Gotham Season 2 E1 Season Premiere: Damned if You Do

Gotham S2E1: Rise of the Villains: Damned if You Do

Original Airdate: September 21, 2015

Recap by Sarabeth Pollock

 

Welcome back to Gotham, ladies and gentlemen!

Tonight’s season premiere started off with a bang as Bruce and Alfred explore the secret room behind the fireplace.  Alfred is visibly stunned at this revelation, and he tells Bruce that there could be any number of combinations to the keypad that unlocks the door.  But we know better, don’t we?  This won’t slow Bruce down.  Bruce is just getting started.

One month later….  The music is rather uplifting for this next montage of updates on all of our Gotham friends.  “It’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you….”

Leslie helps Gordon get dressed as they look at each other in the mirror.  They’re very much in love.

Bullock wipes down the bar in the middle of the day.  Wait…Bullock is a bartender now?

Penguin presides over a meeting of Gotham families.  He grasps a man’s head as if in benediction, and then he turns and walks away with a huge grin on his face.  Mr. Zsasz steps forward and aims his gun at the man’s head and puts a bullet through it.  The smile on Penguin’s face becomes a scowl.

Barbara walks through the jail hallway, all dressed up with a guard behind her carrying her suitcase.  She stops to look in at the group of men sitting in a holding cell.  She stops and pulls her sunglasses down.  Red-headed Jerome turns around and smiles at her in return.

Up in a high rise building, a man hands an elixir to a man who kneels at his feet.  The man grins, but his vision is fuzzy.

The next day, Traffic Cop Gordon (what!?) is busy directing traffic when Elixir Man, now clad in body armor with two guns and an arsenal of swords that would make Michonne envious, jumps into the street and fires his guns.  He says he is Zaardon, the Soul Reaper.  Gordon pulls his gun and Zaardon is unfazed by his presence.  “I don’t want to shoot you, man,” Gordon says.  “Too much paperwork.”  He grabs a hostage, then he and Gordon scuffle.  Gordon subdues him in time for his portly partner to show up wielding a hoagie.  He shoves the other officer for being late.  Gordon whips around and points his gun at some people attempting to loot the table behind him, telling them it’s a bad idea.

Zaardon can’t believe Gordon has taken him into custody after he drank the dragon’s blood.  “Dark days are coming,” he tells Gordon.  Gordon runs into Nygma in the locker room.  When Gordon walks away, Nygma continues his conversation with his own reflection.  His reflection suggests that they need more fun and some romance.  Reflection Nygma tries to convince Real Nygma, but Real Nygma begs him to leave Miss Kringle alone.  He storms out, leaving the reflection to smirk at him.

Gordon is rewarded for his brave action by being stripped of his gun and badge by Commissioner Loeb.   He had hoped demotion would keep Gordon in line, but shoving a fellow officer is a major offense. Captain Essen is furious, demanding that Gordon be commended, but the Commish is resolute.  Gordon vows revenge on him.  Meanwhile, Zaardon is asleep in the holding cell, and as he sleeps he spews a noxious vapor.

Gordon explains what happened at work to Leslie while they’re in bed.  He hates that he is walking away, but she points out he was fired.  He says he still has an option remaining, and while it isn’t legal, it will still help to fight the good fight.  He has to keep fighting.  He’s a cop.

At Arkham, Jerome pulls up a chair and introduces himself to Barbara, who flips through her magazine without looking up.  “Keep moving, Ginger,” she says.  He wants to know why she’s there and it turns out they both killed one or more of their parents.  What a coincidence!  And what a rush!  Jerome tries to give her the lay of the land, telling her that a girl needs to have a friend in a place like that.  To prove him wrong, Barbara calls a giant bald man over and asks him to be her friend.  He pledges his allegiance to her with no hesitation.  “Now I have a friend,” she says.  Jerome says his friend is powerful and can get her things.  She needs a phone.  Jerome grins.

