Falcone Is a Likely Suspect in 'Gotham's Big Case

As the first half of Gotham's first season winds down, the show has started to pivot away from just establishing its famous characters to pulling apart the mysteries of who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne. Fish Mooney already tried to frame Mario Pepper, Ivy's father, and Harvey Dent is preparing to build a case against corporate mastermind Dick Lovecraft, whom he believes is responsible for the murder (even though we've never seen or heard about Lovecraft before). But might the Don of Gotham himself, Carmine Falcone, have killed the Waynes? One of the big revelations Bruce Wayne uncovered was that his parents' company was at least partially under Falcone's connections. And when he spoke to a representative from "middle management," she turned out to be wise to a criminal conspiracy to manufacture a highly addictive and deadly street drug.

So Carmine has a vested interest in Wayne Enterprises, and picking off Thomas and Martha could let him push one of his goons as President of the company, after years of paying off the board. Remember, because this is Batman Jr., Bruce Wayne doesn't have any power over his parents' billion-dollar company, and they haven't shown any board members on Gotham yet — possibly because they're all in Falcone's pocket.

The Waynes have always been known as do-gooders, but their company is a natural target for ambitious criminals like Falcone, especially since Gotham's mob has fronts (paper-thin though they may be) to legitimize its profits. And while we've usually seen the Waynes be super-kajillionaires, maybe they had a bunch of their cash tied up in Falcone's businesses, and needed to pay up. It would be a shift from their usual reputation, but they could owe the mob millions and been murdered because they refused to pay up.

Plus, we don't know what the Wayne parents had in the works just before they were murdered. They could have been plotting to crack down on organized crime, maybe by enacting stricter regulation or by using what's been turned into Falcone's street drug Viper to help people stop using other drugs. Maybe it was some form of treatment before Stan Potolsky got to it, who knows.

Falcone has acquired much of his power through real estate holdings, as well — just like the Arkham decision. He was able to fix the vote to swing his way by buying city councilmen, even though he eventually decided on compromise with Maroni to preserve peace between their families. The Waynes hold a great deal of Gotham City buildings in their power, and Falcone could seize some of those assets if he knocked out the Waynes.

While we're still waiting to find out who really killed Batman's parents, Falcone is a good suspect, given how much he stands to gain with Gotham's first family out of the way — at least until young Bruce puts on a cape and a mask.

Images: Jessica Miglio, Justin Stephens (2)/FOX