SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 26: In this handout photo provided by Warner Bros, Camren Bicondova and David Mazouz of “Gotham” attend Comic-Con International 2014 on July 26, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Smallz+Raskind/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. via Getty Images)
Gotham will air its final season next year on Fox. As we bittersweetly wait, here’s a look back (and forward) at one of the show’s central relationships.
Within its origin story format, Gotham has offered a compelling, unconventional take on the iconic relationship between Batman and Catwoman. In most depictions, the two meet, as themselves and as their alter egos, in adulthood. Thus, their famously tumultuous relationship has overt sexual overtones from the get-go.
Gotham has Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) meet as kids before they assume their alter egos. They have an intense connection and their attraction to one another is never ignored, but their relationship isn’t hot and heavy. It’s deeper than that. First and foremost, the two are star-crossed best friends.
Here’s a look back at major moments in the development of Bruce and Selina’s relationship over the past four seasons and theories as to what might be in store for the pair in season five.
Season One: First Kiss
Adorable — that is the most accurate description of Bruce and Selina’s relationship in season one. Bruce is instantly rather enamored of Selina. She appears to represent everything he wishes he could be: cool, free and fearless. Selina is amused by his crush and yet, despite herself, develops one of her own.
However, their tragic backstories also begin to inform why the pair will always be pushed toward but then pulled away from one another. Bruce is quite open to the idea of being friends, despite his shyness around her. However, he also prioritizes solving the mystery of parents’ murder over having a personal life.
Selina grew up on the streets after being abandoned by her mother. She survived by learning to rely only on herself. She’s terrified by the idea of not keeping people at a distance, but lets Bruce in. Furthermore, looking out for herself is understandably her number one concern, but that changes when she meets Bruce.
On the brink of being sent to juvie for living on the streets, Selina falsely claims to have seen the face of the man who killed Bruce’s parents. She is sent to live at Wayne Manor as part of a makeshift witness protection program.
When assassins come to the Manor, Selina realizes they are after her, but she fears Bruce will abandon her if he realizes that, too. Thus, she lies again and tells Bruce that he is the target. She promises to protect him as they flee to downtown Gotham.
Rather quickly, though, Selina’s care for Bruce compels her to admit the truth. She doesn’t want to unnecessarily endanger his life just because hers is still at risk. She tells him to return home; but to her surprise, unlike everyone else, Bruce refuses to leave her. Later that night, as can be seen above, Selina and Bruce reach a turning point in their relationship.
Season Two: Roommates
Selina and Bruce grow even closer and more aware of their feelings for one another in season two. However, they also are affected by communication issues that come to plague their relationship in later seasons.
When Selina becomes suspicious of Bruce’s friendly classmate Silver St. Cloud (Natalie Alyn Lind), she tries to warn Bruce that Silver may have an ulterior motive to getting close to him.
Having only just returned to school months after his parent’s death, though, Bruce is thrilled to have made a friend so quickly. He immediately becomes defensive and lashes out at Selina for interfering with his new relationship.
Selina refuses to stop trying to protect Bruce, though, and he comes around when Selina uncovers damning evidence that Silver is using him. As an apology for not believing her and sensing that she had been jealous of Silver, Bruce subtly admits his feelings for Selina.
The brief but affecting monologue marks another turning point in their relationship, especially since Selina’s flustered reaction makes clear that she feels the same way, and the two continue to grow closer.
When Bruce decides to live on the streets to better understand Gotham, he becomes roommates with Selina. Unfortunately, the bonding experience also exposes that the fact that they still don’t fully understand one another.
Though Bruce likes being around Selina, he also assumes that she is content being on her own. Selina, meanwhile, is letting her guard down more and more. She believes that Bruce has finally proven himself to be her person, in a Grey’s Anatomy sense, who won’t let her down and abandon her.
As can be seen above, Bruce devastates Selina when he abruptly, albeit reluctantly, announces that he’s learned all he needed to about the streets of Gotham and is returning to Wayne Manor.
Season Three: Boyfriend & Girlfriend?
Bruce and Selina reconcile by the end of season two and begin to explore the possibility of becoming more than friends in season three. However, their communication issues threaten to tear them apart forever.
Having recently been reminded of the emotional danger of getting close to someone, Selina is hesitant to take that leap, which upsets Bruce. However, as soon as Bruce admits that he feels nervous and awkward about them being a couple, too, they are able to start moving forward.
They soon hit another snag over labels, though. Selina doesn’t understand why they can’t just be themselves, but Bruce takes Selina’s rejection of the boyfriend-girlfriend label as a rejection of him. They eventually work through that obstacle as well, though, and are solid just in time for Selina’s estranged mother Maria (Ivana Milicevic) to return to Gotham and spell disaster.
Understandably, Selina is quite reluctant to let the woman who’d abandoned 11 years earlier back into her life. However, Bruce, the first person who made Selina want to let her walls down after Maria left, convinces Selina that she should give her mother a second chance.
While Bruce truly believes he is helping Selina, his advice backfires catastrophically. He realizes too late that Selina isn’t the reason Maria returned to Gotham and tries his best to protect Selina. However, as can be seen above, his methods leave Selina profoundly furious and heartbroken.
Season Four: The Long Way Back
Selina avoids Bruce for months after their fight. Bruce, in turn, grows angry that she refuses to let him apologize and lashes out she when she checks on him after Alfred’s stabbing. Thus, they reach a new low at the end of season three.
At the beginning of season four, they reconnect and seem destined to get back on track. Unfortunately, Bruce starts withholding information and shutting Selina out, which drives her away. To be fair, he is partially trying to protect her as he pursues the mysterious Ra’s Al-Ghul (Alexander Siddig), who subsequently causes Bruce to spiral out of control.
The next time Selina sees Bruce he is very far from the kid she used to know. Yet, she is still able to see right through his uncaring jerk facade to the pain underneath. It takes a trippy near-death experience to ultimately pull Bruce out of his funk, but Selina is the first person who begins to get through to him as can be seen above.
As the season continues, Bruce and Selina heartwarmingly find their way back to one another. But the renewal of their relationship has devastating, life-altering consequences.
Season Five: Come What May
By the end of season four, Selina and Bruce are closer than they’ve ever been, standing by each through Jeremiah Valeska’s (Cameron Monaghan) reign of terror. Just when they think they’ve come out the other side, though, Jeremiah shoots Selina.
When they arrive at the hospital, a terrified Selina is painfully honest about how much she needs Bruce as can be seen above. Bruce assures her that he isn’t going anywhere, but he’s soon pulled away by the obligation he feels to save the city. I’m predicting that his decision will represent another turning point in their relationship.
As he begins to assume his alter ego next season, Bruce will realize that he is never going to be able to put Selina first. Selina will also realize that and likely be driven to start going it alone again in order to protect herself both physically and emotionally. After all, the first time she nearly died back in season three was also connected to her relationship with Bruce.
Selina going it alone would naturally lead to her assuming her own alter ego. Thus, Bruce and Selina will also be at odds, whether they’re aware of each other’s dual identities or not, by embodying opposite ends of the hero-villain spectrum.
That being said, in the comics, Batman and Catwoman also fight alongside each other sometimes and engage in a romantic relationship. Season five should then not mark the end of Bruce and Selina’s relationship but rather the beginning of a different stage.
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One of the biggest question the season will need to answer is if Bruce and Selina learn of the other’s alter ego. I’m hoping they will. But even if they don’t, I’m confident both Bruce and Selina and Batman and Catwoman will be endgame. I doubt they’ll live happily ever after, per se, but I know that they will be each other’s person for life come what may.