Penguin listens as his men give him a rundown of his assets and his outstanding accounts.  Gordon shows up and Penguin welcomes him warmly.  Selina is perched at the end of the table, and Penguin jokes that having her around is like having a cat.  Gordon needs a favor and Penguin knows that he wants Loeb fired and he wants his job back.  Penguin wonders why he wants to be a cop in Gotham.  Penguin also asks about Lee, which tells Gordon just how good Penguin’s surveillance is.  Penguin also wants Gordon to collect a debt for him to prove his loyalty, but Gordon refuses.  He tells Selina to be good (“always,” she replies) and leaves.

Bullock pours Gordon a drink and tells Gordon to walk away.  He says Gordon could never work for Penguin.  Bullock says he has been sober 32 days.  Leaving the job allowed him to get sober, get a woman who actually likes him, and it lets him sleep at night.  These two are close, clearly.

Alfred shows Gordon into the study.  Gordon walked to Wayne Manor to apologize to Bruce for not being able to keep his promise.  Gordon explains what has happened to him, and goes on to tell them about the only way of getting his badge back—doing a job for Penguin.  Bruce muses over this and considers that Gordon may be acting selfishly.  “Surely sometimes the right way is also the ugly way,” he reasons.  Alfred praises the young master, but he tells him there are things he can’t understand.  Alfred shows Gordon out and Bruce rushes to open the fireplace and try the combination again.  When it doesn’t work, he grabs a hammer.  “Screw it,” he says, taking a swing.

By the way, has anyone noticed how much taller and filled in Bruce is this season?  Who knows…maybe he’ll be playing teenage and young adult Bruce later on….

We return to Arkham to see Barbara approach Jerome’s friend.  She wants to know what she’d need to do in order to get a telephone.

Gordon enters a nightclub to talk to the owner.  The owner recognizes Gordon as a cop and blows him off.  He won’t pay Penguin a dime.  Gordon suggests they try to work things out.  The owner pulls a gun on Gordon, and Gordon says he’ll count to three.  By one, he has knocked the goons out and has the money.  As he flees, the police chase after him.  The owner corners him in a parking garage, and Gordon shoots him.  Now Gordon has blood on his hands.

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce carries in bags of fertilizer to build a bomb to open the door.  Alfred says that Bruce doesn’t know the first thing about building a bomb, but Bruce says he read a book.  The duo have a great little argument about being old enough to discover Thomas Wayne’s secrets, but Alfred eventually ends up relenting and giving Bruce advice about building the bomb, which he will help with after making some tea.

Gordon presents the bag of money to Penguin. Butch looks impressed by his work.  Penguin apologizes that things got messy, and he promises to make sure the GCPD doesn’t interfere.

Later that night, Gordon sips his drink while Lee cooks dinner.  His phone rings.  It’s Barbara.  She tries to tell him that Lee is insane and is the one who attacked her.  He hangs up, so she calls Lee’s phone and leaves a message says she hopes Lee dies screaming.  Lee wants to go away and never come back to Gotham, but Gordon says he can’t leave.  He confesses to doing a bad thing.

Commissioner Loeb wakes up to the sound of glass breaking in his apartment.  It’s Victor Zsasz and Penguin.  Penguin asks if he has any peanut butter.  Smooth, of course.  Loeb calls for his guards, but Zsasz has already severed their heads.  Loeb panics while Penguin and Zsasz share a laugh.  Penguin makes a sandwich and shares a dilemma with Loeb.  He says that he can’t find any vices to threaten him with.  The only option Penguin has is to kill Loeb and reason with his replacement instead.  Loeb wants to know what Penguin wants, but Loeb doesn’t want to do it.  Zsasz is eager to kill Loeb, but Penguin manages to twist his arm enough to get his way.

The next time we see Loeb, he’s being serenaded at his retirement party.  Businessman Theo Gallavan is there to bid him farewell.  Loeb still seems to be in shock.

