Oswald breathes deep of the crime-infested air of Gotham as he once again wanders the city streets. He has, presumably, killed Biff and left him in that trailer, maybe to be found next month when the farmer/landlord goes looking for his rent. Despite being alive only because he's supposed to be dead, he's deliriously happy.
A man named Ronald Danzer is less so. A financial guru of some sort who mistook other people's retirement savings for his own, Danzer is holed up in his fancy penthouse apartment while angry mobs on the street yell through the windows. Danzer angrily tells his lawyer to buy him a "Not Guilty" verdict, trashes the people he stole from, and complains about the angry crowd outside. Unwilling to stay in his gilded cage one moment longer, he bundles up to escape incognito. He doesn't make it far before being spotted by a man selling balloons. We can't make out the balloon seller, as he dons a mask - he's now a pig. He calls out Danzer by name before quickly slipping metal handcuffs around Danzer's wrist, and letting loose from his balloon cart an enormous, off-white weather balloon, filled with helium, durable enough to float away high above the buildings, and sturdy enough to take Danzer with it. He screams as he soars into the clouds.
Sir, do you have a moment for balloon rights?
Back at Gotham's best homicide divison, Gordon is interrupted by a cop even worse than Bullock, a big man with premature white hair by the name of Cranston. Cranston's partner is a foot-tall statue, sturdy and hard, like a shiny club, named O'Brien, who has been "interrogating" suspects with Cranston for a while now. We hear the screams of the suspect as O'Brien is working. Gordon considers intervening, but he and Bullock have a case, and only he seems to actually want to solve it. Bullock insists that the Balloon Man killer of Ronald Danzer deserves a medal, and he will now think about danishes. Gordon would like to investigate the Danzer murder, but a social worker appears at his desk with the juvie he really wants to talk to: Cat.
Gordon tries to explain that he's still trying to find the Waynes' killer, which tears Bullock away from his danish fantasies to berate Gordon as the social worker tells Gordon that Cat has to be returned to the new juvie facility the city built. Gordon signs some forms as Cat leans in to Bullock's desk, maybe to get a look at what Bullock's up to? Or his danish?
On their way to the crime scene, Cat kind of rehashes what she knows about Gordon, and we see that when Gordon threw Oswald off the dock alive, Cat also saw that. Wow, she's been around. When Gordon questions that she was even at the crime scene, she can prove it- she dropped the wallet she'd stolen into the sewer grate almost exactly where the bodies had lain. The ID in the wallet will match the name of a man who reported his wallet stolen right before the murders. Gordon, suspicious of Cat and definitely not looking forward to this, handcuffs Cat to a nearby stair, while she insists that if he finds the wallet, he needs to let her go. Making her no promise, Gordon gingerly sloshes around the sewer under the alley. He finds the wallet, and Cat finds him. Using a pen she stole from Bullock's desk, she's jimmied loose of the cuffs, and waves good bye before vanishing. Gordon, filthy and now without his witness, will now have to explain to Child Services that he lost her. Which goes about as well as you would think.
Don't do the thing we both know you're gonna' do
Fish Mooney, dressed for her appearance on Dancing With The Stars, gets a visit from Montoya and Allen, who are still looking for Oswald. Wow, I'm sure he'll be touched. Fish goes ahead and implicates Gordon, while implying that Falcone put him up to it. Considering what she just saw happen to a snitch, is this wise? She seems unflappable during the whole interview, so maybe this is part of some master plan she's got.
Oswald, hungry, is considering knifing a street vendor for food, when he's spotted by an old crime-world buddy. Well, he's not much of a buddy. Despite Oswald's terrible accent as he pretends to be someone else, the other guy wants to drag him to Fish Mooney for a reward for the guy who's supposed to be dead. Oswald, at first, begs to be let off. When that doesn't work, he just knifes the guy, who falls to the ground in a garage. Oswald makes off with a hundred-dollar-bill, which the street vendor has no problem making change for when Oswald wants to buy a tuna fish sandwich.
Back at Wayne Mansion, Alfred has to lure Bruce into enjoying his fencing lesson, and we're all rewarded with seeing the kid enjoy himself for a change, until his enthusiasm is too much for Alfred. Once Alfred calls a halt, Bruce instantly stops, and Alfred looks a little concerned at how much Bruce lost control at the end, but it's forgotten when Alfred realizes Bruce is delving through his parent's murder reports. Bruce doesn't elaborate on how he got them, telling Alfred that he has his ways. Already, we think. Alfred doesn't want Bruce immersing himself in this. Bruce says he'll have nightmares anyway, so he might as well. Bruce isn't sure Gordon will even be able to find the real killer, let alone bring them to justice. Alfred thinks Gordon is their best hope.
