Ah, last week. Remember all that awesome momentum last week? Jim and Penguin keep it going. But Bruce, returning from the Alps, tries to slow the episode down. Fortunately, Selina nips his stalling in the bud so Penguin can quietly triumph over his new connection to Jim. Even Nygma and Kris Kringle can't slow Jim down.
Anyway, it turns out that Bunchy is actually Narcotics Detective Gordon Flass, And Flass is running his own drug ring from Essen's precinct. We're not exactly sure why Flass has to kill small time dealer Pinky Littlefield, but Jim suspects it has something to do with several small packets of bright blue goo. When a witness steps forward, Leon Winkler, he's so ordinary but decent that you know he's going to die in the next scene. Which he does. Right after speaking to his dear wife. Right in the precinct's interview room.
Really? Really?
Jim is furious. Someone killed his witness. Whoever was on guard duty at the interview room must have helped. The GCPD is now broadcasting, to anyone interested, that half its force is corrupt and half its force is incompetent. Jim is sure Winkler's killer, and now Pinky's killer, is a cop. Bullock is sure, again, that Jim is going to get himself killed for a case. I'm not saying Bullock's wrong; Jim's definitely putting himself in danger. But come on, Bullock; Jim's dealt with this stuff before. Bullock grudingly goes along with the investigation of both murders when Essen okays it, telling Jim to run anything big by her first.
Mooney's punishment starts with being dragged by two handlers into some industrial basement of some sort, where a cage holds a nice little dentist office/torture chamber, in which Mooney is tied to some futuristic looking upright bench. Her extractor, named Bob, describes his mission as if it's a teeth cleaning. One gets the impression that Bob is working on autopilot at this point in his career. They start out by snarling at each other until he slaps her, which she laughs at. One has to wonder: how much of this is bravado to stall things, how much is the mental stress of facing torture? Or, has Mooney really faced worse?
We'll never know, because while Mooney is busy faking out Bob, First Mate is busy getting the drop on his own captors, killing them both and commandeering their van. His only question for his captors, before killing them, is to find out where Mooney is. So he can interrupt Bob's halfhearted attempts to torture Mooney by literally beating the man into the concrete floor and rescuing Mooney. Despite his morning of bloodshed, he's gentle and kind to Mooney, asking if she's okay before vamoosing with her.
Jim's interrogation of every cop in the precinct produces nothing. And the log book, showing who was supposed to be guarding the interview room, is missing. So, Jim begs Bullock for someone who could crack, and that someone turns out to be a bald guy who ends up finking on another detective named Delaware. Who's already trying to flee in the parking lot when Jim catches up to him. Delaware almost runs Jim over, but decides to stop and get out of the car anyway. Which is always a mistake, because we all know Jim can beat someone senseless in seconds. After knocking Delaware into the hood of the car and cuffing him, Jim searches the trunk, which Delaware was closing when Jim found him.
Inside, the only contraband is more packets of bright blue goo. So, Jim knows he's on the scent. And he decides to remind the precinct that no one can get away from him by perp walking Delaware through the precinct, and locking him in the holding cells. Bullock is horrified; Jim stands firm. Flass, once confronted with the evidence of the matching blue packets, dismisses the evidence. Essen is so angry that Jim acted without consulting her, that she sides with Flass and gives Internal Affairs the case of Winkler's murder. Jim's grumpy about this, but he's pissed off his sympathetic boss.
Detective Bunchy Flass is riding so high after this, that when Nygma, once again, makes an attempt to impress Kris Kringle with a history factoid and riddling note, Flass feels it's time to publicly humiliate Nygma by reading the note out loud for his subordinates to laugh at. Which they do, to Nygma's horror and Kringle's resentment. Kringle, this time, stands up to Flass, insisting that Nygma's note isn't bad, which is the only thing that can make Nygma smile now.