Barbara is lounging against Richard’s chest as he tells a story while she’s having her toenails painted by her acolytes when Zaardon walks in.  He announces who he is, and everyone pauses momentarily and resumes their business.

Gallavan finishes his speak and Loeb gets up to announce his replacement, Commissioner Essen.

Zaardon doesn’t like being ignored.  Jerome watches in amusement as he passes out on the table, but then everyone stares when the purple gas floats out of Zaardon’s mouth.  The prisoners jump up and promptly pass out.  Suddenly a group breaks into Arkham wearing gas masks.  They shoot the guards and approach the day room.  A very attractive woman looks inside and smiles.

Essen doesn’t know how Gordon pulled this all off, but she’s happy to welcome him back to the job.  Lee says that Gordon is very resourceful.  She has a very strange, almost wistful look on her face.  Essen is looking forward to all of the good work they can do together.  Essen gets pulled away and Gordon promises Lee that it’s a new day, and that it was worth it.  Essen returns and says that there has been an incident at Arkham.  Six inmates have escaped, including Barbara.

Gallavan has the six inmates tied up in a room.  He tells the group he sees charisma and brilliance in this room, not crazed inmates.  Jerome says Gallavan is singing his song, but Richard tells him to be quiet.  Gallavan suggests that if this group worked together they could bring Gotham to its knees.  Richard says he doesn’t take orders from anyone.  Gallavan doesn’t like the idea of sexual jealousy, so Richard has to go.  His female accomplice kills him, and Jerome gasps with glee.

Alfred rigs the explosive and makes sure that Bruce is sure about the decision to blow the door.  Bruce pushes the button and the door blows up.  They exchange high fives and then hurry downstairs.  Inside the cave is a desk with an envelope addressed to Bruce.  He opens it.  Thomas has written a letter to Bruce knowing that something bad has happened to them.  He says you can’t have both happiness and the truth.  He begs Bruce to choose happiness, unless he feels a “true calling.”

While Bruce reads the letter, Gordon stares at his reflection in the mirror and prepares himself for what lies ahead.

GOTHAM IS BACK, PEOPLE!  And so far it kicks major ass!!

Gotham Recap S1E16: The Blind Fortune Teller

Gotham S1E16: The Blind Fortune Teller

Original Airdate: February 16, 2015

Recap by Sarabeth Pollock

 

Gotham Fans, I apologize for my absence.  I blame my DVR and the delay in getting shows up on demand.  That said, let’s get to tonight’s episode!

(By the way, did you catch Robin Lord Taylor on last night’s Talking Dead?)

Bruce is sleeping on the couch, surrounded by notebooks and files.  He has been taking notes, clearly.

Penguin is at his club listening to his mother singing on stage.  No one else thinks she’s as good as he does.

Fish is sleeping in her new world.  She hears someone crying and wakes her people to provide water to the prisoners whose limbs have been amputated.

Barbara returns to her apartment to find Selina and Ivy in her apartment.  Selina lets her know that Gordon dropped off his keys the week before.  “So screw him, anyway,” Barbara says, plopping down on the couch with Ivy’s cereal.

Gordon and Leslie are at the circus together.  They’re eating popcorn in a scene that reminds me of Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman in Batman Forever.  There’s a trapeze act onstage at Haly’s Circus, and while they canoodle, the Flying Graysons are introduced.  But the MC is interrupted by a clown car full of…clowns.  These clowns don’t seem to be clowning around, though.  They have beef with the Graysons, and a fight breaks out in the center ring.  Gordon springs into action, breaking it up.

Back at Penguin’s club, Penguin’s mother finishes her song to a rousing round of applause from her son.  When someone boos, Penguin storms over and bashes his head in with a bottle.