Montoya and Allen try to wheedle an alibi out of Gordon by accusing him of killing Oswald right at the precinct, in full view of everyone. Gordon, knowing that he didn't kill Oswald and they can't even prove the guy is dead, flat out denies killing him. But he lacks an alibi and so blusters them off. Allen's only hit is telling Gordon he smells like a sewer. Bullock tries to buck up his silence, reminding Gordon that no one will ever know as long as Gordon keeps his cool. Gordon wonders if Mario Pepper deserved dying too. Bullock reminds him that Mario Pepper was about to kill Gordon, but he can't talk Gordon down from pursuing the Waynes' killer.
Oswald's job interview at an Italian restaurant goes badly as Oswald can barely walk, and has the worst shoes for restaurant work ever. He proves to be a goal-oriented person, though. He literally kills the guy who has the job he wants for both his awesome dishwashing position, and his comfortable, sensible black sneakers. Oswald is on his way up. His new boss on his first day gets real close as he informs Oswald that this is the kind of restaurant where you don't tell the wife who you saw dining or what they said as Oswald spots the restaurant's most important diner: rival mob boss Moroni, Falcone's enemy.
Bullock and Gordon get a lead on the weather balloon used to kill Danzer, and proceed to the factory they're made in, owned by a real charmer with a missing employee. The employee, Karl Smyker, stole four weather balloons, and hasn't been seen since. Gordon and Bullock realize that there's only been one murder so far. Who are the other three for?
Well, the next one is for Cranston, who is still quite a badass, even without O'Brien backing him up. Thinking the man in the pig mask was actually a mugger, he raids the guys pockets, thinking to steal from him instead. He finds instead a yellow sheet of paper that has him confused and alarmed. His would-be mugger isn't really unconscious, though, and manages to sneakily cuff Cranston before he can save himself. Cranston, too, goes up screaming.
Not so tough without O'Brien
The balloon murders have Bruce reading the paper, to Alfred's disappointment in Bruce surrounding himself with even more murder stories. He's also started bugging Bruce about his lack of appetite. Bruce calmly states that he's just not hungry. Alfred reminds him that testing himself to see if he doesn't need food isn't going to go well as he trots off.
Bullock is now gung-ho to investigate the balloon murders, now that a cop is the victim. Although, with Cranston supposedly floating in the air, how does anyone know he's the victim? Oh well, better to dwell on Gordon's griping to Barbara about the case the next morning. Gordon, like any squeaky-clean hero, is angry that the police only care about the killings when a cop is the victim. Barbara reminds him that he's better than the others. He would never do the things they do. He's a hero. Jim, who knows just how slender the thread his goodness is hanging on by, leaves.
While the police hate Balloon Man, the public is still in love with him. Someone going after all the corrupt city authorities and swindlers! What a change! Captain Essen has a different view, which is that this guy needs to be caught so that Gotham's elected officials and police officers don't have to cower inside their homes. Bullock is all for the Smikers guy named at the factory; Gordon doesn't think Smikers is smart or disciplined enough to have pulled it off. Gordon still wants to find him, as he'll know who has the balloons, and Bullock is now totally into looking for leads for his own safety on the job.
Bullock butters up the prostitutes, and beats the drug dealers, and gets himself a wrap, but gets them no leads. A weird tip leads them to another anonymous tenement building that looks suspiciously like Mario Pepper's, and the woman who answers the door is about as friendly as little Ivy. Smikers is there, and his girlfriend isn't letting the cops take him. Gordon easily secures Smikers, but Bullock is about to be bashed in by a television when Gordon points his gun. The girlfriend drops the television, and Bullock stands up and knocks her out.
Back at Mooney's club, Mooney's boytoy Laslow worries that Falcone wants to hurt her next. Mooney consoles Laslow by reminding him that Falcone beat him up to hurt her. What she doesn't mention is that Laslow got the beating because Falcone can't risk moving against one of his lieutenants in her own territory. When Laslow goes back to waiting tables, Mooney calls one of her henchmen to her table. He's got two assignments. The first is revenge: the henchman will return Falcone's favor to his new girlfriend, some Russian dancer named Natalia. The second is to tell Mooney's First Mate to get rid of Laslow. He's sweet, but a downer. Mooney's got enough negative energy, she doesn't need Laslow's.
