‘Gotham’ Sneak Peek Pits Bruce Wayne Against The Court Of Owls [Video]

Warning: This article may contain spoilers for Gotham.

Events on Gotham have taken an unexpected twist in several of the current story arcs. First up, there’s the gay romance that wasn’t meant to be with Gotham showrunners taking an easy out, rather than pursue the romance fans had been led to believe was sure to develop. While Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) was jilted by Edward Nygma (Corey Michael Smith), the disappointment fans felt was soon diminished by feelings of suspense, when that story arc took a darker turn in a way that only Gotham can do.

Elsewhere on Gotham, a simple theft gone wrong in this week’s episode ultimately leads Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) into another conflict with The Court of Owls, so soon after the younger version of Batman agreed to cease his investigations into their activities. There may be no title more appropriate for next week’s episode than “Time Bomb,” as it seems Bruce has been set up for this ultimate complication from the very beginning of this season of Gotham.

Gotham Teases A Tense Confrontation In Their “Time Bomb” Sneak Peek

Coming Soon shares the first look at next week’s episode of Gotham and reveals that much of the episode will revolve around the night of the wedding rehearsal dinner for Mario (James Carpinello) and Lee (Morena Baccarin). The new Gotham couple will face a threat at the dinner, but with Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chiklis) out of commission, that leaves Falcone with only one option. The father of the groom goes to James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) for help.

https://youtu.be/xHZ1aarFzz0

While Gordon and his partner (Donal Logue) are busy dealing with that threat on Gotham, Bruce Wayne is again facing The Court of Owls, a confrontation that was cleverly set up and planned from the seemingly innocuous Poison Ivy story arc. While many Gotham fans objected to the change of Ivy’s character, now played by the older Maggie Geha, there now seems to be a method to that particular madness.

A younger Ivy couldn’t have been running about Gotham City in search of wealthy men to seduce and rob, a practice which ultimately leads her into the kind of trouble that only her best friend, Seline (Camren Bicondova), and Bruce Wayne can fix. A dead body, a league of killers, and a mysterious key later leads Bruce back toward a conspiracy he seems doomed to face, once and for all.

A look back at the Penguin/Nygma story arc

‘Gotham’ Stars Dish On The Odd Coupling Of Penguin And Riddler

Is ‘Gotham’ Going Gay? A Penguin/Riddler Romance May Be On The Way

Gotham Star Robin Lord Taylor Fires Back At Fan Criticism Of Penguin/Riddler Love Story

From the very beginning of their relationship on Gotham, Penguin and Nygma have had a friendship riddled with complexities, but, as the two characters grew closer together, one portion of Gotham fans latched onto the idea of a gay romance developing between them. While Gotham showrunners seemed to be delivering on their promise, Inverse reports that another faction of fans flooded social media accounts and Gotham panels at Comic-Con with harsh criticism over the possible love story.

Protests were launched against Gotham producers, but also at the series stars. Robin Lord Taylor was understandably upset by the hateful complaints, as he was recently bashed by online haters when he revealed that he was gay and celebrating a five-year wedding anniversary with his husband.

At Rhode Island Comic-Con, fans charged Gotham with altering the DC Comics canonical story by suggesting that either of the Batman characters are gay.

“I have to say, that that’s a bunch of horse sh–,” Gotham star Robin Lord Taylor responded. “You can’t tell me that unless you were just as upset that in our own show, we have Batman and Catwoman growing up together, running around Gotham City growing up together. If you weren’t as equally upset about that — which is changing canon characters. But you come to me and you say to me, ‘I’m okay with you being queer but I’m upset you’re changing a character,’ what you’re saying to me is, ‘I am homophobic, and I am afraid of gay people and queer people.'”

While Taylor may have a valid point, it seems Gotham has been listening to its fans in regards to those complaints. The series brought in Chelsea Spack to play Isabella, a dead ringer for Kristen Kringle and a new love interest for Edward Nygma. Unable to control his jealousy, Penguin arranged for the brake lines on Isabella’s car to be severed, causing the accident that had her killed.

Now, Nygma is devastated and hunting for the killer of his lover on the streets of Gotham, a hunt that can only lead him to find that Penguin committed the greatest act of betrayal a friend can ever commit.

The next episode of Gotham, “Time Bomb,” airs on Monday, November 21 on Fox.

[Featured Image by 20th Century Fox]