Gordon proceeds to interview the suspects but no one is talking.  Meanwhile, Leslie tends to John Grayson while his rival, Mary, is tended to on a stretcher across from him.  He reveals that the Graysons and Lloyds have always been rivals, and this particular fight was over a woman named Lilah, who is also a snake dancer.  Mary snaps at John for being so forthcoming.  It doesn’t look like they’re married yet, or even dating.  (Aside: Ahhh!  It’s Dick Grayson’s parents!!!)  Gordon meets back up with Leslie and apologizes for the date, but she’s thrilled.  He’s stunned at how much information she was able to find out, and she begs him to allow her to go with him to see the snake dancer.  But when Gordon gets a “look” from the MC at the mention of the snake dancer, we know that there is much more going on.

A young man exits Lilah’s trailer.  Her red-headed son, Jerome, hasn’t seen his mother in a day. The MC tells Gordon that Lilah is a party-girl, but given that she left without her purse or coat, there is cause for concern.  Gordon notices that the snake is agitated and tells Jerome to let it out.  It isn’t long before the snake goes off toward a truck.  It disappears under a tarp, and that’s where they find Lilah’s bloody body.  Jerome falls to his knees while the snake cuddles up to its owner.  Leslie comforts the boy.  Gordon knows that the MC knew her body was there.  He admits that they found her body there that morning.

Fish addresses her people, telling them that they are nothing more than transplant donors.  She can get some of them out of there, but some of them will die on the way.  She says they’re all family now, and they have to fight together to get out.  The crowd loves her.

The MC says that some rigging people found the body that morning, and then they moved her to the truck.  He says that only the heads of the families know about it, but they have their own justice and justice will be served.  Gordon arrests him.

When Gordon and Leslie arrive at the station, he recruits Bullock’s help.  Bullock thinks that the group of performers being led into the station is part of a joke until he realizes that it isn’t. Gordon interviews Jerome, who says that him mom was perfect, aside from her bad cooking.  She didn’t have any enemies, and she didn’t have boyfriends.  Just lovers, apparently, including a Grayson and Lloyd.  Jerome isn’t embarrassed about the number of sexual partners his mother had.

When Gordon talks to Owen Lloyd, he says that Grayson killed Lilah.  He explains that the feud between the two families started ”before the Great War” after a Lloyd was accused of stealing a horse.  Bullock talks to the Grayson brother, who corroborates the horse story but says that Lloyd killed Lilah.  In the outer office, Mary and John bicker while they’re being interviewed.  Mary can’t believe she ever thought she loved pigheaded John.

Fish meditates when she hears the men coming.  She rallies her troops so that when the lead guard calls for the desired inmate, no one moves.  Inmate 57A finally raises his hand, and Fish steps forward.  “We need to talk,” she drawls.  He tells her to back up.  She introduces herself and says that she’s in charge now.  She demands water, blankets and supplies, and when he says no, she has her men kill 57A.  The guards are stunned.  Fish repeats her demands, and she’s told that she has to go speak to the manager.  The manager doesn’t go down to the cells, but Fish isn’t going anywhere.  They have a standoff.  Eventually the guards leave, and Fish’s men cheer.  She kisses 57A’s forehead in appreciation for his sacrifice.

The Captain can’t believe that Gordon let the snake out to find the body.  And their prime suspects are an acrobat and a clown.  She laughs.  Leslie and Nygma have identified the cause of death, but the timing makes it unlikely that either Lloyd or Grayson could have done it, as both were performing.  They will be kept in custody while the others are released.  Gordon tells the group they’re free to go, but he says that the feud must end, as it has gotten their families nowhere.

Leslie meets Gordon back at his desk.  She teases him about his stern voice and then asks him over for dinner to finish their date.  They’re interrupted by a man named Cicero, who is a blind psychic. He is accompanied by a boy in a coonskin hat.  He tells Gordon that Lilah sent a message from beyond the grave, that the killer can be found by the iron sisters.  Gordon dismisses him, but Leslie wonders why Gordon is so closed-minded.  It creates a rift between them.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce pours over documents while Alfred enters and says that the meeting with the board of Wayne Enterprises has been confirmed.  Apparently they didn’t cancel or postpone again.  Alfred still thinks the meeting is a bad idea and voices his concern, but Bruce wont’ hear it.  Alfred says it won’t be his fault if they end up in a ditch.  This catches Bruce’s attention…momentarily.

