Gotham recap: Season 5, Episode 6, “13 Stitches,” Aired Feb. 14, 2019
Happy Valentine’s Day, Gothamites! Also, I can’t believe we’re halfway finished the final season. Such sadness! ☹
I had high expectations for this episode because it’s directed by the very talented Ben McKenzie, and he, yet again, did not disappoint. Seriously, those camera angles during that Alfred scene near the end of the episode – WOW.
With all the people smacked and stabbed and shot and slashed, I’d say they all need more than “13 Stitches.” Let’s get right into it!

Goth chicken

Thanks to Edward the dog, Penguin caught Magpie stealing from him, but she was too clever for him and escaped. Wanting to make an example of her, Penguin sought out Selina for an alliance. Jim was right; “war makes for strange bedfellows.”
Their alliance was great, both wanting more than the other is willing to give. The two do, however, find Magpie (twice), and Penguin was brutal to the thief to show it is not okay to steal from him.

Bane (again)!

After Jim shorted out the chip in Nygma’s brain, Lucius was able to remove the chip and find evidence linking the government soldiers to the Haven attack. Nygma went to play hero at the GCPD to distract from Bruce, Barbara, and Lucius transmitting the information from Nygma’s chip outside of Gotham. Success? Plus, nice zoology work, Harvey.
Meanwhile, Jim and Eduardo faced off. After a trip down memory lane to their war days, it looked like Jim beat Eduardo for good. In came Walker, the lead government agent (also Jaime Murray), who took the first step in turning Eduardo into Bane (with some future help from Hugo Strange, of course).

It’s Lee!
I’m going to start by saying how fitting it is that Lee, played by Morena Baccarin, was brought back in an episode directed by her husband, Ben McKenzie, airing on Valentine’s Day. Cute, right?
Eduardo brought Lee Thompkins in as leverage against Jim. However, it turned out Lee couldn’t remember anything after Jeremiah burned the bridges.

Now, if you remember, Lee and Nygma stabbed each other. Of course, when the chip was planted in Nygma, one was also planted in Lee. Right when Jim was going to tell Lee about the chip…
A surprise to no one

I had a theory that Barbara was going to have Jim’s baby when the concept of her becoming Batgirl went out the window. That news, which was a shock to Jim and Harvey but literally none of us – yeah, it just didn’t have the shock value it deserved. Sorry, Babs, though I am interested in seeing how this plot plays out.

Will next week bring the full conversion of the Joker? Jeremiah has Alfred now, along with those copies of who I still think are Bruce’s parents. It looks like we get a confrontation between Bruce and Jeremiah, for sure, and a very blatant reference to the Joker in the Ace Chemicals plant. Should be intense. I’m in!
Next week:
What did you think of “13 Stitches”? Let us know at @PureFandom on Twitter!
Gotham airs Thursday nights on FOX at 8/7c.
(Image: Fox)