Warning: Spoiler Alert
Since the FOX Network started airing their new series “Gotham,” we’ve watched as alliances form and then crumbled, once powerful figures, running for their lives along with romantic relationships, dashed upon the rocks, while other romances begin to bloom. This week’s episode contained all of those elements, plus another serial killer on the loose and yet another amazing escape from the clutches of death by Oswald Cobblepot.
Our first scene takes place on a rainy-night on a Gotham City rooftop, (does it rain every night in Gotham City?) as a man with spectacles, wearing a suit and tie, trench-coat and fedora, drags a man tied to a wooden chair, with a black hood over his head to the edge of a rooftop. He puts a noose around the man’s neck with the rope attached to a giant pulley, he has the man hanging over the edge of the rooftop, takes off the mask and awakens his prisoner.
The man in the chair’s a younger guy with a gag in his mouth and gets scared out of his mind when he sees his situation. The man with the hat loosens the rope and the victim falls halfway down the building, suspended in front of an apartment, where an Asian maid vacuums the floor, singing to herself with headphones on.
The next morning Gotham City Police Department Detective Harvey Bullock’s met on that rooftop by his Captain Sarah Essen and she’s told the victim dangled and then brought back up to the rooftop, by his killer. GCPD forensic scientist Ed Nygma, says that the murderer removed a part of the victim’s abdomen, post-mortem and he’ll check it thoroughly when he examines the body at the station.
Essen tells Nygma, that he’s just a forensic scientist and not the Medical Examiner and the man who’s in that position keeps complaining about Ed overstepping his bounds. She tells him to stay away from the body, then asks Harvey where his partner’s at and Bullock responds he had personal business to attend to.
His partner, GCPD Detective Jim Gordon, heads to his former fiancée Barbara’s apartment, to drop his keys off, but he discovers Selena Kyle’s homesteading there. He tells her he’s going to get her a safe place to live, when she asks if he’d spoken to Bruce Wayne, he responds he hasn’t. She then tells Gordon she told the boy she lied about seeing his parents killer and escapes out of the apartment.
Gordon heads to the Wayne Estate and finds a very subdued Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne, Wayne’s reading the paper in the library, when Alfred announces the detective. Jim’s unaware anything’s troubling Bruce, but it quickly becomes apparent as the boy hesitates to shake his hand. Bruce says that Selena’s telling the truth, she just lied she saw the killer to escape juvenile detention. He then tells Gordon, the detective he no longer concern himself with the case.
Jim tells him this isn’t the time to give up and the boy tells him he’s intensifying his efforts. He then tells Gordon that it’s months after the murder of his parents and the only thing Gordon’s turned up’s an unreliable witness. He then looks Jim in the eyes and said he didn’t want the detective bound, by an oath he failed to fulfill. He then says that he lets Gordon out of his promise and he’ll find the killer with his own resources and walks away. Alfred tells Gordon that once Bruce makes up his mind, there’s no going back. Jim says he can’t do it on his own and Alfred responds he’ll have to look after his ward.
We’re at Sal Maroni’s restaurant, as he uncorks a bottle of champagne, as Oswald Cobblepot sits with him at a table and the Penguin and he celebrate the death of Fish Mooney, whom Oswald’s certain got gunned down by Falcone’s hit-man Victor Zsasz in the previous episode. Maroni says they’ve got to jump on her territory quickly and Cobblepot says he’s already taken her nightclub over in Maroni’s name. Right then Sal’s cellphone rings and Penguin’s world begins to fall apart.
On the other end of the phone’s Fish Mooney, standing in a phone-booth with a rotary-phone (one of the cool, little oddities about this series, is we’re never quite sure about the time period. Or perhaps Gotham City exists in an alternate universe, where cellphones and phone-booths do coexist?) She tells Maroni’s she’s still alive, despite what his weasely errand-boy told him, she’s fallen from the top but she’ll get back there. She then tells Maroni that Penguin told her he’d been working for Falcone the entire time and double-crossed them both. When Sal questions her, she asks him if everything adds up, or has Maroni overlooked situations?
He replies that rings true and she responds for him to get his house in order and hangs up the phone. Cobblepot, asks if the call brought bad news, Maroni says he needs to go upstate, to see a guy about a thing and he thinks that Penguin should join him so they can discuss business.
Bullock’s at the station when a woman approaches his desk and asks if he’s Detective Bullock, then identifies herself as Scottie Mullen, the woman they contacted about Adam Jadowski, then asks if he’s dead. Bullock asks why she’d ask that question and she says this is a police station and you’re a homicide detective, Harvey tells her that he is and her number was in his pocket. She says she was his sort-of sponsor in a support-group, Bullock asks, if it was alcohol or drugs and Mullen responds, that it’s for fear and Jadowski had a fear of heights.