Penguin is playing Greensleeves on the piano while a group of men at a table play cards.

Barbara twirls in front of her new friends, showing off her outfit.  Selina thinks she’s trying too hard to get Gordon’s attention, while Ivy rolls her eyes.

Leslie and Gordon clink glasses and start dinner.  Gordon loves the food.  Leslie has a realization that the psychic’s message related to the iron gates at Arkham.  She wants to go with him.  They go off in search of “clues” but Gordon doesn’t think it’s a place for a nice lady.  Leslie points out that he’s contradicting himself in his choice of women.  He finds a hatchet on the ground from a member of the Hellfire Club, a group of Satanists who have been inactive for some time.  He calls for backup, urging caution.

The duo return to the police station, where Leslie knows that she’s being dismissed.  He quickly says that he wanted to stay at home to finish their date.  Eventually he acquiesces and lets Leslie interview the suspects with him.  Mr. Cicero is in a room by himself.  He greets the duo, and he appears frustrated when Gordon tries to pin him for the crime.  He’s trying to cover for someone.  Cicero looks uncomfortable.  He brings in Jerome, and as soon as the boy sits down, Gordon says that Jerome killed his mother and cleaned up in Cicero’s trailer.  Gordon suspects that Cicero was Jerome’s father.  Jerome denies it, saying that his mother said his father died at sea, but Cicero cracks and says that it’s true.  Jerome starts to cry…but he’s really laughing.  He laughs and admits that he killed his whore of a mother for nagging at him, and pushing him to do the dishes while she was banging a clown in the next room.  He laughs maniacally.

Are we witnessing the birth of the most notorious Gotham criminal of all time?

Leslie sits in the locker room and gathers her thoughts.  Gordon knows she’s emotionally drained.  It was ugly, she says, but thrilling.  And scary.  She thanks Gordon for letting her be there.  He’s blown away by her.  “Can we go home now?” she asks.  He kisses her passionately, and of course Barbara walks in at that moment and sees them.  She storms off in a fury.

A violinist plays a sad song at Penguin’s club.  Victor Zsasz shows up and says that Falcone thinks he doesn’t know how to run a club.  He whistles, and Butch is standing near the stage.  Penguin backs away in terror.  Victor says Butch is harmless now, after working him over in his basement for a few weeks.  Victor says that Butch is there to help him run the club, and that he will do exactly what Penguin says.  Penguin asks him to dance, and he dances.  “I do good work,” Victor sighs.

Alfred preps Bruce for the big meeting.  Bruce salutes him.  In the boardroom, Bruce takes his place at the head of the table, and Alfred stands at his side.  The board is nice to Bruce, thinking him harmless, until he says he has two areas of concern: underworld involvement at Arkham, and chemical weapons manufacturing.  The board doesn’t see him as harmless anymore.

Gordon congratulates Mary and John on their engagement.  Since Gordon put the feud to rest they can be together.  They leave, but not before Mary pecks him on the cheek.  Bullock walks up and notes that Gordon must have gotten laid because he smells like ladies soap and he didn’t shave.  Gordon can’t deny it.

Bruce is relentless with the board.  He assures them that he plans to take this information to the shareholders meeting.  The board is mostly silent, but they try to placate him.  He says he knows much more than he’s letting on, and he plans to pursue legal action.  And if he was a grown man, he’d be the Chairman of his company.

The guards return and tell Fish she has a deal. She tells Thomas Schmidt, the guard, to relax while she meets the manager.  Her family surrounds him as she leaves.

Can you believe there are only 5 episodes left of this amazing season?

Up next: Red Hood!

Gotham Recap S1E11: Rogues’ Gallery

Gotham S1E11: Rogues’ Gallery

Original Airdate: January 5, 2015

Recap by Sarabeth Pollock

 

Welcome to 2015, Gothamites, and welcome to the midseason premiere of Gotham!

