‘Gotham’ Season Finale Shocker, Jada Pinkett-Smith Reveals Fish Mooney’s Fate

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of Gotham.]

In case you missed it and want the lowdown on Gotham‘s season finale, here it is: The city of Gotham is under siege, as a gang war erupts courtesy of the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor). While Gotham‘s prime gangsters Falcone (John Doman) and Maroni (David Zayas) are fighting it out, Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett-Smith) returns to stake her own claim with the hopes of regaining control of Gotham City.

When Penguin fails to put Falcone down, he reaches out to Detective Gordon (Ben McKenzie), who owes him a favor from a previous Gotham episode, and is put up at a safe house. It seems Penguin will be able to wait out the war raging on Gotham’s streets — until Fish Mooney shows up to confront him. Ironically, Fish suffers the same fate she had once intended for Penguin. Remember the beginning episodes of Gotham when Gordon was asked to shoot Penguin and dump him in the lake?

That’s exactly where Fish Mooney ended up, courtesy of Gotham‘s Penguin. Entertainment Weekly hoped to get the real scoop on Smith’s character, but Smith was as elusive as the criminal she portrays on Gotham. Jada would only confirm that she wouldn’t be a series regular on Gotham, but, as to whether Fish Mooney was really dead, she could not be pressed to reveal.

Ms. Smith did reveal that Mooney’s story within the Gotham plot developed into a much more detailed story than she, or Gotham‘s writers, had anticipated.

“I don’t think any of us really thought that Fish would have the life that she’s had or be one of the favorite characters on the show. She was there to service a purpose, as far as helping to tell Penguin’s story. I never knew exactly what it was going to be, but she’s not part of the original mythology. She was created for the television show specifically. I’m a smart girl. I understood I was there to service Penguin.”

Ms. Pinkett-Smith says that she grew up reading about the characters whose stories are now being told in Gotham and, as Fish Mooney wasn’t a part of the original mythology, it enabled her to really contribute something new to the Batman mythology.

Ms. Smith doesn’t feel regret regarding her Gotham character, but, she did say that she wished there could have been a deeper character development.

“I wish there could’ve been more information about her background because then people might’ve even enjoyed her more. That’s really the only thing, and that’s just my own technical thinking, putting my producer hat on.”

Jada Pinkett-Smith confessed that she made her announcement that she wouldn’t be returning to Gotham for the show’s second season without considering the ramifications of making that decision public. She never considered that she was essentially dropping a huge Gotham season finale spoiler to fans.

“Sometimes I can be a little too honest and when I get asked a question, I just answer it. I had already told everyone that I had always signed a year… In my mind, it didn’t seem like a big deal. I was there for a season. I didn’t think it was such a secret. Once I realized, I was like, ‘Wow, there it is. I’m not coming back. Can’t back peddle.’ It was a moment of me not really thinking about it, being asked a question, and thinking that everybody know that, but it’s cool. I think it worked out.”

Aside from the release of Magic Mike XXL, Ms. Pinkett-Smith couldn’t confirm any future projects. The actress said she was considering several roles following her departure from Gotham.

[Featured image: Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney courtesy of Fox/Gotham]