The Gotham Finale Goes Into That Dark Knight

The fact that FOX’s Batman prequel series Gotham is going out with an episode titled “The Beginning…” is more than a little bit cheeky. In that tantalizing ellipsis lies every Batman adventure, every lurking villain, every movie and TV series and graphic novel that awaits a grown-up Bruce Wayne -- everything from Suicide Squad to the pun-happy Mr. Freeze to Dr. Chase Meridian. Not to mention the Joker’s dark chaos philosophies and well-plotted bank heists.

Elsewhere on TV tonight, The Orville and Supernatural are closing the shutters on their seasons a week before the traditional May finales. And while the hourlong network genre series are wrapping up, the NFL season is just beginning. 

SERIES FINALE: The final episode of Gotham will jump forward ten years, with Bruce Wayne returning to his hometown, and Penguin and the Riddler cooking up some tandem villainy. Fare thee well to the Batman series that wasn’t about Batman. The true gag, of course, would be if Penguin and Riddler prevailed, but don’t expect the show to be quite that audacious. 8:00PM ET on FOX

SEASON FINALE: To close out the second season of Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi un-comedy The Orville, the crew of the ship will have to deal with the fallout from Kelly’s decision in an episode titled “The Road Not Taken.” This season has earned praise for its focus on character development, but the future of The Orville remains uncertain, so enjoy this hour -- it may be the show’s last. 9:00 PM ET on FOX

SEASON FINALE: With only one more season of Supernatural after this one, fans of the long (long, long, loooong)-running series should savor this episode, because it’s the last season finale we’re going to get. In the episode, titled “Moriah,” all hell breaks loose as Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles), and Castiel (Misha Collins) are thrown into battle. 8:00 PM ET on The CW

SEASON PREMIERE: With all these finales, it’s good to have something starting up again. Top Gear kicks off its twenty-sixth season (and its last with Matt LeBlanc as host) at 9:00 PM ET on BBC America

SPORTS: The 2019 NFL Draft airs on ABC for the first time ever, and now that it’s a big network drama, expect an uptick in American Idol-style human interest angles (Idol’s Luke Bryan will be on hand, in fact). It won’t likely be quite as exciting as last year’s quarterback-studded affair, but if you have a rooting interest, you’ll want to see which college star you’ll be pulling for come fall. 8:00 PM ET on ABC

ALSO TONIGHT

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs an episode that’s supposed to take place in real time, featuring guest star Sean Astin. 9:00 PM ET on NBC
• RuPaul’s Drag Race picks up after last week’s EYE-POPPING lip sync that kept BOTH queens in the competition. Which of the final 8 will be the next to go? We've got our ideas. See if we're right at 9:00 PM ET on VH1
• A Double Shot at Love is earning critical praise and strong ratings for its tongue-in-cheek take on The Bachelor. Find out why at 8:00 PM ET on MTV

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.