We start out tonight at Arkham Asylum.  The inmates are staging a play.  The inmates are taking their parts seriously while Jim Gordon and the other inmates watch from the audience.  The nurse turns on music so that a mousy inmate wearing feathered wings can sing a song.  While he sings, Jim reflects.  We see Selina crawl out from under a building.  Bullock is sitting at his desk taking a nip from his flask.  Barbara is in bed with Montoya, and there are pills on the nightstand.  Meanwhile, back at Arkham, the Frogman has decided that the song needs to end as the notes get higher and higher.  He rushes the stage and pulls the singing angel off, punching him repeatedly.  Jim pries him away from the other man and a riot breaks out.

The broken angel is taken to the infirmary and Gordon is chewed out by his new boss, Director Lang.  The nurse tries to stand up for Gordon, suggesting a return to comedies from now on, but Lang insists that Gordon failed in his duty to maintain order.  Clearly, Lang is out to get Gordon.  Lang tells Gordon that if there are any more incidents, he’ll pull him from duty and Gordon will sink even farther.

Gordon dozes as he waits for the doctor to arrive.  When she does, she gets to work on the inmate.  Gordon snaps to attention when he sees how attractive the doctor it.  She insists that the inmate is fine, and she asks how Gordon is doing.  She recognizes him as the “famous” detective, and introduces herself as Dr. Leslie Tomkins.  She’s assigned to the female ward but helps out on occasion.  Leslie says the female inmates think he’s handsome and brave.  She commends him for not quitting when he’s facing so much adversity.  Gordon is taken aback by her openness, and she apologizes.  The inmate tells them to get a room because he’s trying to sleep.

Back in the alley, Selina crawls out from her hiding place. She hears someone coughing and finds Ivy tucked away in a box.  Ivy is really sick.  Selina insists that Ivy come with her, but Ivy says she’s fine.  She refuses to see a doctor.  As she stands up, Ivy starts to collapse.  Selina gathers her up and takes her to Gordon’s apartment.  Selina climbs in through the balcony and lets Ivy inside.  From the amount of dust on everything, no one has been there in a while.  She tells Ivy to rest on the couch while she finds a blanket.

At the docks, Penguin and his men approach the laborers and ask if they have considered his proposition.  Penguin wants to raise prices, but the men say that Maroni already raised the rates.  “Inflation is a bitch,” Penguin shrugs.  A police car pulls up and Penguin laughs, saying that they own the wharf patrols.  The cops approach Penguin and one of them knocks Penguin out cold.

Gordon is patrolling the halls when he comes upon Frogman’s cell.  The Frogman is unresponsive, so he goes inside and sees that someone has burned his temples, as if from an electroshock therapy session.   He’s a vegetable.  He taps Frogman’s shoulder, and the man falls to the ground.

Leslie explains to Gordon that the wounds are caused by electrodes.  Someone put metal needles into his head and fried his brain.  Lang hurries in and observes that another inmate has been injured under his watch.  Gordon says that they rushed the opening of Arkham and don’t have the staff to keep watch over everything.  Lang says they’re making do with what they have.  So long as Frogman is breathing on his own, he’s fine.  He tells Leslie to keep him comfortable while he tells Gordon to find out how this happened. Gordon asks Leslie what they’re looking for.  Someone needs to know what they’re doing, and they also need door keys.

Gordon questions Steven because he’s the most defensive of the five guards.  Eventually Steven admits that he lost his keys in the inmate fight, and that he doesn’t know where his set went.  This gives Gordon a start, at least.

Fish Mooney talks to the other members of Falcone’s syndicate and wonders, hypothetically, what would happen if Falcone was out of the picture.  He would love something to get Falcone out of the way.  The man says that he’d be in charge, clearly, because of the pecking order.  Of course, Fish plans to be the last one standing.  She thinks the family needs fresh thinking.  The men exchange looks with Butch, who looks on uncomfortably.

