'Gotham' Should Keep Butch Around Without Fish

It has to be said, so let's just rip it off like a band-aid: Jada Pinkett Smith is leaving Gotham . She'll ride out the final few episodes of Season 1, but next fall she won't be back for the second season. So what does this mean for her righthand man? Will Butch be written off of Gotham , too? It's disappointing that this news broke so early, because it functions as a spoiler: I guess Fish Mooney may end up in an early grave or walking away from her ambitions. Man, what a disappointment. I was really hoping that before the show had to get serious about its Batman inspirations, Gotham would really go for it and have Fish Mooney running the place for a few seasons, ruling over the underclass with an iron fist, with Butch carrying out all of her wishes.

Butch isn't the most complex character on the show. He helps Fish achieve her dream of taking over the Gotham City, and that's it. His whole purpose on the show so far has been to do this, and he's never really been deepened or developed further. So now that we know that Fish is being written off of the show, there's not much of a reason to have Butch either, right? But there are other reasons they could have Butch stick around.

He Could Become A Company Man

We saw that Victor Zsasz was proud of brainwashing Butch to no longer be loyal to Fish and instead be totally loyal to Falcone. While it hasn't seemed like Butch was really hypnotized, but rather just changed his mind about his love of Fish (heart = broken), maybe he's really a diehard Falcone-ite now, and will pledge his devotion to helping Carmine retain control over his half of Gotham City.

He Could Join Forces With The Penguin

There's no one on the show who's more similar to Fish than Penguin. They're both short, wear a ton of eyeliner, have close relationships with their mothers, and have animal nicknames. The only difference is that Penguin's still just at the beginning of his journey to become the most fearsome gangster in Gotham City, so Butch would be wise to hitch on to Oswald Cobblepot's rising star.

He Could Exit The Whole Scene

There's no hope now that Fish will take over the entire mob, so maybe Butch will give up on his dreams of helping her get there and move on. He could become a police informant (which would be the ultimate screw you to everyone he's ever worked for), or just run off and go into Witness Protection, adjusting to a totally new life farming soybeans or running a gift shop on Route 66. I wouldn't mind if Butch went the full Dexter.

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