Last week, we glimpsed some promo photos for Gotham‘s third episode in their last season, entitled “Penguin, Our Hero.” In the pics, we were sort of spoiled to the fact that Selina was up and about and able-bodied enough to stand on a car. As expected, this was properly explained in the second episode of season 5, entitled “Trespassers.” “Properly” is not quite the word for it, but Selena is walking now… with some strange cat-like tendencies to boot.
To help clear up those photos, Fox released a promo for this episode the day that episode 2 premiered. Check it out below:
There’s a good amount to deconstruct from this promo. The first thing that I think requires the most attention: MUTANTS! They were originally teased in a preview back in December, but we finally get a glimpse of them getting beat by the Bat Pup and Kitten team. Live-action mutants from Dark Knight Returns! I never thought that it would be Gotham that would realize such memorable characters.
While the episode is supposedly heavy on Penguin, being that his name is in the title of the episode, this promo seems to push that this is a Selina-centric episode, in which we’re seeing how cat-like she’s becoming.
It’s more than obvious that they’re taking their cues from Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns. She’s probably the most interesting live-action Catwoman we’ve ever had, so it’s a good version of the character from which to take inspiration. So this is where those claws were heading for when we first glimpsed those set photos! It’s all coming together. Also, the chemistry between David Mazouz and Camren Bicondova is pretty darn good and far more convincing than any of Ben McKenzie’s romances.
Harley? Is that you?
And lastly, in the crop of head shots with emoting actors, we had one photo that looked to be Ecco, Jeremiah’s assistant. Well, this promo gives us a brief look at a showdown between Selina and Ecco dressed in a somewhat familiar outfit. There’s been so much speculation that Ecco would be our long-awaited Gotham version of Harley Quinn. While the promo doesn’t confirm, it sure does fuel that flame.
Here’s the synopsis for Gotham S05, E03, “Penguin, Our Hero.”
With the creation of Haven as a safe place for refugees, Gordon hopes to stop the gang fighting in Gotham. Meanwhile, Selina is determined to find Jeremiah (guest star Cameron Monaghan) and she convinces Bruce to help her. Then, Penguin goes to Haven to reclaim his staff in the all-new “Penguin, Our Hero” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, Jan. 17 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (GTH-503) (TV-14 D, L, V)
What do you think? Is that really Harley Quinn, or is it another misdirection? Could it just be the inspiration for the eventual Harley, like we had with Jeremiah/Jerome?
Make sure you tune into Fox this Thursday, January 17 to catch Gotham.