Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't yet watched Gotham's "The Primal Riddle."
Tonight's episode of Gotham wasn't quite as absurd and baffling as other recent installments, but lots of plot movement occurred, with Ed Nygma's Riddler causing issues among one villainous group while a vengeful Penguin and Ivy somewhat peacefully put together another squad of baddies. But even in an episode with the return of Mr. Freeze, perhaps the biggest moment came whenever young Selina Kyle took the final step on her path to becoming Catwoman, and while it was an aesthetic reminder of Tim Burton's Batman Returns, the set-up and execution were quite different.
While O.G. Bruce Wayne is out learning wisdom from a new mentor, Bruce 2.0 is assuming the future Batman's identity within Wayne Manor, all while checking in with his "masters," the Court of Owls. But it seems like this version of Bruce isn't capable of wholeheartedly falling to villainous intentions, and we see him grow reluctant to go through with a plot that will kill people within Gotham City. it culminated in him showing up to warn Selina that bad things were going, and he advised her to leave town. Of course, confessing that he wasn't really Bruce Wayne wasn't a genius tactic, and after she threatened to out Bruce 2.0 to Alfred, the doppelgänger's impulses took over and pushed Selina out of a window, at which point she fell to her flat-backed death that luckily didn't completely destroy the back of her skull. The cats might have eaten it all up anyway. Ew.
Selina's big fall was hinted at in a previous trailer, at which point the Michelle Pfeiffer comparisons were impossible to escape. But rather than catching some evildoer in the act, she's killed for not heeding an evildoer's somewhat kind-hearted words. And really, there aren't a whole lot of "Selina Kyle dies and is resurrected as Catwoman" origin stories out there, since the villainous persona tends to form while Selina is still alive and intent on causing some mayhem.
Strange that this non-Bruce would kill Selina when it's the very thing he struck out to stop from becoming a reality, and it will no doubt play heavily into how Bruce and Selina's relationship moves forward. Assuming, of course, that she doesn't just stay unmoving on that hard ground for the remainder of the season. But will cats be the impetus for her regained health, or will another member of Gotham City's rogues gallery step in?
Gotham will continue rolling on through its "Heroes Rise" arc every Monday night on Fox at 8:00 p.m. ET. Check out what actress Camren Bicondova told us about the Catwoman storyline that she used as inspiration for Gotham and then head to our summer TV guide to see what's coming to the small screen in the near future.