Harvey starts to poke fun at the concept, when Mullen’s asks him why he wants to be an ass? He’s totally flustered and says excuse me and she tells him he started making fun of her and the others with phobias. Bullock falls all over himself in apologizing and asks when the group meets next and she tells him that night at 6:30 pm. He asks her if she’s Irish, then says she looks Irish, then asks if the meeting takes an hour and if conceivably, if she could have dinner after the meeting. She’s now flustered and says yes and he assures her he’ll find the murderer.
Harvey’s smitten. he watches her as she leaves the station and while Jim comes over with a slim lead, the chair that Jadowski got tied to is a wooden banker’s chair made by a manufacturer, that closed down a few years before, but still own their warehouse. Bullock, puts on his coat and says we’re on our way.
An elderly well-dressed man, leaves his apartment building and we see the killer clutching a pot-bellied pig, which the man’s clearly afraid of. He turns to head the other way and the killer’s henchmen, Tasers the man and they put his unconscious body into a van.
As they’re searching the warehouse, Harvey asks Jim about him and Dr. Thompkins and Gordon admits to feelings, Bullock asks about Barbara and Jim says he dropped the keys off that morning. Gordon asks why they always talk about his love-life, what about Bullocks and his partner responds, that his love-life’s a sad short-story. However he says if they catch this killer he’s got his sights set on Scottie Mullen, then we hear a man scream in terror. They run to find the elderly man tied to a pole, with pigs at his feet, while a man with a pig mask’s about to stab him, they shoot him first.
Maroni and Penguin arrive in the country ay Maroni’s cabin and Maroni slaps him awake, then says let’s go inside and get some chow. Penguin’s barely touching his coffee and oatmeal and Maroni asks why and Oswald starts eating and drinking asking about the guy. Maroni says don’t worry about him, I’m going outside to get some wood for the fireplace and Penguin knows he’s in jeopardy.
Ed decides to go against the Captain’s wishes and start’s examining the hole in Jadowski’s abdomen and finds something when the Medical Examiner and Essen walk into the morgue and the Examiner goes crazy, demanding she do something or he’d go over her head. Captain Essen says she’s sorry but she’s placing Ed on indefinite suspension.
We see a boat out on the ocean and in the captain’s sleeping quarters lies Fish Mooney, visited by the Captain to make sure she’s comfortable, then tells her if she looks out of her window she can see the Gotham City skyline. She thanks him but says she’ll see it again soon.
Harvey and Jim arrive at the station and the Captain asks how the victim’s doing and Bullock tells her he’s in Gotham General half-scared out of his mind. Essen asks if they’re certain they got the murderer and Gordon says he’s not, but Bullock says these nut-jobs work alone and he’s heading to the meeting to let them know their fears are over. Gordon tells Harvey, he can’t say that assuredly and Bullock tells him to be optimistic.
Captain Essen repeats Harvey’s words and Jim says that the victim had a weird wound to his abdomen and he wants Ed to look at it and Essen tells him he’s suspended and the Medical Examiner’s reports in. Gordon reminds her that the Medical Examiner ruled the last victim a suicide, after dying from icepick wounds to the back. She says that by taking down Flass, in the previous episode they’re now being watched and there’s only so much she can do.
Harvey’s talking to Scottie Mullen at the support-group and he says she seems like such a strong woman, what’s her fear and she responds she’s a strong woman who fears swimming-pools after almost drowning in one at age seven. She asks Bullock if he’s afraid of anything and after attempting to blow-off the question he tells her he’s scared all the time and offers to speak to the group. She says that’s great and excuses herself as Harvey finds himself next to the killer at the snacks table. The killer asks Harvey if it’s his first time, Bullock responds it is and the killer states he’s a regular.
Just before Maroni heads back in the Cabin, Cobblepot goes into Sal’s bag and pulls out a pistol. When Maroni returns he says it’s time to lay all their cards on the table, total honesty, total trust, then starts playing a game with Penguin, revealing that Fish’s alive and told him that Oswald’s worked for Falcone the whole time. After trying to deny it, he pulls out the gun and Maroni laughs and says it’s filled with blanks, then he knocks out the Penguin.
