Ben McKenzie And The Producers Of ‘Gotham’ Are Defending Jim Gordon’s Dark New Direction

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the midseason finale of Gotham.

Gotham has been flying by the seat of its pants all season, but this week’s midseason finale, Worse Than a Crime, may have finally sent this bizarre runaway train over the bridge. In the episode, Jim Gordon fully embraces the dark side, assembling a posse of dirty cops and villains to murder Theo Galavan in cold blood. Moral ambiguity is one thing, but knowingly plotting and carrying out first-degree murder is whole other belfry of bats. It’s hard to believe Batman, when he finally becomes Batman, won’t be kicking Jim Gordon’s ass.

Well, don’t worry, Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller really struggled with whether to make Jim Gordon a murderer (before making the wrong decision).

“Yeah, there was a lot of debate, right up and down the ladder. But that’s kind of what Gotham is all about, those kind of moral quandaries that someone like Gordon is put into — no bad deed goes unpunished any more than any good deed goes unpunished. The important thing about what he just did there is that there will be consequences. Serious consequences.”

Gotham star Ben McKenzie also defended the move…

“I do think it alters the mythology a little, although I would argue that every new incarnation of Batman has altered the mythology in some way. We’re exploring the origins of Gotham, and the way that we’re exploring the city paints it as such a violent and corrupt and chaotic place that it’s hard to imagine a law man like Jim Gordon surviving and much less rising to the top of our hierarchy without getting blood on his hands. He’s a burdened hero, out there in a lawless town trying to maintain order. If it means he has to walk into a saloon and kill all the bad guys point blank without the other guy even pulling his gun, then that’s what he has to do.”

Yeah, it is hard to imagine Jim Gordon making it to the top of the GCPD without getting blood on his hands. You know what else is hard to believe? A regular man fighting supervillains in a bat suit. The fact that Gordon rose to the top without abandoning his convictions is what makes him an interesting, heroic character worth caring about. But hey, whatever, I suppose I’m living in the past. The new, improved Gordon mows down bars full of people unprovoked I guess? The second half of this season is going to be one hell of a wild ride.

(Via Screen Crush)

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