5 things we learned from Gotham Season 5, Episode 1

4. The Tabitha/Penguin showdown comes to an abrupt end

In the ensuing showdown, Oswald and Jim have a nice little chest-puffing contest before the actual chopper assailants – Tabitha – arrives and take Coppblepot hostage. Unfortunately, she has loaded the gun with one of Penguin’s malfunctioning bullets, the gun misfires, and Oswald is able to kill Tabitha.

Barbara takes this less than enthusiastically and – with a little assist from her old flame Jim – manages to drive back Penguin. When he doesn’t kill Penguin, Harvey admonishes Gordon that they’re playing by Game of Thrones rules: you win or you die.

However, I don’t think Gordon needs to worry about taking care of Penguin because his ex, Barbara, is now on the warpath. We get a nice/creepy last kiss between Barbara and Tabitha’s dead corpse before the lone Siren vows to kill Penguin.

I am scared and aroused by this performance, even though I am sad that we lost Tabitha Galavan/the Tigress to such a quick and anticlimactic showdown with Oswald. Maybe Gotham’s penchant for resurrections will bring her back for some revenge, but it seems more likely that Barbara will be the one to pull the metaphorical (and probably literal) trigger.

5. Cat didn’t land on her feet

Selina undergoes surgery to stabilize her condition, but she is still left paralyzed. She actually blames Bruce for her current state, telling him that despite all the bad things she did in her life, what got her nearly killed was being Bruce’s friend. Even though this is a pivotal moment that will likely spring her to her eventual anti-hero status as Catwoman, all I can think about is how teenage Bruce is probably dying inside from her still friend-zoning him.

Despondent that she’ll never be able to walk again, she attempts to kill herself with a rogue scalpel. Desperate, Bruce reaches out to a nurse who claims to know someone who can help Selina’s condition.

Unfortunately, the cure the only person who can help her is someone named “the Witch.” I’m sure that’s not going to end poorly.

6. Familiar faces and new players

Ed Nygma is still alive, but he’s not making an appearance. Instead, the Riddler owns his body and is struggling to find out where his body has been going during the evenings – presumably when Nygma is taking control.

The main conflict of the first half of the episode comes when Scarecrow manages to break into the GCPD’s territory, attempting to raid the medicine stores. As Selina is mid-surgery we get to see a desperate Bruce wailing on Crane’s minions, using stealthy takedowns in, ala the style of Batman: Arkham. He may not have the cape yet, but the Caped Crusader is already ninja dropping from the rafters.

We also get our first glimpse today of the dollfaces, who were teased in the previous season finale. We don’t get much in the way of information, but she does leave a nice teaser with a smile and a “hahaha” across the Gotham City map. It could be Mother & Orphan as many suggested in last year, but now there could be fuel to the speculation that the blonde woman is, in fact, a follower of Jeremiah (Harley Quinn?).

What was your favorite moment of the Gotham Season 5 premiere? Do you think Barbara will get her revenge on Oswald? Will we get to see one of the new villains like Bane or Man-Bat in the next episode?

Gotham airs Thursdays on Fox.