Warning: major spoilers ahead for Episode 3 of Gotham Season 5, called "Penguin, Our Hero."
The stakes have never been higher on Gotham than now as the fifth and final season explores No Man's Land. With only a limited number of episodes left, characters like Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne have gotten closer and closer to embracing their destinies as icons of DC Comics history. Selina was facing permanent paralysis after being shot by Jeremiah, but the unexpected assistance of Ivy with a healing seed got Selina on her feet again.
Actress Camren Bicondova chatted with CinemaBlend about Bruce and Selina in the episode. First, let's look back at what went down between them. In "Penguin, Our Hero," Selina and Bruce teamed up to try and find Jeremiah, and Gotham set the stage for Bruce and Selina to make their transformations into the Batman and Catwoman fans have been hoping for. Unhinged by the effects of the seed, Selina embarked on a mad quest for revenge on Jeremiah, and she pulled Bruce along with her. She crossed some lines that he was not comfortable with, and he may never see her the same way again.
Speaking with Camren Bicondova, I asked how Bruce and Selina would be different after the events of "Penguin, Our Hero," and she said this:
He's definitely going to see her in a different light and he definitely doesn't agree with anything that she's doing. I also don't think that he understands that even though she says she's in control, she just isn't because her mind, this drug that Ivy has given her, has completely altered her, the way that her brain operates. They'll go through their trials and tribulations like they always do, because they're Bruce and Selina. I think the main thing that happens with Bruce is not necessarily that what happens to Selina changes his mind about her, because he'll always love her. I think it's mainly he realizes how much Gotham has been affected by people because of him and his existence in Gotham and his position in Gotham. I think anything, what happens to Selina in Episode 3, is a catalyst for Bruce's decision that he makes at the end of the season.
BatCat fans, don't despair! As much as the events of "Penguin, Our Hero" have seemingly changed Bruce and Selina's dynamic forever, there will always be love between them. The seed that has been drugging Selina courtesy of Ivy fundamentally altered her, and last week's episode even showed Selina's eyes going cat-like. Selina is well on her way to becoming Catwoman, and Camren Bicondova's comments indicate that Bruce's decision at the end of Season 5 is at least partly shaped by what has happened to Selina.
Given that Gotham has been Bruce's origin story retold with a twist, fans have predicted (for good reason) all along that the series would end with Bruce becoming Batman. The realization of how Selina was permanently changed as a direct result of Jeremiah's attack, which happened because of Jeremiah's obsession with Bruce, would be a fitting catalyst for sure. The two people that Season 5 Bruce seems to love the most are Selina and Alfred, and Alfred is in for some pain of his own this season.
In the third episode, Selina had initially convinced Bruce that she was on board with his plan to bring Jeremiah back to Haven to stand trial, but the deeper they traveled into the Dark Zone, the more clear it became that Selina had something else in mind. Bruce clearly had some misgivings after Selina slashed a gang leader -- who looked an awful lot like Mutant Leader -- to ribbons across the face, and he used a grappling gun to stop her from going too far on him.
When the duo tracked Jeremiah to a church filled with worshippers of the madman, Selina evaded Bruce and faced off against Ecco. Gotham's version of Harley Quinn led a group of Jeremiah's followers (and Selina as she tried to fit in) in a game of Russian roulette, which led to a bloody showdown in which Ecco revealed that she'd participated in the game herself and had a bullet rattling around her noggin. That explains her particular brand of crazy!
Ecco did manage to stab poor Selina in the leg; when Bruce rushed to try and help Selina (and stop her from chasing after Ecco), however, Selina cuffed him to a door and left him there, continuing her crazed quest to exact vengeance on Jeremiah. Selina crossed just about every line Bruce tried to set. Fans have never seen them any closer to the legendary Catwoman/Batman dynamic than they were in this episode. What next for BatCat?
Selina's evolution toward Catwoman is hastening Bruce's evolution to becoming Batman. All signs as of now seem to point toward Bruce and Selina as two people who love each other but also fundamentally disagree with each other on some key points. This sure sounds like the beginnings of a dynamic of a crusader for justice who can't bring himself to take down the criminal he's fallen in love with, right?
Camren Bicondova went on to talk about her favorite Bruce/Selina scenes:
The scene that is actually in Episode 3 where Ecco gets away and he tries to stop Selina, that was really cool to shoot, which David [Mazouz] was a really great partner in that scene. But all of the scenes... Towards the end of the season, Bruce and Selina are sitting on the stairwell in the GCPD, and it was a really beautiful scene to shoot. So hopefully it translates on screen.
Like many BatCat fans undoubtedly were, Camren BIcondova was a fan of the scene in "Penguin, Our Hero" when Bruce tried to stop Selina and Selina locked him up to stop him. Based on what she had to say, it was also one of a number of Bruce/Selina scenes that are still on the way.
It's too soon to guess what exactly Bruce and Selina will talk about during what seems to be a meaningful stairwell soon, but we can have fun speculating, especially now that the two characters are closer than ever to becoming Batman and Catwoman. A lot may depend on what goes down in next week's episode. Camren Bicondova teased that Jeremiah will be back very soon, and viewers may be surprised by who is helping him. Gotham showrunner John Stephens had some interesting teases about Jeremiah's return as well.
There are also a bunch of villains who will debut, and however Jeremiah returns will undoubtedly be game-changing. Be sure to tune in to Fox on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET to catch new episodes of the fifth and final season of Gotham.
