Gotham 5x9 : The Trial Of Jim Gordon review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

After last week's complete muddled of an episode Gotham returns this week with a really strong and at times impactful episode. Beginning at the GCPD we see Jim and Lee come out of his office. She mentions how reckless he is by making a deal with Penguin to go to City Hall to ask the gangs from around the different areas in Gotham for a truce. Why is he doing this? well because the city's water supply is getting increasingly lower and lower by the day and Gordon wants there to be at least some people to be left alive when Gotham gets visited by the mainland. So off he and the other GCPD officers go to City Hall. Inside if Penguin, Barbara and various gang members. No Riddler as he's off still making up the submarine so he Penguin Barbara and her unborn child can escape Gotham. Gordon standing on the steps in Penguin's main room asks the gang members for a truce. They don't take his offer well at all and suddenly a gunshot is heard. Harvey asks what was that and turns around to see that Jim has gotten shot. Losing a lot of blood he and the other cops bring him back to the GCPD to Lee. It doesn't look good however as Lee herself operates on Gordon and removes a part of the bullet that hit him. The rest of the bullet went through him and ended up somewhere else. This is where the episode gets interesting though as he is on the operating table with Lee looking over him we see Jim standing trial. The judge isn't Harvey Dent which I thought was a missed opportunity. But nevertheless the prosecutor? well that's none other than Gordon himself who lists out the failures of the defendant who is also Jim Gordon. It's confusing looking at it like this but trust me it's done really well as Gordon is forced to live and hear about all his past failures. His first relationship with Barbara, his failed engagement to Lee, the bridge explosion in Gotham, the destruction of Safe Haven and the loss of countless lives. All lives that he himself swore that he would protect. More on this situation a bit later.

Bruce and Selina whom we see walking around an abandoned house enter one of it's rooms. Inside is candles, dinner plates and a fire. Bruce removes his jacket and asks for Selina to sit. She almost right away asks is this a date. Bruce says what if it is? and tells her to dig in. Later after their meal Bruce stands up and mentions his own failures. Much like Gordon in a way he blames himself for all the city's problems over the past few years. Theo Galavan, The Court Of Owls, Ra's Al Ghul all terrorized Gotham because of Bruce Wayne. He drops Selina with a bombshell as he says he's planning on leaving the city so it can be a better place without him. Selina is given little time to react to this however as Ivy walks into the room. Saying that she didn't mean to interrupt the date between Selina and her boyfriend but she needs Bruce for something. She says he doesn't love her but he soon will. Bruce goes to defend himself and Selina but gets caught by Ivy who puts him under his spell. Turns out Ivy's also brought a friend in the Mutant Gang Leader whom earlier in the season we saw Selina almost kill. Well it's round 2 as Selina and the giant dude duke it out once more. So what is exactly Ivy's plan then given she's taken Bruce? well she wants Bruce to go to Lucius which he does and after dosing him with perfume he too is put under Ivy's spell. She wants them both to turn off Lucius's filter system that has been helping drain Gotham's river of the chemicals left by Jeremiah a few weeks back. It looks like she's going to achieve her goal but it's Selina who saves the day by knocking Bruce and Lucius's brains back into action..literally. Back at the GCPD and Gordon who is still going through his trial is aided by Harvey who goes to the location where his partner got shot. Inside is Penguin and after punching him twice Harvey finds the location of the shooter. It wasn't anyone inside the building but someone on the outside as the shot bounced around the room. The remaining part of the bullet also gets found here by Harvey and after putting together both it and the piece that was removed from Jim the bullet spells out two initials V.Z. Victor Zsasz. So it was him who shot Gordon then? technically yes but he too was also under the spell of Ivy who shows up at the GCPD after Zsasz gets interrogated by Harvey. The vixen lets Zsasz go and a chaotic shootout takes place inside the GCPD. In the back is still Jim who gets closer and closer to death as his trial draws to a close. Sentenced to death we see him in a jail cell for his wake with a whole host of familiar faces. Including : Penguin. Riddler, Harvey and even Professor PYG and the head of The Court Of Owls. Gordon turns around and is greeted by the young kid that he had earlier in the season rescued and made his own deputy. He tells him that it's almost over and leads him out of his cell to a room with an electrical chair inside that once is turned on shocks Gordon into waking up. With Lee by his side who herself had to put up with a struggle as Ivy tried to finish off Gordon. The doctor shot Ivy however and she made her escape. Still on the operating table though is Jim and he whispers something into Lee's ear.
                                   

The episode ends one month later where we see a whole host of people inside of GCPD. We also see a suited Gordon and Harvey standing over the crowd. Yes it turns out Gordon and Lee are getting married. Bruce & Selina are sat in the back and the way Bruce looks at Selina throughout was so good. He obviously loves her and shows it by kissing her as the ceremony ends. So Gordon and Lee are married. What about Barbara you may ask and Gordon's baby?? well she still intends to have it and care for it herself. Penguin and her talk and he says that Gordon will hunt her down to see his child. She responds with let him and that's how the episode ends. This episode was fantastic overall in my opinion. On one hand you had the Trial Of James Gordon and on the other you had Bruce dealing with his own failures in Gotham. Stuck in between all of that was a good if a bit silly Ivy villain plot that worked well enough. It was good to see Ivy back though as I wasn't sure if she would return. Gotham goes on break now for 2 weeks and returns for it's final run of 3 episodes which shall be very interesting indeed. 

★★★★