The long-awaited return of Lee Thompkins finally came to fruition this week on Gotham. After her near-death battle against Edward in the season 4 finale, Lee’s whereabouts remained unknown. We knew that she was turned into a killing machine by Bane’s team, but Lee … no one knew what happened to her. So, when she turned up out of the blue as Bane’s hostage, the alarms kept going off. And thankfully, the answer to the mystery didn’t stay a secret for too long.
Of course, she would be turned into a hypnotized soldier, too. Hugo Strange wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to mess with her mind after he turned Edward into a killing machine. What’s funny, but strange, about this situation is that only Barbara Kean felt suspicious of her. By this point in the timeline, Edward most likely told James Gordon and Harvey Bullock about his fight with Lee since that’s how he ended up with Hugo Strange. If he was taken then it’s reasonable to deduce that Lee was taken away, too. The fact that no one put the pieces together or even had a moment of hesitation seemed completely off. Almost as if James dropped his acute paranoia and investigative skills to be clouded by his emotions to support the twist.
Luckily, Gotham wrapped up Lee’s soldier twist quickly. If we had to sit through more time of someone trying to kill James, the plot would’ve never moved forward. The same goes about Edward’s attack on James. After the weeks of build-up, Edward needed to snap out of it and get things moving. No more waiting around for Edward to deal with his blackouts and killer tendencies.
I’m excited that Gotham is starting the next phase of Bane and Walker’s big plan. With her now in Gotham City, the mercenaries can take their fight to the streets and she’ll have more control over moving the needle forward. Plus, with Bane wearing his mask, he could transform into the version that’s contaminated with chemicals – that psychotic criminal was super-strong and extremely dangerous. Gotham City has a lot to worry if that turns out to be true.
Barbara had a Top 5 best mic drop moment with her pregnancy twist. Once Lee returned and James’ attention diverted back to his ex, you knew she couldn’t wait to throw a wrench in their reunion. And Barbara deserved a bit of attention after James kept snubbing her. Throughout Gotham’s fifth season, she really tried to change and be good support for James, especially with providing shelter at the Sirens Club and helping at Haven. Even with all that, he still disregarded her and put Lee on a pedestal. Last time we checked Lee was just as much a villain as Barbara; the only difference was that Barbara acknowledged her villainy.
With this reveal, we now have the emergence of the future Batgirl storyline: Barbara Gordon. Ever since the pilot episode, every Batman fan knew that James Gordon and Barbara Kean would eventually give birth to the future Batgirl. We didn’t know when or how, but this origin story was in the cards long before Gotham started. The twist was fully expected, but it was very welcome!
Who knew that Oswald and Selina’s partnership was the duo storyline that we needed? They make no sense together as uneasy allies, but the chemistry strangely worked. Catwoman and The Penguin balanced each other out: he had the resources and the confidence to kill people at will, while she had the fighting ability and cunningness to get out of danger. Together, they make a strong duo. Though let’s be real here, Selina shouldn’t trust Oswald. There’s no way he’s taking her off the island with him. He’ll no doubt backstab her in his pursuit to leave.
Magpie’s first and only appearance as a villain came across more like an irritating bug than a captivating bird. Her role felt very much like a campy caricature of someone trying to act like the magpie bird itself. In a longer season with 22 episodes, her character could’ve been fleshed out more to give her depth and nuance. However, with a short appearance, she ended up being nothing more than a distraction. Magpie played her part to get Selina and Oswald together, but she didn’t leave her mark on Gotham’s rogues gallery.
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What could Jeremiah have planned with Alfred in his possession? The obvious answer must have to do with Bruce Wayne. It’s ALWAYS about Bruce Wayne. Jeremiah wants to get out of the city, but he has a strange obsession with the boy millionaire. Before his big plan is to happen, he won’t hesitate to make some type of move to get back at Bruce, even if it means using Alfred as leverage. Based on the hints, we could potentially see Alfred harmed during Jeremiah’s next move.
“13 Stitches” gave James Gordon a reason to look toward the future. He faced his past against Bane and the return of Lee, but now he has a baby on the way – as well as the big bad, Walker. The story closed off the twists that were established in the week before, like the Riddler’s brainwashing. “13 Stitches” wasn’t the most exciting episode, but there were a few nuggets that will be memorable from Gotham’s final season.
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