'Gotham' Just Introduced Supervillain Experiments

Once again, Gotham introduces a secret, experimental laboratory that will surely unravel over the back half of the season. And the hints about this one were buried deep. When Bridgit Pike, aka Firefly, was taken to Indian Hill in this week's episode, it brought back a reference that hasn't been present in Gotham since the very beginning of the series. And not only could Indian Hill be doubling for a crucial location in the comics — it's known for having toxic chemicals, just like the warehouse where Joker was created — it's also proving to be an intriguing location for the series.

Early on, Gotham spent a lot of time on the turf war between Sal Maroni and Carmine Falcone. At the time, Penguin was working as a double agent for Falcone in Maroni's restaurant, while Fish Mooney plotted to undermine and kill Falcone in exchange for her land. Now, Maroni's dead, Falcone is retired, Fish is MIA, and Penguin currently holds all of their collective resources. And one of those resources should be Indian Hill. Because in an early episode, Oswald Cobblepot himself convinced Maroni to give Indian Hill, which Fish called a "worthless" former burial ground, over to the Falcones.

But, at the end of "By Fire," the Indian Hill insignia clearly stated Wayne Enterprises on it. Does this mean that Falcone, and by extension Penguin, have been working with WE all along? The death of Sid Bunderslaw, the corrupt businessman who attempted to kill Bruce Wayne in the first season, seemed like just a random casualty of Theo Galavan, but maybe it's Galavan's first step in uncovering a vast conspiracy Wayne Enterprises has concocted as a way to do human experiments.

As Bridgit's severely burned (but alive!) body was wheeled through the Indian Hill halls, it basically seemed like an incubation chamber for just about every DC Comics supervillain. Think about it, how many of these bad guys are affected by some sort of chemical experiment gone awry? Joker is the obvious example, but there's also Poison Ivy, Bane, Clayface, Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, and many others who could be locked in these underground bunkers.

I'm not sure how I feel about Bruce Wayne's parents potentially being responsible for the many villains running around the city, but it's an undeniably creepy, interesting choice for the remainder of Gotham Season 2, with shades of the Dollmaker arc from Season 1.

Images: Jessica Miglio/FOX; chertograad/Tumblr; Giphy