Although not as good as last week's episode, 'Knock Knock,' 'The Last Laugh' is still a very good episode that satisfyingly ends off the three-part story that kicked off the very promising-looking season 2.
After Commissioner Sarah Essen, a friend of Gordon and Bullock's, was killed by Jerome at the end of the last episode, Gordon and Bullock are out for revenge and looking for Jerome. Meanwhile, Theo is planning something big that will make Jerome a 'star.' Jerome must first cover up any tracks that might lead to Theo being revealed as the person who broke him, Barbara, and the others out of Arkham Asylum, and in doing so frames his blind father and kills him. Later, Jerome and Barbara disguise themselves as a magician and his assistant, and they perform at a fund raiser for children in need that Bruce, Alfred, Selina, Leslie, and Barbara happen to be attending. There he kills the temporary Mayor and takes everyone hostage.
Of course, the episode ends with **SPOILER** Jerome getting betrayed and seemingly killed by Theo. However, I personally do not believe he is dead - or at least, I really, REALLY don't want him to be. Here are my reasons for thinking he might still be alive:
Of course, there is evidence to support that he is dead, like seeing Jerome in the morgue. One might also say that seeing all those people at the end go insane and start laughing in a Joker-like style is evidence to support that someone will copy him and become the real Joker, but I think that idea is stupid and doesn't really make sense story-wise.
Overall, I really liked this episode. My only complaint was that the pacing seemed off - Jerome and Barbara's 'magic show' took up over half the episode. However, that was basically finishing off a three- part story, so it makes sense that it would be longer than if it was a one-off episode.
After Commissioner Sarah Essen, a friend of Gordon and Bullock's, was killed by Jerome at the end of the last episode, Gordon and Bullock are out for revenge and looking for Jerome. Meanwhile, Theo is planning something big that will make Jerome a 'star.' Jerome must first cover up any tracks that might lead to Theo being revealed as the person who broke him, Barbara, and the others out of Arkham Asylum, and in doing so frames his blind father and kills him. Later, Jerome and Barbara disguise themselves as a magician and his assistant, and they perform at a fund raiser for children in need that Bruce, Alfred, Selina, Leslie, and Barbara happen to be attending. There he kills the temporary Mayor and takes everyone hostage.
Of course, the episode ends with **SPOILER** Jerome getting betrayed and seemingly killed by Theo. However, I personally do not believe he is dead - or at least, I really, REALLY don't want him to be. Here are my reasons for thinking he might still be alive:
- The blood from the stab wound on his neck formed a smile around his mouth.
- When Theo said at the end that he 'knew Jerome wouldn't last long,' Barbara says 'I don't know... the kid had a way about him.'
- It would make sense story-wise: he could suddenly reappear at the end of the season as the full-fledged Joker and reveal that he played a joke on them, and then disappear for the rest of the show.
- It would be really stupid for the writers to kill him off this soon, especially because Cameron Monaghan was the best thing about the show for these past three episodes.
Of course, there is evidence to support that he is dead, like seeing Jerome in the morgue. One might also say that seeing all those people at the end go insane and start laughing in a Joker-like style is evidence to support that someone will copy him and become the real Joker, but I think that idea is stupid and doesn't really make sense story-wise.
Overall, I really liked this episode. My only complaint was that the pacing seemed off - Jerome and Barbara's 'magic show' took up over half the episode. However, that was basically finishing off a three- part story, so it makes sense that it would be longer than if it was a one-off episode.