Heartwarming / Gotham Season Four

Season 4

4x 01 Pax Penguina

• Bruce and Selina's reunion after the way things were left at the end of Season 3. Bruce makes a sincere apology without justifying his behavior and climbs up on the edge without hesitation when Selina won't take it seriously if he didn't. Selina reacts with her usual mild indifference...until Bruce compliments her dress.
  • Which Bruce does because he is one of the only people who can read what is going on inside of her - he noticed that she was having trouble with her footing. And Selina NEVER has trouble with her balance, unless (despite her veneer of indifference) she was upset. So he backs off the heavy topic / criticism and just compliments her.

4x 02 The Fear Reaper

• Though he gives it up pretty quickly, it's rather sweet that Jim at least attempts to reach out to young Jonathan Crane, knowing the utter torment the poor kid's already gone through.

4x 04 The Demon's Head

• Bruce comforting Alex on the murder of his grandfather, and opening up enough to admit that he'd frozen in fear when his own parents were murdered, just like Alex had. Alex, in return, tells Bruce how bad he'd felt for him when he'd heard about the Wayne killings years ago. All the more touching in that it's the first interaction we've seen Bruce have with someone his own age in a very long time, other than Selina.

4x 09 Let Them Eat Pie

• Oswald and Martin showing up to the benefit in matching tuxedos. Martin even has his hair done up in a little quiff like Oswald's.
• Oswald is so concerned about Martin's wellbeing that he furiously stabs an apathetic man at the table, who scoffs why he should care about an orphan and runs screaming towards Jim, knocking his gun out of his hands, afraid Pyg will kill the boy.

4x 10 Things That Go Boom

• Oswald once again shows that he deeply and genuinely cares for Martin, faking the boy's death to get him out of harm's way.
• Martin hugging Oswald, with Oswald appearing uncomfortable at first before returning the gesture.
• Oswald's verbal put-down to Sofia. "It must be hard for you, living day in and day out trying to earn daddy's approval! I myself can't relate, seeing as my parents loved me without condition!"

4x 12 Pieces of a Broken Mirror

• Tabitha's repeated and determined efforts to save Butch and help him regain his memories. Despite thinking he was dead for the past few months, she's clearly never stopped loving him and immediately greets him with a hug when they come face to face again. Despite Butch thinking of himself as a monster, Tabby is clearly prepared to take him back as he is, swamp muck and all.
• After Alfred runs into a burning building in the Narrows to help rescue people, the same thugs who tried to mug Alfred earlier shake his hand and thank him, more or less apologizing for earlier.

4x 13 A Beautiful Darkness

• Oswald's sincere joy in his realization that, while Ed may still hate him and came to Arkham to taunt him, the Riddler is still inside of him and wants to forge an alliance that will help him escape.
  Oswald: You're still in there!
• Given that it's actually a coded message to the Riddler, Oswald's letter to Ed comes across as surprisingly heartfelt, especially as Oswald attempts to follow through on the sentiment expressed in later episodes:
  Oswald: Dear Ed, Please hear me out. Bring your open mind and open heart, if I may ask. Ed, you once meant very much to me. To my mind, I also meant a lot to you. Arkham has been difficult; I've had to rethink much of my life. So I am writing you today. I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart, and ask you...Can we be friends again? Set aside our differences? You know this would mean a lot to me, and would be good for you as well. Free us both from the hatred that has captured our hearts.
• Let's just say that it's more than a little symbolic that Bruce's vision of Alfred is the one to bring to him to Batman. Doubles as Awesome.

  Bruce: Let me go!

  Alfred: Can't do that, love. I have a mission, see. To bring you to him.

4x 14 Reunion

• Bruce ignores the speech he had intended to give at the Wayne Foundation dinner to instead talk about how much Alfred means to him and apologize.
  • Alfred coming back to Wayne Manor. "I'm not going anywhere, sir. I'm home."
• Selina trying to remind Ivy that they used to be friends and refusing to kill her, which ends up causing Ivy to be unable to kill her as well.
• Oswald's face when Ed arrives at Arkham. After all the crap he's been through in recent episodes, he's just happy to have his best friend back.

4 X 15 The Sinking Ship, the Grand Applause

• Faced with the choice of saving Riddler or having his revenge on Sofia, Penguin chooses to save his friend, admitting afterwards that Ed is the only person he can really trust.
  • Before, Ed also refused to give up Oswald's location even under torture from the Dentist, with no guarantee that Penguin would even come for him in return.
• Bruce and Selina making up, shifting back into their old routine of snarky comments before going full-bore Battle Couple.
• The Riddler offering to buy Martin ice cream, and being sure to let him know that "Uncle Penguin" sent him.
• Jim, recognizing that Oswald is having a really bad day, lets him walk free in exchange for info and sincerely offers him a handshake. Bullock ruins it immediately afterward, but Jim's intentions were nonetheless pure.

4x 16 One of My Three Soups

• Bruce lets Selina out of his car, telling her she doesn't owe him anything and that he's going to take on Jerome himself. Later, Selina shows up to save him anyway.
• Before leaving the diner, Selina tells Bruce not to take so much responsibility that he ends up getting himself killed. From the way she said it, you could almost hear her saying, "...because I couldn't stand it if something happened to you."
• Tetch has hypnotized hundreds of people to jump off a building at the stroke of midnight. If they're told to save themselves, or if Gordon or the cops try to pull them back they'll jump. Gordon's solution? Telling them to "Save each other." And it works.
• Gordon and Bullock mend their relationship further over a well-earned scotch. Specifically, Bullock tells Gordon that if Gordon had been in jail, he wouldn't have been able to save the hundreds of people he did earlier that night, Bullock himself included.

