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“Gotham” has done so-so in the ratings though the last few episodes have shown a different kind of twist with the birth of criminals who have been reincarnated into familiar Batman villains we have seen.

First up was the return of Victor Fries aka Mr Freeze donning a new subzero suit during episode 18, unleashed by the mad Hugo Strange (BD Wong) to eliminate a potential threat in Karen Jennings (Julia Taylor Ross). Jennings was part of a secret bioengineering project at Wayne Enterprises, a choice she made since she didn’t have any other options.

Before she sacrificed her life, Jenning’s recalled someone known as “The Philosopher”. The mystery person began the trial with the best of intentions, but eventually took advantage and ran the program with evil intentions.

After the attack, Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk) comes across a photo of Thomas Wayne and his friends who all had their own nicknames on the photo as well. That included Hugo Strange being revealed as the Philosopher.

As the pieces were falling into place, a new person has been resurrected yet again – Theo Galavan (James Frain). This time, the former mayor was dealing with memory loss which Strange alters by making him believe he was a mythical 12th century warrior who served a man named Dumas, who was able to bring back people from the dead.

While that angle stuck (somehow) to his head, flashes of his old self keep coming back. But unlike the old Galavan, the resurrected version showed something different.

“Strong as an ox, fast as a snake, mad as a hatter,” as quoted from Strange in the episode.

As Azrael, Galavan portrays a different kind of villain. Donning a mask, Azrael is shrouded in metal covered by a hood and cape with a fabricated sword as his weapon. Though broken, Azrael used this to kill commissioner Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chiklis).

With Barnes dead, could James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) be up next? More light should be shed on the next episode “Unleashed”. Per Den of Geeks:

“Azrael is on the loose in Gotham City, which sparks Penguin’s need for revenge. Meanwhile, Bruce enlists the help of Selina Kyle to help track down Professor Strange, as he evades arrest for his experiments.”

With most of the focus now on pinning down Strange, could the rise of these villains in the eyes of a young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) be all part of how the Dark Knight came to be? Though he is not expected to appear in the series (until the very last episode of the series), all these could be headed in that direction.