Warning: the following story contains major spoilers from Gotham‘s fall finale, “Mad City: Beware the Green-Eyed Monster.” Don’t say we didn’t warn you …

Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) is going to have some major mommy issues when Gotham returns from its mini fall hiatus. The future Catwoman was thrown for a major loop in the fall finale, “Mad City: Beware the Green-Eyed Monster,” when her estranged mother showed up at the most fortuitous time — right as she was being attacked by the Court of Owls’ assassin!

After Selina agreed to help Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and Alfred (Sean Pertwee) with their heist of whatever the nefarious Court of Owls was hiding in a safe, the trio was attacked right after breaking in to the safe and stealing the mysterious glass owl figurine inside of it. Right when it looked like things would take a turn for the deadly, a woman in all black showed up and helped them fight off the assassin. Alfred finally killed the assassin, giving Bruce a moment to catch his breath and ask Selina if she recognized their helper. That’s when Selina revealed that the woman was none other than her mother.

As for how Selina will feel about having her mom back in her life again, and at such a pivotal moment, expect the next episode to focus on that in a big way.

“We’ll dive into that when the season picks up in episode 12. Episode 12 is really when we see how Selina feels,” Bicondova told us. “I think Selina is kind of torn because obviously she’s always yearned for her mother to be in her life but then at the same time, based on what we learn in episode 12, Selina is bitter because of what happened. Selina’s been living on her own for the majority of her life so it’s this yin and yang of, ‘Well I’ve always wanted a mother but I’ve grown up already on my own.'”

It was pretty lucky that Selina’s mother had been tailing her right when she started to help Bruce and Alfred with their heist plan against the Court of Owls, since without her assistance, they probably would have died inside the Court of Owls safe house.

“This is going to be tough to answer without spoiling it,” Bicondova said with a laugh when asked about why Selina’s mother chose to come back in her life now. “I can say that it’s kind of a coincidence because Selina has become vulnerable in a way with Bruce. She’s always put up a wall and has always been very guarded, and life has now put her in this place of vulnerability when her relationship with Bruce starts becoming a more teenaged relationship than a tween relationship. I think it’s coincidental that once her relationship with Bruce comes about, her mother who is her biggest vulnerability comes back into her life.”

She paused, and then continued, “Selina is getting hit from both ends with her emotions and I’ve had a really great time working on this stuff. I’m excited for everyone to see it. It’s different, you know? Selina is very complex. And personally I feel like when someone is trying to hide their emotions, they’re actually showing more. This is different for her because she’s not hiding her vulnerability in the upcoming episodes. She’s actually giving in to it. It was cool diving into this new aspect of Selina.”

The fall finale was a big episode for Selina for more reasons than just her mother returning to her life, since Selina also kissed Bruce right before the heist began. After denying her feelings for the future Batman and resisting their fledgling relationship for so long while Bruce made his feelings for her clear, the kiss was a moment of relief for fans who have become invested in their adorable, will-they-won’t-they dynamic.

“That scene was a very crucial scene for Selina because she had a feeling going into the mission that it was not a good idea, that there was a higher possibility of them dying than them succeeding,” Bicondova said. “So when she kissed him, it was like, ‘Well, here we go! If we did, I just wanted you to know that I like you a lot, but this may be the last time you see me.’ But it foreshadows the dynamic between Catwoman and Batman, that Selina will always do her own thing but she’ll always have feelings for Bruce, and it will always be that struggle between them of them being from opposite worlds.”

And what’s up with that weird glass owl figurine?! After the Whisper Gang told Selina, Bruce and Alfred that the key they found opened a safe containing something that could bring down the Court of Owls once and for all, the confusion on Selina and Bruce’s faces when they opened the safe to find an innocuous statue was a true moment of comedy. Why does the Court of Owls fear this, of all things?

“Whatever that is, right? This is the big deal? This is what we’re risking our lives for?” Bicondova said with a laugh. “I thought there would be, like, millions of dollars in this safe or something like that.”

Bicondova revealed that the actors still don’t know the answer to why that statue is so important to the Court of Owls. “I have no idea, actually,” she said. “We’re shooting episode 13 so I’ve gotten to read a few scripts ahead and I still have no idea what significance that little statue has. I will forever be confused about that. I’m sure we’ll learn about it later on but as of now I have no idea what that’s about. So me and Selina agreed on that. I think everyone is pretty confused so I’m excited to see what the writers do with that.”

What do you think is the deal with the Court of Owls statue? Tweet me your theories at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Images: Fox