As Francis Cobb continues to look back and remember the past, viewers are shown that Francis has always known that Oz caused the death of his brothers. Oz continued being the victim while locking his brothers in the storm drain, and his mother hated him for it. Not knowing what else to do, she took Rex’s (the Gotham gangster) advice and continued to raise him while Rex mentored him.
Vic gathers up some of their fellow gang leaders only to find that the hideout is in shambles. Sofia’s bomb caved the street into the tunnels with the whole area swarmed by police. The gang leaders decide to leave, seeing the devastation and multitude of deaths; they deem that Oz is more than likely dead. Vic finds another worker from the tunnels and asks if Oz survived the blast.
Sofia sets Oz and Francis in front of each other and then begins to torture them psychologically. She reveals that she knew what Oz had done to his brothers and learned the truth from his mother. Sofia tortures Francis by slowly cutting off her pinkie with a cigar cutter. She demands Oz tell his mother the truth or she will lose a pinkie. Oz doesn’t confess, but Francis does, admitting to him that she always knew that he killed his brothers. With this, she ends up lashing out at him, stabbing Oz with a broken bottle. The stress makes her begin to hallucinate, resulting in her fainting and falling to the ground.
Oz breaks out of his duck tape, reaching for the guard and the guard’s gun. Using the guard’s body as a shield, he escapes with his mother, quickly taking her to the hospital.
Once Francis gets medical attention, Oz gets ahold of Vic and regroups. Sofia also sets a new plan, setting other gangs after him in return for her entire estate.
Oz pays Councilman Hady a visit once more, thanking him for returning the electricity to the people but explaining that this new explosion is another issue to address. Oz feeds him information, explaining that it was Sofia Falcone’s fault and she’s pushing new street drugs. Oz offers all this information in return for a position in city hall and higher society.
Zhao captures Oz and offers him to Sofia, and both of them meet in secret as Sofia sets her mansion on fire. Upon meeting at Sofia’s plane, Zhao offers Oz only to be shot by his second-hand man, Link. Vic devised all the old gang bosses killed so that every gang would go under new management and Oz would be saved. Oz escorts Sofia for old-time’s sake and explains that mob bosses have been too greedy, including herself. He takes her to a secluded spot on the outskirts of the city to meet her demise, but after she begins to accept her fate, the police arrive to arrest her.
Oz and Vic go to the hospital to celebrate with Francis. Before he could pour her a drink, he noticed she was unresponsive. The nurse explained that she had suffered from a stroke, leaving her in a vegetative state.
The two partners sit at the park that night and reflect on their gains and losses. While Oz can no longer receive praise from his mother, Vic explains he also misses his family.. They acknowledge their appreciation for each other, and both realize they’re family to each other now. This touching moment quickly becomes dim as Oz hugs Vic and then begins to put him in a chokehold. Oz explains that he can’t go through it all again, that having a family is having something to lose, and he can’t have any weaknesses anymore. Vic’s body slowly becomes lifeless while Oz remains cold. Oz pushes the body over onto the dirt and then tosses Vic’s ID into the river.
Sofia is transported back to Arkham Asylum, a worse fate than death. Within her mail, she receives a letter from her half-sister, Selena Kyle. As Sofia reads this letter, she is both perplexed and moved.
As Oz re-emerges, he has new clothes and a new car, all of which look neater and cleaner than a gangster’s apparel. He walks into his new apartment to greet his bedridden mother as she looks out the window with a blank stare. In the next room, he walks towards a woman who appears as his mother, wearing her dress and hair in a similar style. As Oz walks closer, it’s apparent that it’s not his mother but Eve, his lover. The two dance as Oz and his mother used to while Eve praises him just like she’s his mother. Oz achieves it all while revealing to viewers how evil he is.
This finale was twisted and bittersweet as the season came to a clean close. Audiences lost a golden character, Vic, although this played into Oz’s demented character. As he killed his own family, he also killed Vic. While his mother begged him to kill her if she ever became unresponsive, he kept her alive against her will. The series did a phenomenal job manipulating the audience just as Oz did to those around him. At some points, he seemed genuine, though that was a part of his gimmick. This made the ruthless finale so intense; Oz is a monster as he is claimed to be, but even worse than that. The series set up Oz to be a supervillain worthy to go up against The Batman and possibly prepared the storyline for The Batman II (2026).
Rating: 9.5/10