'Gotham' Brings Back A Few Of Dr. Strange's Experiments

By leaning into the Court of Owls storyline, it seemed as if Gotham had decided to put aside the monsters of Indian Hill for the remainder of Season 3. But, a surprising character picks up Strange's work in the May 8 episode. Penguin brings Mr. Freeze back to Gotham. He used to go by the name Victor Fries, and he's been absent from the show since his escape from Strange's laboratory at the end of Season 2. In fact, Penguin wants to convince a host of Strange's former freaks who have been living in exile to join him, including Bridgit, the flame-powered former pal of Selina Kyle, who was brought back to life with the lie that she would be a "goddess."

Naturally, at first, both Freeze/Fries and Brigit are skeptical about joining the freak alliance, since Penguin was the person who campaigned to have them run out of town in order to "Make Gotham Safe Again" when he was running for mayor. But, now that he's gone through his own near-death experience, Oswald understands them, and as usual, understands how to manipulate and trick people into helping him out. So with just a little bit of luck (and violence) he's able to persuade both characters to join him.

So far, the freaks haven't done much besides team up, but Penguin's holding a major grudge against Ed Nygma, now going by the Riddler, for shooting him and leaving him for dead. I can't imagine that's what Fries or Bridgit is prioritizing, but perhaps Ed's tenuous connection to Strange — remember, he was briefly a prisoner and, oddly, a technician in the secret lab housed within Arkham — will get the rest of the freaks on board.

Here's what I'm curious about: now that Penguin has embraced being a freak and decided to start a little resistance, will Fish finally return from the woods to challenge him? And during the course of the whole season, has Strange been off somewhere figuring out a way to cure his mutants? Because Bruce Wayne's clone, who reveals his real identity to Selina before attempting to murder her, was experiencing nosebleeds, suggesting that the experiment's subjects have continued to physically deteriorate in the time since Strange first ran off.

Penguin will need the full strength of his crew to stand up to Ed, Barbara, Tabitha, and Butch, so if "monsters" like Freeze are in trouble, so are his chances of taking Gotham City back.