TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Gotham Season 5 Episode 6: 13 Stiches

What I love about Gotham is that when it hits, it really hits. And “13 Stitches” is continuing to prove why Gotham Season 5 might just be the best Gotham season ever despite its lower episode count. The big reason for this is that they’re not dawdling with anything for the most part. Everything has to keep going, and they’re doing that. Case in point, the beginning of the episode is Gordon running from Nygma who was sent to kill him at the end of the last episode.

Then, after Gordon frees Nygma, he goes to Babs for shelter, and do they stay there the whole episode? Nope! Eduardo found him, and another shootout occurs. It was a breakneck pace of an episode, and one that had many nice twists and turns and bloody battles. The fist fight between Gordon and Eduardo was particularly fun, as Gordon played mind games in order to get the upperhand, it was very fun.

Leslie coming back into the fold was expected, but still poignant. Gordon will always have a soft spot for Leslie, and both Eduardo and Walker knew it. Her being another sleeper agent was predictable though given what happened to Riddler.

Speaking of whom, Nygma got a lot of the best lines today, including the “is that really the weirdest thing you’ve ever heard?” line given how crazy Gotham is. And his “bomb threat” to the mercs was fun stuff, as was Harvey knowing the answer to the riddle…Harvey!

And the sight of Riddler, Lucius, Barbara, Alfred, Bruce, and Gordon all working together was one heck of a sight. As Gordon said, “War makes strange bedfellows”.

Ironically enough, that led to the only  bad part of the episode in my opinion, the Magpie storyline. Magpie was never a big Batman villain (though she did appear in Beware the Batman), and she didn’t need to be the best villain around. But…I do wish we had gotten a little more about her. Including how Selina knew about Magpie, and more about her “shiny” nature. Still, the adventure was worth the price of admission for Selina and Oswald to both team up and agree to get out of Gotham together.

And I’d be remiss without mentioning how “13 Stitches” tackled the arrival of Walker, the birth of Bane, and the potential birth of Barbara Gordon! Yep, Babs is pregnant, after having slept with Gordon only a week ago at best…yeah…not buying that, but whatever. And for her to do it in front of Bullock and Leslie? Classic Babs.

Oh, and now Jeremiah has kidnapped Alfred…and “today is the day”…

All in all, “13 Stitches” was a great episode that brought a lot to the table. And with 6 episodes left, things are only going to get more chaotic.