Fish Mooney... Penguin... Theo Galavan... what do all of these people have in common? Despite the odds, they've all managed to come back from the dead in one way or another. So it should come as no surprise that Gotham 's Ivy Pepper will carry on this grand tradition by returning from her recent fall in a very big way. However, she won't be coming back in the same form we've come to know her in. Maggie Geha will replace Clare Foley as the new Ivy during Monday night's episode "Mad City: Burn The Witch," revealing a new side of the character we've never seen before. So why was Ivy recast on Gotham ? Usually when an actor or actress is switched out for a role, it usually has to do with a scheduling conflict that makes the original performer unavailable for filming. But in this case, the recasting was done very intentionally due to a recent encounter Ivy had with one of Fish's henchmen.
You see, when Ivy crashed Fish's secret meeting and threatened to expose their whereabouts to the world, the gang chased after her in order to keep her silent. At one point, she was grabbed at the wrist by Marv, who just so happens to have the ability to make his victims age at a rapid rate. But before the process could be complete and turn her into a skeletal corpse, Ivy managed to slip away down an open pipe. Selina assumed her friend died in the fall, but she should really know better by now. Everyone comes back to Gotham in some way and Ivy will be no exception.
Basically, it all comes down to this: Marv usually uses his ability of rapid aging to make his victims age to the point of death. (Think of it like a very dark, reverse version of Benjamin Button.) But since Ivy was able to escape his touch shortly after making contact it didn't impact her to that extent, but merely had her grown up really quickly to be a full-fledged woman overnight. (Anyone else getting some definite 13 Going on 30 vibes from this?) It's certainly not something this guy meant to do, but that's precisely what ended up happening.
We haven't seen much of Ivy so far in the series other than a few brief appearances, so I'm eager to see her character take up the spotlight and witness just how formidable she can be. Something tells me she's going to be none too pleased with Fish or Selina, given everything she was just recently put through. And you know what they say about revenge — it can become poisonous if you let it.
Images: Nicole Rivelli/FOX (2)