Gordon conducts interviews inmates.  Gruber, the director of the play, is channeling his inner-Hannibal Lector and he tells “Jim” that he didn’t take the keys.  Gordon goes through interview after interview, meeting most of the wing’s finest inmates.  They range from psychotic to violent and everywhere in between.  Poor soul Aaron doesn’t know how to lie, and the nurse defends him even though he killed his whole family with an ax.  “I said I was sorry,” Aaron says.

Selina sits atop the building, balancing on the railing.  A fire is burning.  She has made herself at home.

Fish tells Butch that Saviano is the problem.  Butch says that he and Saviano go way back, and that inwardly he knows Fish will be the best candidate.  He just won’t admit it to her face.  She asks if Butch is turning on her, and he insists that he isn’t.  “A girl gets insecure every once in a while.”

Back at Arkham, the winged angel is getting a dose of shock therapy.  He screams as the voltage is turned way up.  Gordon dozes in the lounge when he hears a noise. He goes into the hallway to find the angel hitting his head against the gate.  Gordon spins him around to see that he’s been shocked.  The angel recites his lines over again.

Leslie examines the angel, Royston.  Somehow he can walk and talk and recite his lines.  He received the same treatment as Frogman but he isn’t as damaged.  Gordon advises her to stay in the female ward for a while, because things are going to get tense.  He thinks the missing keys are a misdirection, and that they need to focus on the staff.  She asks why she isn’t considered a suspect, and he says she isn’t the type.  Later, Gordon tells Lang that he thinks the culprit is a staff member.  Lang scoffs, not surprisingly, and tells Gordon he isn’t authorized to conduct an investigation.  Lang thinks that Gordon is trying to force Lang to call the police, but Gordon already called them.

Montoya arrives with coffee as Barbara hides her phone.  She has Barbara’s favorite coffee for her.  Montoya thinks they have made a mistake.  They’re toxic together; Barbara has been drinking and doing drugs.  Montoya wants her to call Jim but she won’t.

Bullock arrives in the hospital ward and studies the burn marks on Frogman.  Royston quotes some more Shakespeare and Bullock digs it.  Gordon and Lang arrive, and Bullock breezes past Lang and plants a kiss on Gordon’s head, taking a good look at him.  He has words for Director-Doctor Lang, who is furious at the police intrusion.  Bullock says that Frogman’s condition is the result of an assault, and from Lang’s actions he suspects that Lang wants to keep it quiet. In fact, Lang is a doctor, so he could be the culprit.  He decides that Lang needs to go downtown for a chat, and that this is now a GCPD investigation.  Bullock orders Gordon to search staff records while they’re gone.  The duo exchange salutes.

Butch meets Saviano at the docks.  They lean against the hood of the car and they reminisce about their childhoods.  Butch says that he told Fish that he should talk to him to change his mind.  Saviano trusts Butch and he tells him that Fish has a good plan but it won’t work.  He makes Butch an offer to come over to his side.  Butch wants some time to consider it.

When Bullock returns to the station, Penguin sees him from his holding cell and calls him over.  Bullock leaves Lang momentarily and goes to talk to him.  Penguin says there has been a misunderstanding, and that a simple call to Maroni will fix everything.  Bullock smiles and says that he likes sitting at his desk watching Penguin in the cell.  It’s like a bonsai tree.  Penguin’s henchman asks what a bonsai tree is.  Penguin hits his head against the bars.  Poor Penguin.

Fish approaches Butch back at her club and asks about the meeting.  Butch says that Saviano is stubborn, but he’s working on it.  Give it time.  Fish agrees to give him time.  “I’m optimistic,” Butch says.

Bullock tells Lang to explain the electroshock therapy procedure. Lang says that it’s like mind control, but they haven’t been able to run tests on it.  It would take a skilled surgeon to do it, and Lang is no surgeon.  Bullock knows that Lang is hiding something, which Lang admits, but he is too afraid of authority to tell him.  Lang tells Bullock that it has nothing to do with the case, though.

