Why Gotham FAILED it's Joker (Jerome Valeska)

Did GOTHAM give us one of the greatest on-screen Jokers? Rivaling perhaps even Heath Ledger & Mark Hamill? Cameron Monaghan's portrayal of Jerome Valeska (aka. The Joker) is undoubtedly underrated. This video essay revisits 'Gotham' the Batman prequel series and explores the lost potential of its Clown Prince of Crime.
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/ visualbarrage
#gotham #thejoker #jeromevaleska

[@visualbarrage]

Monaghan's so underrated in this. If not for being hidden on Gotham, I think he'd be considered one of the greats 🤷

[@sierraking4312]

They failed Jerome because they killed him off and replaced him with Jeremiah. They could've done so many more things with Jerome.

[@visualbarrage]

Jerome had so much more potential 😭 Wish we could've seen more :(

[@WhyTho525]

How the Joker plot could've been solved: Remember how Bruce in 4x16 said he felt responsible for Jerome after sparing his life in 3x14 and how he spent the whole episode looking for Jerome trying to prevent him from killing people and preventing others to kill Jerome? That got completely thrown out of the window in 4x17 for the absolutely nonsensical Jeremiah twist which is a plothole in it's entirity. Then Bruce in 4x18 just lets Gordon try to kill Jerome despite the oath he as made. How about we have none of that and after Bruce saves his life in 4x16, Jerome and Bruce have a scene similar to Arkham Origins where Joker asks Batman why did he save his life thus Jerome begins to think about Bruce and decides that instead of trying to kill Bruce again, he wants to corrupt him and make him into a murderous lunatic like he is. As for why would Jerome adopt the Joker name? I was thinking that Jerome (like his father) has a vision of the future about Gotham were Bruce Wayne is more than just a man, but a symbol for justice and hope. Jerome reflects on his life and begins to think that if he continues to torment Bruce as just Jerome, he would just be another thug and his hatred to his family becomes so extreme that he wishes to drop the Valeska name entirely. After falling to the vat of chemicals, Jerome now believes that much like Bruce, he is now more than just a man, Jerome Valeska was just a freaky circus kid who was abused by his family and since the day he killed his mother, his true self was slowly starting to show itself, but after the acid his true self is now unleahsed for everyone to see. Then he begins to call himself as the Joker.

[@superiorspider-nava1943]

Jerome: Showman Psychotic who became Obsessive Mastermind. Jeremiah: Showman Mastermind who became Obsessive Psychotic.

[@visualbarrage]

This is actually pretty accurate! 👀

[@zxs4113]

they really sacrificed jerome, a top 3 live action joker. for jared leto💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@Tizzer123boya]

Honestly, I would love to see him player the joker in a movie or something I think he was badass

[@visualbarrage]

Same here 😁 Would be SO good!!

[@kidkold7242]

My real question is, where is the Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska merchandise? Like how did they miss out on that?!? They would have made a killing in sales.

[@visualbarrage]

This is true actually... guess they just forgot? xD But yeah wish Gotham marketed the Jerome/Jeremiah stuff more, big mistake on their part! :/

[@randallflagg3700]

Well, we did get some stuff, cheap like Funko Pops & -toys quality figures, and then the actual bigass figures that cost an arm... they didn't exactly destroy the market, even if they were/are popular. What kind of merchandise were you expecting?

[@kidkold7242]

@@randallflagg3700 t-shirts, apparel, actual figures, comics that adopt the character to move him from a one off to an actual character in the canon?

I loved Gotham but always thought the premise was limited and needed to be a story of Batman from the GCPD pov how officers react to Gotham villains and the bat family at least Cameron would’ve been the joker he’s absolutely amazing

[@visualbarrage]

I agree with you 100%. Exactly my thoughts!!

[@kimmyfreak200]

i started watching cuz of cameron..i saw a clip in a music video.. and i had to wait a long time too..cuz homie was so great and BARELY IN THE SHOW

[@visualbarrage]

Yeah he's in it a little, but it's worth the wait cause he's SO GOOD when he's on-screen 🙏🙌

[@Not_Cops]

Good video essay

[@visualbarrage]

Thanks so much man! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Makarosc]

Deserves hes not dead he can still play the role

[@mattnightingale9777]

Heath Ledger was the worst Joker did not embody the character properly at all. Just made an emo dude that complained about his daddy issues

[@jturner2577]

WB should have realized the constraints were pointless and after Season 3 should have let Gotham fully use the Joker 🃏

[@visualbarrage]

Oh absolutely! But yeah this is WB we're talking about... They have no idea what they're doing with DC xD

[@jturner2577]

​@@visualbarrageThat they don't, and after 4 failed Mergers this century, I'm not sure they ever will. Not even if they got bought by Universal.

[@visualbarrage]

@@jturner2577 Very true :/ Pretty dissapointing!

