‘Gotham’ Season 5, Episode 2 ‘Tresspassers’ Recap: New Allies & The Birth of Catwoman

In a city where chaos and disarray rules with an iron fist, it’s harder than it ever was for the Gotham Police Department to restore order and balance. But little by little, Captain Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) tries his best to rebuild the dying city from the ruins—even if it means sacrificing many things. This week’s episode of Gotham puts Gordon at the center of a child trafficking operation run by one of Bane’s men (of course, we have yet to see the character’s debut).

Titled “Trespassers,” the episode also answers last week’s cliffhanger about this certain “witch” who can help Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) heal Selina’s (Camren Bicondova) spine injury. Little does he know that it’s actually a reunion of some sort for him with a former friend. Meanwhile, Ed Nygma’s (Cory Michael Smith) amnesia escapade continues, this time with him inflicting serious damage on a hostage that turns into another ally.

Is it me or is tonight’s episode filled with so many unlikely team-ups?

Gordon Saves The Kids

“Trespassers” opens with Gordon finding out about the kid’s origins. The kid’s name is Will Thomas (Hunter Jones), an orphaned kid who’s was enslaved to build a tunnel under the main bridges of Gotham. Gordon decides to help the kid, despite Harvey Bullock’s (Donal Logue) warnings about the price on Gordon’s head (all thanks to Penguin [Robin Lord Taylor]).

Gordon then gets a radio call from one of the officers in the mainland, telling him to stop sending out helicopter requests because it will only jeopardize more men. Apparently, the US government really doesn’t care what happens to the survivors in Gotham as long as they are contained there. With nothing else to cling to, Gordon plans for the rescue mission to save Will’s friends enslaved in the dark zone.

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Gordon knows that he doesn’t have the transportation to reach the dark zone so he asks Barbara (Erin Richards) for help. He’s banking on Barbara’s hatred against Penguin for killing Tabitha. Barbara does offer her help but thinks that Jim is doing this to endanger himself further. In all honesty, she couldn’t care less if Jim dies or is hurt—at least, that’s what she’s making him believe. She then lends Gordon a few of her vehicles for the mission to the dark zone.

That night, Gordon’s crew arrives but is attacked by the dark zone’s inhabitants—hoodlums with skulls painted on their faces. Meanwhile, Gabriel (Will Meyers), one of the enslaved kids, sees a boy collapse due to hunger. He asks for more food and time to rest from Sykes (Alex Morf), the slave boss. Instead, Sykes offers Gabriel a chance to inhale the gas from their masks to make him feel stronger. The boy refuses. Sykes is then alerted by one of his men that trespassers have arrived.

Outside, Jim surrounds Sykes and his men with more guns and an entire police squad. Sykes is delighted at Jim’s arrival, as he knows about Penguin’s bounty on Jim’s head. But Sykes couldn’t even advance, because the police force outnumbers him even in terms of ammo. Jim has Harvey surround Sykes’ group while he frees the kid slaves. But as soon as they leave, a shootout ensues, leaving Jim, Harvey, Gabriel, and two other kids trapped in the dark zone.

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Jim and his group take cover in an abandoned house. Harvey and Jim investigate to see if its safe but is met with an eerie vibe. A kid pretends to ask for their help but ultimately traps them in a room, leaving them with a mysterious figure named Mother (Susannah Rogers). As the two are trapped, strobe lights flash to make them feel dizzy. Jim, however, fights through it but is then subdued by Mother. Jim and Harvey fight back until Mother escapes. The duo heads back out with Gabriel and the kids, only to be found by Sykes’ group again.

But with a price on Gordon’s head, the skull-painted inhabitants also want Jim for themselves. Harvey and Jim defend themselves as another shootout ensues. Sykes gets the upper hand, but an unlikely hero saves the day—Barbara in her machine gun-enhanced jeep. When Sykes and his men are left for dead, Barbara offers a partnership with Gordon to kill Penguin. Gordon considers it, and they make their return to the GCPD.

