Fox's Gotham has played fast and loose with the origin stories of a lot of classic Batman story characters over the years, but it has always been clear that Bruce Wayne is on his way to becoming the scourge of the Gotham criminal underworld. Although Bruce is developing some of the qualities that many of us have come to associate with Batman, there's one area in which he need to change quite a bit if he's going to become the Dark Knight. At this point in Season 3, he's still kind of a people-pleaser. Actor David Mazouz explained Bruce's state of mind, saying this:
Bruce is the kind of person that always likes to make amends and he doesn't want anybody to be mad at him, especially not Selina.
There have been many adaptations of Batman over the years, and I don't think any of them can be described as not wanting anybody to be mad at them. Sure, Batman might not want the good guys of Gotham City to hate him, but he's often not a superhero especially concerned with playing nice. David Mazouz' comments to TV Guide about Bruce's current urges to make amends indicate that Gotham's Bruce still has a ways to go before he can really embody the Dark Knight. Given that this version of Bruce is still a couple of growth spurts away from being ready for the cape and the cowl, I think we can cut him a little slack for still wanting to get along with others.
David Mazouz is on the record saying that Batman simply can't exist yet because he's not necessary yet. The young actor believes that the world needs to somehow get a lot worse before Bruce feels the need to take on the mantle of the Bat. For his part, James Gordon actor Ben McKenzie believes that the last frame of the last scene of the series finale should be Bruce becoming Batman; unless we're very unlucky and Fox doesn't renew Gotham, we're still a ways off from the grand finale.
That said, the show has allowed Bruce to work on some of the abilities that will become invaluable to Batman later on. In Season 2, he began developing more of his public persona that will ultimately allow him to carry on a dual life, and Season 3 has seen him teaming up with Selina more often to learn how to pick locks and break into places. He's nowhere near becoming Batman, but the very early pieces are falling into place. We'll have to wait and see if something happens to motivate him to give up trying to avoid making others mad.
Sadly, we won't get to see any time too soon. Gotham's last episode aired on January 30, and we won't get a new episode until Monday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch in the meantime.
