Having done its own version of the Killing Joke and set up No Man’s Land at the end of last season, Gotham enters the final stretch with a look that blends post-apocalypse chic with Halloween haunted houses; in other words, a mega-budget version of Knott’s Scary Farm with Batman villains. Which is how it should be: a show that started out as an almost-realistic cop procedural has steadily and deliberately descended into madness, such that some fans now affectionately refer to the show as “Got Ham?”

In fact, the new season teaser spends two-and-a-half minutes recapping exactly how that happened, showcasing every major villain in a montage of madness. But then the new stuff starts:

As for things you don’t see in the teaser, CBR’s live recap of the panel quotes executive producer John Stephens as saying that Jeremiah, the show’s Joker-but-we-can’t-literally-call-him-Joker-because-movie-rights, “has a somewhat deranged girlfriend who dresses in a multi-colored fashion. I wouldn’t describe it as a healthy relationship, but there’s a meeting of minds,” Stephens teased. “She likes roller skates.” So whether they can name her or not, it’s pretty clear they’re talking a Harley Quinn-like figure.

The panel also confirmed that Shane West’s character of Dorrance, Alfred’s old army buddy, will evolve into Bane, and in a version of Knightfall, will break Alfred’s back (though the show’s version of Azrael is good and dead, so it can only go so far down that road). In happier news, Penguin gets a pet dog. And yes, Bruce will at last get his fateful encounter with a bat. As if to prove not every single major villain will show up prior to Batman in this Gotham City, King Snake was shot down, but we will see Magpie.

Are you ready for this Dark Knight to finally rise? Let us know in the comments below.

Image: Fox