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Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk) meets them at the courtyard, where many refugees seek help from the GCPD after hearing about Jim’s rescue mission. The people feel safe around him, and they treat Gordon as their savior.

A Massive Riddle for Nygma

Ed is still clueless about what’s happening to him. He wakes up in his house, strapped to his bed. He considers it a victory because it means that he didn’t run off into the night to wake up in another dumpster the next morning. But when he checks himself out in the mirror, he sees a man named Tank (David Kallaway) tied up in the bathtub, all bloodied and beaten. He’s a member of the Street Demons Gang, and Nygma seemed to have kidnapped him that night and beat him up to get some information from him. Tank is just as confused as Nygma as to why he doesn’t remember.

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Ed asks why he took him, but Tank wouldn’t say anything. Again, he beats him up, finally making Tank reveal why Ed took him—he wanted to know where the Street Demons’ base was and made sure that their boss, Emmanuel Vasquez, was there. When Ed asked about his demeanor, Tank told him that he seemed dazed. Ed then brings Tank with him to their base.

But when they arrive, everyone’s dead—all thanks to Penguin.

Catwoman

After hearing about the mysterious Witch, Bruce makes his way to her hideout. There, he discovers dead bodies wrapped in ivy leaves. A trio of men then surprises him and tells Bruce that they have finally subdued the witch. Their friends were killed by her, and they’re keeping her hostage until more men can arrive so they can kill her. Knowing who she is, Bruce asks for five minutes to talk with her so he can save his “brother.”

Once inside the cell, he finds Ivy Pepper (Peyton List) chained. Ivy begs for Bruce’s help and says that she didn’t kill the men—it’s the plants in the garden. For some reason, the garden has a mind of its own and wants to protect Ivy from harm. Bruce removes her chains and takes her with him. The men try to stop Bruce, but he tells them that she was her friend and that he can help her. Before the men could answer, Ivy kills them swiftly. She was only tricking Bruce all this time.

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But Bruce is better at mind tricks than anyone else. Ivy contemplates in killing him, but Bruce plays her humanity by mentioning Selina’s condition. Ivy says she doesn’t care, making Bruce trick her into believing that she’ll never amount into anything other than an evil witch. “I can see there’s no good left in you,” Bruce says. “If you were really trying to help this park flourish, it would be full of beauty and color. Instead, it smells of death. It’s a nightmare.”

Finally, Ivy agrees to help him and Selina. She hands Bruce a seed that could help cure Selina’s damaged nerves but warns him that it could bring the worst out of people who eat it. It’s a long shot, but it’s good enough for Bruce. He returns to the hospital to tell Selina about the cure that Ivy gave him. Bruce is doubtful, thinking that it might kill her. But Selina knows that Ivy wouldn’t do that to her, especially when she took Ivy under her wing when they were kids. Selina eats the seed but goes into shock after a couple of minutes.

With Selina stabilized, it seemed like all hope is lost for her to be able to walk again. As Bruce leaves with Alfred (Sean Pertwee), Bruce notices that Selina isn’t in her bed. He rushes inside to see Selina standing up again. She also feels stronger and better than before. As Bruce embraces her, Selina’s eyes turn green and cat-like.

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‘Gotham: Trespassers’ Overall Verdict

Despite this being a relatively slow-paced episode, Gotham: Trespassers doesn’t fail to deliver solid dialogue and impressive action into the pre-Batman show. It’s beginning to shape up into the ending that the show deserves, and it looks like it’s going to be closer to the Dark Knight’s origins that it ever was in the past seasons. Although Selina’s backstory as Catwoman is a bit different from how she turned into one in the comics, it’s interesting to see Ivy play a hand in turning Selina into the feline thief that’s both a friend and foe to Batman himself. The only downside of tonight’s episode was the lackluster introduction of Bane’s minions, but then again it’s just a pre-taste of what’s to come with the apparent debut of the prisoner from Santa Prisca.

Gotham continues next Thursday, January 17th, with “Penguin, Our Hero” at 8/9c on FOX. Watch the preview below: