Gotham S05E09 Review: Walking Egg Timer

Gotham, Season 5, Episode 9: The Trial of Jim Gordon

As we're hurtling headlong to the final episodes of Gotham, we get one of those episodes where the atmosphere is trippy and the main character is forced to confront the sins of the past. It's something that Gotham has tried to do several times in smaller doses in the past, but the context for this one is Jim Gordon getting shot in the chest while negotiating a cease-fire for clean water between the various gangs of No Man's Land, and spends the entire episode in some bizarre purgatory where another ghostly Gordon holds him trial for "ruining the lives of everyone he touches". Definitely a very Batman-esque mindset, and as someone who just played through Arkham Knight for the first time last month, definitely a sentiment felt by Batman at many times.

I'm still not sold on the whole 'baby' storyline with Barbara being pregnant, but at least it's mostly in the background this episode, and judging by the time skip that this episode has, is going to be resolved relatively quickly. Meanwhile, Bullock is on the warpath, trying to find out who shot Jim Gordon, and we get a fun confrontation between him, Oswald and Barbara.

Meanwhile, speaking of someone who feels that he's destructive, Bruce and Selina have a weird date, while Bruce confesses that he thinks the best thing he might do at the moment is to leave -- especially since at least three villains (Theo Gallavan, Ra's al Ghul and Jeremiah) have targeted Gotham City because of him. I mean, he's not wrong, and the episode gets interrupted with the arrival of Ivy as the main antagonist before we get a proper, concrete answer.

Of course, everything that happens in this episode is Poison Ivy's fault, and after being recasted several times, it's nice to have Poison Ivy be finally someone truly relevant to a story. Showing up with that one Mutant Leader dude, Ivy kidnaps Bruce and heads off to GCPD for some pro-plant doomsday plan. She's also the one who mind-controlled Victor Zsasz to shoot Gordon, and love-struck, happy Zsasz is a hilarious, hilarious Zsasz. We get some fun action scenes as Zsasz shoots up the precinct while talking calmly about how Ivy loves him, and the confrontation of Bullock showing up in Riddler's old bomb suit from earlier this season and the whole exchange with Zsasz (hee hee hee what an idiot) is hilarious.

Another strong emotional moment that's understated in all the chaos of this is Leslie Thompkins confused about how she's going to be a parent of any sort to Barbara and Gordon's child, and who better to tell her how to be a good mommy than Alfred Pennyworth, the best-ever adoptive dad any fictional character can ask for? Lee later fights against Ivy personally, and ends up shooting her in the gut... but not before Ivy smashes the vial of medication for Gordon just for added drama.

Meanwhile, Bruce ends up spraying Lucius with Ivy's perfume to get him to cooperate... but it's Selina to the rescue as she drop-kicks Bruce and later on Lucius to snap them out of Ivy's mind control. We get Selina screaming in Bruce's face about how he doesn't really care about Gotham City if he's so willing to leave, which I guess is the conclusion to that plot thread? Anyway, they save the day and stop Lucius' machine from turning Gotham into a plant paradise. I suppose it's just returning Selina back to her normal, more heroic self that cares for Bruce? That whole cat-eyed savage Selina sort of went nowhere, huh?

Meanwhile, in purgatory land, Gordon is faced with Dark Bride Lee who tells Gordon that she got a broken heart, broken engagement and a lost child because of him. The ghosts of the Haven dead show up, including that one kid. "Your best wasn't good enough", says the kid. But when he's shoved into the executioner's chair, Gordon just screams about how he wants to live... it's all over-dramatic and all, but as one last hurrah for a relationship-centric episode before the next couple of episodes is full-on action, it's all right to have.

And then we get a surprising time-skip to a huge event that I didn't think Gotham was ever going to do... Gordon marries Lee! With bullock as the officiator "by the powers vested unto [him] by absolutely no one". We also get Bruce and Selina kissing. And... and I like this, honestly. I have grown pretty attached to the cast of Gotham over the years, leading to a pretty great conclusion to these characters' relationship. The episode's honestly a bit rocky, but season five of Gotham has certainly continued to impress. And, well, as Bullock himself states, despite the fluctuating quality of this show over the years, at least it's brought two wonderful people together -- and I don't mean Gordon and Lee the characters, I mean the actors, who are happily married and raising a daughter.

The cliffhanger seems to be a bit more about Barbara, who's shown to be trying to impress Gordon by doing his orders of "keep the city in order" but ends up, well, getting passed over for Leslie. It's partly jealousy and probably partly because of Oswald's constant mockery about how she "never had a chance", and while I'm not a particularly big fan of Barbara being motivated by what boils down to a love triangle, it's honestly a plot development that feels at home in all the madness and throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks mentality that fuels Gotham as a show.