'Gotham' Introduced An Odd New Potion For Season 2

The Season 2 premiere of Gotham was so packed with new information that it almost left more questions than it did answers. Like what was that blue potion Theo Galavan gave to his follower? At first, it seemed like it might be an invulnerability potion, like the bright green serum used as a street drug in Season 1. At least, it did until "Zaardon" was easily stopped by Jim Gordon in a hand-to-hand street fight. Then it seemed like the potion might have just been a fake, or maybe a poison that would be used as a distraction or diversion. I thought that Galavan was a fraud who was tricking his followers into believing that he had magical powers, while he was really just leading them to their doom.

But ultimately, it was revealed that this was a slow-release knockout gas, which activated as soon as Zaardon was sent to Arkham. The bright blue gas was able to clear out the guards, so Galavan's sister, Tabitha, could sneak in and kidnap some of the key prisoners, like Jerome (future Joker, perhaps?) and Barbara Kean, who's embracing her villainous side so far this season. Barbara is like the villains' prom queen — fielding offers to join Jerome, Richard Sionis, and Theo Galavan.

But what about the potion's bright blue color? That was hammered home a few times, from its initial appearance to Zaardon having a blue stain around his mouth for all of his subsequent scenes. It could be a reference to the blue flowers from Chris Nolan's Batman Begins, which are processed into the Scarecrow's fear toxin. But Gotham has already done its take on the Scarecrow, and the gas knocked the Arkham prisoners and guards out without sending them into a paranoid panic.

The blue color could be meant to suggest that Galavan is actually the Gotham version of Ra's al Ghul, who was the creator of the fear toxin in Nolan's film. Ra's has been adapted a few times over the years, and interpreting him as an adult billionaire businessman actually doesn't contradict any of the comics lore, since Ra's is basically immortal, due to regenerative powers granted by a chemical found in "Lazurus Pits," which preserve youth and save dying people. Hey, maybe that explains why the villains are already grown up while Batman is still a teen! But even more menacingly, perhaps the blue knockout gas is just the first of many chemical creations that Theo Galavan will use throughout Season 2 of Gotham.

Images: Nicole Rivelli, Jessica Miglio/FOX