Season 3 of "Gotham" aired its first episode this week, showing the further decline of the titular city with some new plot threads getting set up; and it seems more troubles are coming in later according to the show's executive producer, who also revealed the real reason why they aged up the show's version of Poison Ivy.
Given the tagline "Mad City," the first episode of "Gotham" season 3 truly lives up to the name by showing the place continue its decline into the cesspool of insanity it is in the comics. The episode laid down the ground work for some new threats coming in later episodes, like the end of the episode featuring the incident that will lead to Ivy Pepper, AKA Poison Ivy, getting aged up.
"Gotham" executive producer Ken Woodruff spoke of the reasons behind the decision to increase the character's age in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, as shared by Gizmodo. Woodruff explained that the age up was essentially decided upon in order to have Ivy Pepper further embody Poison Ivy from the comics.
As many a longtime Batman fan will know, Poison Ivy stands as one of the most powerful among the stable of nemeses the Caped Crusader faced for a long time. This is due to her ability to control both the minds of men and plant life, with the latter shown in "Gotham" in Ivy's aptitude towards gardening.
But since the Poison Ivy version of "Gotham" is still a kid, the production team were uncomfortable having her try to emulate the tree-hugging temptress and so went the way of using the show's more supernatural direction to have her become older. Though it seems that traces of the original Ivy Pepper will still remain, the older Poison Ivy will be a darker character overall.
Other elements that "Gotham" season 3 will feature are Jim Gordon's romance and Fish Mooney's return. The premiere showed Lee Thompkins had finally moved on from Gordon, leaving him brokenhearted after he saw her and her new partner, but Woodruff assured that she will be back very soon though Gordon's budding relationship with Valeri Vale might provde more bumps in a road for any possible rekindling.
Meanwhile, Fish Mooney is busy trying to expand her monstrous forces in an attempt to regain her footing as the underground queen of Gotham despite her physical deterioration. Woodruff said that the monsters' time in "Gotham" season 3 will only be short, though he assured that "Fish Mooney's existence will always permeate 'Gotham.'"
