You get a brain scrambling computer chip! You get a brain scrambling computer chip! Everyone gets a brain scrambling computer chip!
’13 Stitches’ saw the much needed return of Jim’s main squeeze (both on and off screen), Dr. Lee Tomkins (Morena Baccarin). I was wondering where she had been this whole season, and I’m super mad at myself at not catching the huge twist. You guessed it. Lee Tomkins now has a brain scrambling computer chip inside of her.
The unveiling of said plot twist was on point, as military leader, Theresa Walker (who makes her on screen debut) announces that there is another mind-controlled assassin out there to kill Jim. She also contributes to the unorthodox origin story of the classic Bane character, as she uses the familiar respirator type mask to save an impaled Eduardo Dorrance. There’s a lot of liberties with character origins on this show, but I’m cool with it.
Meanwhile, Bruce does some detective work to find the whereabouts of Jim. While at GCPD with the military, he immediately confronts them about Jim’s whereabouts. He can instantly tell that they are lying to him. “Logically, he’d come back here … unless, there’s some reason he can’t.” This kid (David Mazouz) absolutely nails the line as his voice deepens in a threatening manner. Very Batman-esque. An added plus is his fighting style throughout recent episodes that mirrors that of the iconic character.(Some of the moves are straight out of the Arkham series games.) I’ve always loved the casting and attention to detail on this show.
Another fun subplot saw Selina team up with Penguin against a new burglar baddy named Magpie. From what I’ve read this is the character’s first live action incarnation. The constant strange bedfellow team ups in this show never disappoint. The dynamic between the two villains is great, and we even get to see a bit of Selina’s obsession with large diamonds.
Elsewhere, Jeremiah captures Alfred at Wayne Manor to set the stage for the Thomas and Martha Wayne doppelgänger unveiling next week. He’s taking on more of a Jack Nicholson approach this time around and the preview for next week shows that iconic Batman versus Joker-esque scene above the chemical vats from the first movie (Ace Chemicals). I definitely popped big for that.
This is random but Harvey had a very subtle line near the end of the episode along the lines of, ” I don’t know how may more close calls this old heart can take.” It really made me worry that this is some sort of foreshadowing about the character going out soon. I hope I’m wrong, but I could see it.
This episode had like three solid endings that would’ve worked, but the surprises kept coming. As I had predicted, Barbara and Jim’s late night fling resulted in Barbara Kean getting pregnant. Naturally, Kean announced the news in front of Lee Tomkins to ruin the reunion and really let it sink in. Awkward. We are however fully aware that their child will be none other than Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl. This leads me to believe that Barbara Kean will also be going out in a future episode, thus Jim naming their child after her.
Gotham is certainly keeping things moving and interesting on this final season. The show deserves more than five seasons, but everything this season has been really fun. Each week we are getting huge character milestones, reveals, and origin stories. I’m sad the show is coming to an end, but there’s no doubt in my mind the finale will deliver. I’m also keeping an eye on that #brucewaynespinoff hashtag on social media. To be continued.
Rating: 8 out of 10
13 Stitches is now on demand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzCk_tyX-0Y
