'Gotham' May Have Just Lost Fish Mooney

When real life intercedes on the TV schedule, it sure spoils the fun. When Fish Mooney planned her escape from Dr. Dulmacher on the latest Gotham episode, I wanted to believe that everything would work out, at least until Fish was shot during the escape attempt, a cliffhanger so shocking the next seven days will feel as long as a month-long hiatus. But since news broke a few weeks ago that Jada Pinkett Smith was leaving the show, it made it a lot less easy to believe her escape plan would be successful, especially because her plot to steal a boat didn't seem enough to get away from Dulmacher's "Catcher," who guards the outside of the Doctor's compound and isn't afraid to spray some bullets, as we saw when Fish double-crossed the biggest and baddest inmates, instead choosing to save the innocent victims she'd let Dulmacher get his hands on.

And Fish didn't initially seem to be at her sneakiest this week, either. Dulmacher immediately caught her trying to steal the keys to a boat, but Fish's quick thinking saved her again. She really is the smartest character on the show, even more so than the young Bruce Wayne, who will eventually grow into the world's best detective. But of course, Fish Mooney always covers her well-tailored butt, and so what we didn't see is that she actually made two plans, one to steal the boat, and one to personally charter a helicopter and fly off the freakin' island. But unfortunately, the Catcher was just a half-step behind her, and managed to get in a well-aimed rifle shot, hitting Fish right in the stomach. Holy crap, did Fish Mooney just die????

I hope not, and I really don't think so. First of all, Fish Mooney deserves a highly dramatic death scene, where a single tear of blood tracks down her cheek as she stabs Falcone in the heart with a silver knife. Or something along those lines, not a fade to black cliffhanger death. That's for case of the week bad guys. Secondly, Jada Pinkett Smith is credited for the rest of the season, and even though she'd probably be credited even if she didn't appear, if you have her under contract, why wouldn't you write her a few scenes? And lastly, I can't imagine the season ending without Fish and Penguin (and less so, Fish & Butch) meeting up again to see how much the other has changed over the course of the season. So rest easy, Gotham fans — this shouldn't be the end of Fish Mooney. Not just yet, anyway.

Image: Jessica Miglio/FOX; Giphy