Barbara gets another visit from old flame Montoya, who has let herself into Barbara's apartment while Barbara was showering and lighting up a joint. Barbara is angry about the whole trespassing thng, and wants her key back. Montoya tries to play the concerned ex-girlfriend, telling her that she's heard that Jim killed a mob lackey named Oswald Cobblepot and that Barbara deserves better. Montoya appears sincerely remorseful of some past lies that ruined their past relationship; but she's obviously not learned about boundaries, so Barbara stands by her man.
Smiker, in interrogation, denies killing anyone and says he sold the balloons to pay his loan shark. He never saw the buyer's face. When Gordon and Bullock despair of ever finding the bodies, Smiker tells them that problem will solve itself. Eventually, the balloon will ascend into thinner and thinner skies, and the helium inside will exert enough pressure from the inside to burst the balloon, which happens just in time for one of the early bodies to fall on the street that very morning in a red, gooey mess.
As Gordon and Bullock check out the body where it fell, they receive word of the latest victim: child molester Cardinal Quinn. The body turns out to be Cranston's; and he was still hanging on to the same yellow paper that so fascinated him before his cuffing. Bullock is just as amazed, telling Jim his name is on it. Jim takes one look at it and declares that he knows who the balloon man is. Well??? The assumption is that we should know too, even if we can't figure it out yet.
At Oswald's new job, Moroni is babbling openly about how priests should never be killed openly. There's a fine line. Don't cross it. Moroni then goes on the declare that something going on at Arkham will change things. Oswald, after being warned never to meddle in the diners' business, does just that but manages to convince Moroni of two things. First, he convinces Moroni that he's really Italian on his mother's side. "Paulo" then proceeds to agree with Moroni whole-heartedly that Gotham is a city of opportunity. Moroni takes a shine to "Paulo". Here we go again.
I'm just like you, only crazier
Gordon names the balloon man as Davis LaMonde, the social worker who dropped off Cat. And he even guesses where LaMonde is. With a new juvie facility, wouldn't the old one be abandoned? And wouldn't LaMonde know how to still get in and use the place? Gordon turns out to be right, to Bullock's danger. When LaMonde actually holds Bullock hostage, he reminds Gordon that the city needs him. The city literally preys on the weak. When the mayor rounded up homeless kids for unlawful jailing, he snapped. LaMonde wants to know what exactly, or rather, who exactly, is Jim fighting for? When Bullock manages to fight LaMonde, he handcuffs the guy to his own balloon. Gordon isn't willing to let the suspect die, so he grabs onto LaMonde, slowing the ascent and ordering Bullock to shoot the balloon, despite Bullock being perfectly happy to let LaMonde be hoisted by his own petard.
Falcone, suspicious when his dancer girlfriend was violently mugged, shows up at Fish Mooney's club to get her sympathies and sincere hope he finds the jerk. He promises to, and suspects it might be Moroni, angry about Arkham. Mooney seems genuinely out of the loop when she asks if Falcone didn't have that all locked up. But she's coyly happy that her revenge will pit the two bosses against each other. Someone will have to pick up the pieces of Gotham's mob world.
LaMonde, hurt but still alive, is lifted into an ambulance, but Gordon's not done. Jim tries to reassure the guy that the system could still work. At least, Jim will keep trying to make it work. LaMonde is totally sure Gordon will fail. Gordon has one last question: who was the last target?
Moroni's open mouth and Mooney's suspicions about Arkham actually reveals a motive in the Wayne murders. The Wayne Foundation planned on re-opening Arkham, but from Moroni, it's known that something is already going on there. Falcone didn't know who killed the Waynes, or that they would be killed. Were the Waynes killed on Moroni's orders, to keep his work at Arkham secure? Did Falcone try to stop whatever is happening at Arkham too, with no success? Hmm...
Alfred is hoping that will Balloon Man behind bars, Bruce will eat. But the local reporter isn't so happy, echoing Gotham's mood. With no vigilante, who will actually stand up for the people of Gotham? Who, Bruce, who???
Barbara is relieved that Jim is once again a hero, and that the smoke from her joint is completely undetectable. Seeing that something is wrong, she makes Jim confess to her that he's realized the city is even worse, and sicker, than he ever thought. He knows he's done what's right; he tells Barbara that if vigilantes take the law into their own hands, we won't have laws. But he's just not sure the right thing is enough. Just when they don't need company, Barbara answers a knock on the door.
It's the last person Jim Gordon ever wanted to see again. Well, at least Jim will be able to prove to Barbara that he didn't kill Oswald Cobblepot.
No comments:
Post a Comment