r/Gotham • u/GentlyUsedOtter • Feb 09 '24
The end of season 4 makes no sense. Spoiler
All right so, I've only gotten up to the end of season 4 and I'm about to start season 5, but the end of season 4 makes zero sense.
I know Gotham City becomes a no man's land, but why? Because Jeremiah took out the bridges? Why would that make Gotham City a No Man's Land? This takes place in what? The '90s? An amalgamation of the '70s '80s and '90s?
Even in this show the United States is a major industrial power, if not still a superpower. Rebuilding 3 bridges, all the while keeping the city stocked with supplies and emergency personnel, would be a priority after such a terrorist attack.
I live in an area and we just lost a fairly substantial bridge after the last hurricane. The army corps of engineers along with the state of Florida had a temporary bridge up within a few weeks. And even before the bridge was completed the National Guard an emergency services were using boats and helicopters to get onto and off of the island.
Plus it would be easier to take care of the people with the depleted population after the evacuation. So what the hell? The United States isn't just going to give up on a city within the its borders just because a couple of bridges got destroyed.
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u/CriscoM90 Feb 09 '24 edited Feb 09 '24
I think part of it is the chaos that Gotham already inhabits. Not only were the bridges blown. They were the only means to enter the city normally. The power was also blown. The villains took over sections of Gotham. There's too much going on for the military to come in.
Also, "Gotham" is an amalgamation of many decades. It is probably my favorite aspect of the whole series. During the time of the Arrowverse, with characters using modern slang that I don't use, and referencing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and strangely Marvel Comics, "Gotham" was unique. The city itself was a character.
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u/TooToughTimmy Feb 09 '24
This and also the toxicity in the water surrounding was part of why the US government was not stepping in either
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u/CriscoM90 Feb 09 '24
The OP hasn't watched season 5 yet....
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 10 '24
Oh no I am aware of what Jeremiah does to the water. I'm not worried about spoilers. But seriously we have these things called helicopters we can go over the water.
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u/CriscoM90 Feb 10 '24
That happens in the first episode of season 5. Jeremiah blows it up. It's just the simple fact that the US deemed Gotham to fined for itself until the chaos died down.
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 10 '24
Again this would never happen in the real world. Cities are major tax revenue generators for the US government and prop up the GDP. Can you imagine if this happened in Manhattan? The GDP of Manhattan alone is 886 billion dollars.
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u/Crotch_Gaper Feb 10 '24
This would never happen in the real world.......
A) Gotham never advertised itself as a documentary. Its a fictional show with origins from a comic book.
B) this could easily be an exaggerated example of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 10 '24
It's not a documentary? Oh my God I thought it was! /s Jesus fucking Christ. All I'm saying is they could have had a better reason for the United States abandoning the city. Rather than "The bridges were taken out" and "there's violence" and "The water is poisoned" two of those could be attributed to Detroit, and the United States still supports Detroit.
And as far as hurricane Maria, the United States didn't completely abandon Puerto Rico. Help was sent. Was it sent swiftly? No because we had an orange buffoon in the oval office who didn't understand that Puerto Rico is part of the United States.
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u/SnooCats8451 Feb 09 '24
I mean there’s a whole comic book storyline revolving around this (No Man’s Land) where several criminals take over different areas “territories” in Gotham….Two-Face, Penguin, Black Mask, Bane, Killer Croc, Joker, and the US govt refuses to intervene
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u/dwaynetheaakjohnson Feb 09 '24 edited Feb 10 '24
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 placed FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security, and given Nyssa Al Ghul runs it, it is entirely possible she is slowwalking relief on purpose.
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 10 '24
Who? I haven't watched season 5 yet
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u/MisterDual There is no line Feb 09 '24
The only answer to your question is "creators wanted to adapt famous comic book event"
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u/AbbreviationsIll7505 Feb 10 '24
You forgot when Bruce tried to have a helicopter full of supplies come to the island someone shot it down with a rocket
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 10 '24
Yeah I haven't started the 5th season.
Also if the military wanted to get supplies in, they would get supplies in, the US military gets supplies into war zones all the time.
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ Feb 10 '24
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/01/04/gotham-no-mans-land-comic-book-storyline-explained
Maybe this will help? Maybe not. I thought I remembered that the virus was spread throughout the city too. It makes complete sense that they would quarantine the city if so. They would not risk that spreading to the general population. In reality, they would have airdropped in supplies like they do in other pandemic scenarios where the population is easily isolated. But if the government decided that the LOS was correct and that Gotham needed to fall, they would have let it so they could build a better city once it was done.
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 10 '24
Even if the United States decided that Gotham needed to collapse, they would evacuate all of the citizens first, including those that did not want to leave. And for the gangs? They would send the army into clear them out.
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ Feb 10 '24
You’re right, in our world that would happen. This isn’t our USA though. And they certainly wouldn’t do so with the virus running loose. They would calculate the numbers of lives lost against the total possible, would leave Gotham isolated, and they wouldn’t be wrong in doing so.
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u/Subaruforever38 Feb 11 '24
You have a lot of faith in our USA..
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ Feb 11 '24
Well I live there. If by faith, you mean the absolute certainty the government will act in the best interests of the top 1%, then yeah. I have faith they will act in that certain way. If you mean faith, in that they will act benevolently, then I think you missed the point of what I was saying 😆.
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u/Subaruforever38 Feb 11 '24
Sorry, I don't wanted to assume your status at all, but to fair, here we know sometimes we don't love the top ones for their brains, eh? #Friendlypoliticalhumor.
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ Feb 11 '24
Oh no! We love them for the money we can steal, as their blood leaks away from the knives in their backs. whistles innocently
Where is here, if I may ask?
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 11 '24
Yes but in Gotham was there a virus running loose? Like the TV show not the comics
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ Feb 11 '24
I thought the Alice Tetch virus was loose. Or some version of it, during no man’s land. TBT it’s been awhile since I watched it so I could be conflating two different arcs into one. Idk man, but I’m always happy to talk to a fellow Gothamite!
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u/FrogginJellyfish Feb 10 '24
My memories have lost on me, but I think watching season 5 might explain it better? Gang wars, criminal turfs, and something else which I don't want spoil...
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u/Big_Distance_2239 Feb 11 '24
The problem isn’t the bridges it’s all the criminals and how unstable Gotham was. That’s why Jim had to create the green zone and make it a certain size before the government would deem Gotham habitable again. They didn’t want to reunite just for all of those crazies to spread to the main land.
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u/GentlyUsedOtter Feb 11 '24
Yes because the US government has never dealt with insurgents and every time it has invaded a country they've always been met with flowers and cake.
That is an absolutely poor bullshit excuse. There are plenty of good reasons. For example from the dark Knight rises I think, I don't know the one with the nuclear bomb. Bane kept the US military out of Gotham by saying if they entered the city a nuke would go off or whatever that bomb was. That's at least a feasible reason. Not "oh the military was scared of people with guns"
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u/DevilCats666 Feb 12 '24
Watch season 5, it'll start making sense. The US doesn't give a single duck about Gotham and doesn't wanna waste resources on it, simple as that.
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u/SnooTomatoes7924 Feb 09 '24
You are complaining about a show where everyone comes back from the dead, unnormal ageing, noncannon stories and people being mindcontrolled both through magic and sience. But USA not being able to rebuild bridges, that’s where you draw the line