Jim and Lee Thompkins meet at a restaurant for what looks like a date, but Gordon gives her the file of Adam Jadowski. She looks hurt and he asks what’s wrong, she says the last time they were together he got passionate, she believed this was a date and put on lipstick. Gordon blushes, says the case was pretext and he really wanted to see her. She smiles and says she’s glad because she dislikes putting lipstick on for nothing. His cell phone rings and he apologizes and says he’s got to leave, she understands and says she’ll look into the case and he kisses her goodbye. He calls Bullock, telling him that the second victim just said he got taken by two men.
Ed sneaks into the police locker-room and goes to a locker and picks a lock on it. We’re back at the meeting as Harvey addresses the fear-support group, he tells them he’s scared every moment of his life. His biggest fear’s getting shot in an alley as he bleeds out while some thug goes through his pockets. He doesn’t want to go out that way, he wants to pass in a loving home in the arms of a beautiful woman and looks at Scottie. The group applauds and then the killer speaks, saying his name’s Todd and this is his first time speaking. He says he’s got an uncontrollable fear of failure, he inherited it from his father and fears he’s passed it down to his son, then starts to cry and leaves the room, Scottie soon following him.
We’re in a garage as Maroni stands in front of Penguin whose on his knees begging Maroni for his life, saying he can be more valuable alive than dead, but Sal says he’s heard enough of his lies. He tells him he’s going to put him in a car that’s going to be compacted by the crusher and he’ll send it to Falcone to use as a coffee table. He then throws Cobblepot in the car locking the doors as the crusher starts to work. Maroni’s cellphone rings and it’s Penguin making one last-ditch effort, Sal says take it like a man and hangs up.
Oswald then calls the crusher operator, a man named Duffy and tells him he just called Falcone and unless he stops this instant, Falcone’s men will slaughter him and his entire family. Duffy falls for it and starts running away, Maroni thinking all’s under control wasn’t close enough, starts chasing Duffy but the operator splits. Sal heads back to the car to see that Penguin escaped as well.
The Medical Examiner walks into the locker-room whistling as he ends his shift and opens his locker then screams in fright as body parts tumble out of his locker. As he starts to pick them up, two uniforms walk into the locker room and the Medical Examiner says it’s not what it looks like.
Sitting at the meeting, Harvey asks the group if it seems they should have returned, when he’s met by silence he says so long, getting to the parking lot just as the killer’s taken Mullen. Jim and Bullock head to the station and Essen asks if the guy they shot was just an accomplice and Gordon confirms, and tells her that Scottie’s fear’s swimming-pools. Just then Harvey gets off the phone with Scottie’s mother and she told him it’s the Mars Park Pool, uptown. They head out and a uniform tries to get Essen’s attention by calling Boss. She starts to say not now, but instead she asks if he’s holding what she thinks he’s holding.
The killer’s real name’s Dr. Jonathan Crane and he’s got Scottie bound and gagged at the edge of the pool, she nearly drowned in as a child, he tells her she’s strong as she’s only registering an eight on his scale, a twelve causes a major coronary and instant death. Suddenly a teen walks in and tells his father he needs money to feed the meter, the son Gerald sees what his father’s doing and Crane tells his son that they’ve talked about his reasons, to help society. The teen heads back to the van.
Seeing her only hope of escape leave Mullen’s gets more scared registering a ten on Crane’s scale and he pushes her into the pool. Right then Jim and Harvey enter, Gordon says he’ll chase Crane and for Bullock to rescue Scottie, Harvey dives in, cuts the bonds on her hands and feet, brings her to the tile and performs CPR, saving her. Crane unfortunately escapes.
The next morning a school-bus filled with church-women come upon the Penguin lying in the weeds, one touches him with her hand-bag and he awakens, the other woman saying she knew he was alive. He asks if they’re heading into Gotham City and they offer him a ride, he enters the bus as the women sing hymns.
Jim’s at his desk at the station when Lee Thompkins shows up and tells him that she examined the body and the killer extracted the victim’s adrenal-gland, which has no value on the black market. He tells her she’s very good at this and that the GCPD need a new Medical Examiner as the old one got fired for stealing body parts. How about they talk about the job over dinner that evening?
He then stands up and tells her he’s got an overwhelming desire to kiss her right then and she asks why he doesn’t. He says he’s on duty, there’s like fifty-people watching and she tells him she’s going to lean in at the count of three and if he fails to kiss her on the cheek the date’s off. He takes her in his arms instead and the station personnel, including the reinstated Ed Nygma smile.
Fish lies in her cabin and suddenly hears gunfire, the Captain bursts in and says he can hide her, when a giant man resembling a pirate enters. Fish and the man rush head-on towards each other and the scene fades to black.
The Story Continues Next Monday Night at 8:00 pm on FOX.