The nurse brings Gordon some coffee as he pours over Arkham blueprints. He asks her about the basement, but she says that it’s been closed off for years due to unsafe chemicals.  Gordon asks her to take him there.

Bullock is still pressing Lang for information.  He asks which of the staff Lang would be a culprit.  Lang says that his staff has been together for years.  A troubled look passes over him.  Bullock doesn’t miss it.

As Gordon and Nurse Dorothy head to the basement, they run into Leslie.  Dorothy positions herself next to Leslie as Gordon explains that they’re going to the basement and that she should go home.  Leslie hesitates, which gives Dorothy time to push her into Gordon and run away.  Gordon tells Leslie to find a guard and then he gets a call from Bullock saying that Dorothy Duncan is another inmate.

Dorothy runs down the hall with her set of keys and enters the restricted area.  She unlocks the doors and releases all of the inmates.  Gruber, however, stays in his cell.  She sees Leslie in the hall and calls out to her, and then she and a herd of inmates give chase.

Gordon hears Leslie scream and he runs after her.  Dorothy is leading the herd when she trips.  The herd tramples her, leaving her dead on the floor.  Leslie runs into a locked gate, but Gordon catches up to her and holds off the herd while she unlocks the gate.  Gordon orders the men to stop, and for a moment his firm command works, but when the gate opens, they charge at him.  Gordon and Leslie make it past the gate in the nick of time.

Ivy reminds Selina that she’s vegan.  The phone rings and it’s Barbara.  Ivy pretends to be a friend of Jim’s, which sends Barbara into a rage.  She throws the phone against the wall while Ivy laughs impishly.

Gordon, Bullock and Essen dissect the case.  Dorothy Duncan was sent to the original Arkham for poisoning five kids when she was young.  They suspect that she stayed in the basement when Arkham closed and she was hiding there ever since.  Essen congratulates Gordon on another win, but Gordon knows his boss won’t see it that way.  Bullock says that they have to get him back, but Essen’s hands are tied.  She offers them a drink instead.

Maroni arrives at the station and Penguin hurries to greet him.  As it turns out, Maroni put Penguin there on purpose.  It’s hubris, Maroni says.  He’s upset that Penguin tried to raise taxes on the fishermen without asking permission.  The fishermen risk their lives for them.  You don’t attack the fishermen.  Maroni wanted to teach Penguin a lesson.  Penguin, he says, is a good monkey, but he’s still a monkey.  And Maroni is the zookeeper.

While Essen and company celebrate, the coroner comes in and says that Dorothy had the same burns on her head.  Clearly she didn’t perform the procedure on herself, so that means the culprit is still out there.

Back at Arkham, Aaron approaches the guard station where Steven is reading a magazine.  He takes out a set of keys and opens the door while Steven tries to keep the door closed.  Gentle Aaron holds Steven to the wall by the throat and snaps his neck. Gruber approaches and studies Aaron’s handiwork.  Aaron has the same burn marks, but Gruber says that he’s his best creation yet.  Lang walks out of his office and sees the men standing there with Steven’s body crumpled on the ground.  Uh oh.

When Gordon and Bullock arrive, Lang is on the ground.  He’s not dead, though.  He manages to tell Gordon that Gruber was the perpetrator.  He has a note in his hand from Gruber.  The letter is addressed to Gordon.  He says he had to run, but he hopes to see him around in the future.

Gordon returns home and calls out for Barbara.  He sees the dirty dishes next to the couch and thinks that she has returned home to him.

Butch sits in the car listening to the music of his childhood.  Saviano pulls up next to him and Butch gets into the car with him.  Butch agrees to the terms but he wants to apologize for not equally distributing the meat they stole when they were fourteen.  Saviano accepts the apology, and Butch shoots him in the head.

That’s all part of the game.

It looks like we have to wait two weeks for the next episode of Gotham, but that will be two weeks’ worth the wait.  This show keeps getting better and better!