4x 17 Mandatory Brunch Meeting

• Jeremiah refuses to leave without Ecco. He spent years hiding from Jerome in a windowless bunker, but despite that fear of his brother, he wasn't willing to abandon her.
  • And despite how obviously terrified he is of Jerome, Jeremiah still only attempts to imprison his twin rather than kill him.

4x 18 That's Entertainment

• Alfred giving Bruce a matte black, bulletproof Mustang for his birthday and telling him a story about how much he'd loved a wagon his father had given him when he turned seven. Bruce hugs him. Alfred is so pleased by Bruce's reaction that instead of calling him by his usual formal title, he calls him "mate".
  • After Bruce's sudden level in Jerkass a couple episodes and Alfred understandably being slow to forgive him, the two having repaired their relationship is relieving to see.
• Bruce thanking Selina for coming to celebrate his birthday. Selina is pleased as punch that Bruce is back to his normal self again and can't stop smiling at him.
  • Bruce doesn't seem terribly upset by Selina breaking in and "stealth" blowing out his birthday candles. Then again, considering the rough sort of life Selina's had, it might have been years since she's gotten to blow out candles on a birthday cake.
  • Also, Selina reveals that she'd never believed Bruce's "brat" phase was anything but that: a role he was just playing at, that he could never truly embrace or sustain.
• It's brief, and a bit of Tearjerker, but Jeremiah actually seemed a bit upset upon seeing Jerome's body. Despite knowing full well the danger he posed, he probably didn't want his twin to die.

4x 19 To Our Deaths and Beyond

• Oftentimes, when Selina and Bruce have a major disagreement or act in a way the other person objects to they'll part ways for a while with either one or both of them angry at the other. This time, despite giving Barbara the knife, Selina comes back quickly and explains why she'd done it. That alone would have been heartwarming, but it's made even more so by the fact that her justification is that she'd hoped Bruce wouldn't have to kill Ra's again.
• After spending the entire episode fighting to keep the mark of the Demon's Head, Barbara gives it up when Ra's threatens Tabitha. This is after three seasons of fighting and backstabbing.
• The conversation Barbara and Tabitha have prior to the start of the plan to kill Ra's.
  Tabitha: Three years we've been together... on and off... and I've never seen you doubt yourself the way you are now. So whatever plan you have, I'm in. But if you don't think you can do it... that's where I jump ship.
• After yet another addition to the list of times Nygma and Oswald have betrayed each other, the former assures the latter that it's nothing personal, but going against Lee is going against him.
  • The fact that Ed took the time out of his escape to tell Oswald that at all is pretty sweet. Part of him still cares what his old friend thinks of him.

4x 20 That Old Corpse

• Though it becomes a bit of a Tearjerker with the hindsight that Jeremiah was playing him the whole time Bruce's constant concern for and efforts to help Jeremiah are very sweet. There's a sense that the two young men could have had a long-lasting friendship.

4x 21 One Bad Day

• At the beginning of the episode, Harvey attempts to rally the GCPD into searching for Gordon but is met with silence since they remember his disastrous tenure as Captain and it's only after Harper points out that if they trust Gordon and Gordon trusts Harvey, they should trust Harvey too. After risking his life to disable one of Jeremiah's bombs, Harvey walks back in to get people to search for the rest of the bombs. He's again met with silence before they all start applauding him for his heroic act.
• Selina tells Bruce she'll be there whenever he needs her. They later share a kiss.
• Selina and Alfred calming Bruce down while he's under fear gas.
• Alfred instantly and ferociously pummeling the living crap out of Jeremiah for shooting Selina. This, from the guy who'd needed most of the series to come to accept her friendship with Bruce.

4x 22 No Man's Land

• After receiving a call that Selina has been shot, Tabitha immediately gears up to track down Jeremiah to kill him in retaliation. But she only leaves when she's sure Butch is in good hands as well.
• Bruce promises Selina that he's not going to leave her. While he ultimately does leave the hospital, it's because the military makes him do it.
• Bullock and the rest of the GCPD refusing to let the military arrest Gordon a second time.
• Lee saying a part of her will always care for Jim, and giving him a gentle goodbye kiss.
• Bruce intends to stay in Gotham, but tells Alfred to go with Selina because he doesn't want her to be alone.
• Tabitha actually returns the sentiment when Butch says he loves her.
• Oswald makes good on his promise and gets Butch cured, the two men call each other friends and it seems like the bad blood between them from their past is gone. When Oswald shoots Butch to hurt Tabitha and to finally get revenge for his mother's death, Oswald apologizes for it and seems sincerely sorry.
• Despite being betrayed by Riddler, Oswald has someone go find him and Lee and has them brought to Strange with the order to "fix them". Even better with the fact that he really had no apparent reason to save Lee other than the simple fact that Ed cared about her.
  • As a season 5 flashback reveals, Oswald didn't just send someone, he went to the Narrows personally.
• After the military abandons the city Gordon chooses to stay behind to protect it. Bullock stays too as does Lucius who was able to get one of Jeremiah's generators and restored it to its original purpose so the GCPD station has power. When Bruce arrives later, he notes there's at least a dozen officers who stayed as well.