[@zxs4113]

its crazy how cameron made two poar opposite characters that both became great, and greatly different jokers, jerome better tho, jeromiah is cool bur jerome is the goat. hes def top 3 live action joker

[@laurenmontgomery421]

Such a good adaptation

[@visualbarrage]

Damn straight 🙌

[@superiorspider-nava1943]

nostalgia That's all It's normal to have that kind of reaction to the appearance of a character that replaces one you've already grown attached to It doesn't necessarily mean that your previous character is better It's human nature to miss the old because of the familiarity we have With this and because of the appreciation we have for our memories, I think that in my case the fact that I have seen the series continuously and I have not spent years with the character of Jerome has helped, so when he was replaced by his twin I was able to take him in a much more objective way. However, I can understand how it can be frustrating to see a character evolve for so many years, see his journey and still see his end to be replaced by another character, however I think this is something very jokey because it's like pam pam pam pam pam you expect one thing to be like that you want one thing to be like that But in the end a totally different thing happens without sense Absurd that ends all your hopes take the typical sadistic joke that The Joker would make to annoy you that great absurdity and senselessness that the form handles in which he does everything but in the end if you look closely you will realize that it works very well if you are not thinking with a hot head and sick with pain for losing a character who was stillborn from the beginning.

[@visualbarrage]

Your right, in some ways Jerome's ark could be viewed as part of a big Jokerish gag - all that development only to be replaced. But regardless, I still enjoyed Jeremiah as at least we still had Monaghan on the show!

[@superiorspider-nava1943]

I always looked Jerome and Jeremiah to be The Joker as they are not as well. Like Jerome had the potential to be Jeremiahish, and Jeremiah had the potential to be Jeromeish. They had the other Joker type of the other in them.

[@visualbarrage]

Monaghan did a great job to differentiate them for sure! He basically got to play two completely opposite versions of Joker

[@superiorspider-nava1943]

@@visualbarrage Not so opposite, though. Warning, this going to be a bit long. Jerome: Despite his extravagance in crime, Jerome has a calculating mind, just like his brother, Jerome demonstrates great cunning and creativity to take advantage of his resources and create simple and effective plans, but thanks to Jerome's own nature, they look much more shocking and eye-catching, he find plessure is making the pieces fix as he want and will get angry if his scheems ruin, but if he finds something to be "more fun", then he will quickly forget his rage and back to his optmistic persona. He is also all too delighted to forge alliances to his benefit, especially if he is able to manipulate those joining him, as he appears to do with Oswald Cobblepot after he landed in prison. That said, because he knew that Oswald would likely turn on him because of his methods, he had some of his men keep an eye on him. This shows that Jerome is cunning enough to have a back-up plan even against those he barely knows. Jeremiah: Like Jerome, Jeremiah displays theatrics in his schemes, and enjoys drawing attention, while distracting people from his true goal, generally being a compulsive actor. This is seen in situations such as when he pretended to be Jerome, acting very similar to his brother, convincing the characters and the audience that it was Jerome. When he blew up his maze and the clock tower so the witnesses would focus on his plan to destroy Gotham, while he would focus on destroying Bruce Wayne's mind. In season 5, Jeremiah is much more open to the showman side of him, making a performance as Zorro in a self-made movie. He is also shown wearing a much more extravagant and flashy outfit. Jeremiah's body movements, even before Jerome's gas, were always unnecessarily expressive. Such as playing with his jacket, using a whole arm just to point at a place, and crouching down absurdly. After the gas, he is more expressive with his hands, even going so far as to extend his arms in the air, staggers at one point during his conversation with Bullock in the GCPD, uses a bazooka to kill Jongleur, puts his fist to his chest while giving his fake speech to Jerome's followers, and yelling at them when they go against him, he raises his finger, with no other intention than to be noticed. In Season 5, this is taken further, it's much more open, his posture is much more fluid, and his theatricality is taken to the point of bowing in a manner of bowing and calling himself: "The star of the show." He says he wants a free Gotham, that progress requires sacrifice, but he doesn't seem to really care about his plans, since he just dismissed his first failure with a: Ha, I'll try again.

[@visualbarrage]

Love this, this is a really great breakdown man! 👌 Monaghan did such a great job as both! 😁

[@superiorspider-nava1943]

@@visualbarrage Its just, I hate when people limits Jerome and Jeremiah to be The sadist showman and the cold thinking strategist. As Jerome can be just as planner like Jeremiah, and Jeremiah can be just as extravagant like Jerome.

[@visualbarrage]

100% There so much nuance to both :)

[@BlackMetalGraffiti]

Why do I keep finding videos thinking it’s a like minded video that hates the Gotham version of the joker only to praise him? It was a terrible version it might as well be something off of CW.

[@visualbarrage]

I disagree but respect your opinion! What's so great about the Joker is there's so many interpretations of him everyone can have their version 🙏

[@BlackMetalGraffiti]

@@visualbarrage fair enough I can’t argue with that. It just feels misleading because I clicked on the video thinking the opinion was one I shared, yet it’s the opposite.

[@WhyTho525]

The whole thing was ruined by the shoehorned twin-brother plot twist with Jeremiah.

[@visualbarrage]

Jeremiah was interesting, but yeah, most of the time I just wanted Jerome back 🤷

[@WhyTho525]

​@@visualbarrage 2 months later but whatever Yeah, Jeremiah's only saving grace for me was that Cameron still did a good job as him. But Jeremiah felt like an after-thought Joker or one of those Joker-infected people in Arkham Knight and Jerome was the real Joker. Sure, their hands were tied but honestly they could've just used Jerome as their Joker and not saying anything untill having him fall into a vat of chemicals being a confirmation that he is the Joker.

[@myron4445]

well said

[@visualbarrage]

Thanks man! :)

[@shanmank]

Disagree

[@visualbarrage]

That's alg! Just my opinion :)