Jim Gordon.

At the hospital, Selena attempts to kill herself when a nurse leaves her tools by Selena’s bed. Bruce arrives at the doctors and nurses restraining Selena. That’s when the nurse appears again, urging Bruce to ask help from The Witch. Finally, Bruce caves and asks where this Witch could be found.

“Year Zero” ends with a kid arriving at the GCPD. He’s weak and exhausted but managed to tell Gordon that his brothers and sisters need the GCPD’s help. Someone is killing his group. With a newfound purpose, Gordon tells his men to suit up. “I know you’re all asking ‘why are we still here when our own government won’t help us’,” Gordon says. “Simple. We’re supposed to be giving these people hope. Hope that in danger, someone will come. We will come.”

‘Gotham: Year Zero’ Overall Verdict

“Year Zero” isn’t exactly the season premiere that I was hoping for the last season of Gotham, but it does set-up the show’s final chapter well. There’s not much action that would’ve thrown us off our seats, and certainly less world and character-building going on. The premiere’s strongest elements, however, lies in its writing—Batman is coming, and his rogues are getting ready for one hell of a final season.

Gotham continues Thursday, January 10th, with “Trespassers” at 8/7c on FOX.