Mooney wakes up in some anonymous safe space, First Mate ready with an ice pack and relief to find out she's up and at 'em. First Mate isn't the only one concerned about Mooney. At the episode's opening, Jim, tries to console Bullock, thinking Falcone had her killed. Bullock brushed the concern off, reminding Jim that it's an occupational hazard in organized crime. Is Bullock really so nonchalant about his best source? Free from Falcone, with Viktor Zsasz on their trail, First Mate wants to whisk her away; Mooney wants to stay and make Penguin pay. Guess who wins out?
Penguin will spend most of the episode gloating over his win over Mooney. Assorted goons tidy up the club after the earlier confrontation while Mrs. Kapelput, in raptures over her little Oswald's success, surveys his new domain. She's impressed, and asks if he's the one in charge of it now. Oswald bristles, thinking his mother doubts him and his abilities, but she quickly mollifies him, so much that when she whisks up Liza's scarf, left behind from her lifeless body, Oswald meekly allows his mother to keep it.
Bullock and Jim make one last attempt to work on the Flass/Delaware case, but they're too late in raiding one of Flass's drug stashes. Delaware has already gone to the Commissioner, no doubt skimming off the drug operation, and gotten a warrant authorizing Delaware to "seize" the drugs and move them. They'll disappear again, with no cop held responsible for it. Bullock and Jim are futher deflated when Internal Affairs rules Winkler's death, by an ice pick to the back, as a suicide. Bullock seems resigned to losing, despite Winkler's widow weeping beside him. But, Gruber is right; Jim just can't accept defeat. He tells Bullock only that he'll be back in an hour.
Penguin, despite his company and the mess, is quietly ecstatic when Jim shows up at his new club. He invites Jim in and happily agrees to a tete-a-tete, interrupted only by Mrs. Kapelput meeting Jim. Jim looks sexually harassed, but kisses Mrs. Kapelput's hand anyway. Jim lays his story in front of Penguin, asking for information on Flass. Apparently, Penguin's contacts with Maroni's gang are active in the Gotham's drug business. When Jim wants to know what Penguin wants in return, he brushes Jim off. They're friends. No one's keeping score. Jim's only condition is that no one gets hurt. Penguin assures him it's done and done right. Jim leaves, not knowing that Penguin is lying on both counts.
I totally won't use our friendship to advance my own criminal plot
Penguin, after getting Jim's request in to someone, has his mom taken home by one of his new goons, so he can go Home Alone in Mooney's club. We see Penguin frantically fondle the bar, spit on the Fish sculpture, and guzzle champagne. Repeatedly. Penguin is excited to finally have, for himself, the bounty of his boss. He decides to get theatrical, commandeering the mic and acting as emcee for an empty club. Until, he realizes, the club isn't empty. He's got an audience of two, one of whom is carrying a baseball bat.
We demand a refund!
While Penguin's Maroni contact holds Delaware's wife underwater to get answers out of him, Mooney has First Mate hold Penguin in place for her payback. Penguin is scared, and starts babbling, taunting Mooney by telling her that Falcone's trusted him over her the whole time, acting as Falcone's spy on Mooney and Maroni since he was thrown off that pier. The reunion is ruined by Viktor and his three lovely assistants, finally finding Mooney and First Mate. There's a gun fight, and a chase. First Mate ends up sending Mooney out a window, and stays behind to hold them off for her retreat. He gets shot in the leg for his loyalty to her, and Viktor crows over his prize.
Jim, back at his desk, is surprised by one of Penguin's goons just appearing, with a plastic bag containing Delaware's leverage over Flass; the ice pick Flass used to kill with. With the murder weapon in hand, Jim launches right into Flass's gaggle of subordinates to announce that he's arresting Flass. Flass, surrounded by Narcotics detectives, shakes off Jim's accusation and arrest talk. But Jim goes into full speech maker mode. He opens up to the other officers, reminding them that Flass brought his dirty business into their precinct. Jim reminds them that a witness trusted them; and that Flass is making them look bad to all of Gotham. It's enough to start people murmuring amongst themselves. And it's enough for Bullock and Essen to step forward. Essen decides that it's not Flass's precinct, it's hers. And Detective Alvarez backs her up. When Essen cuffs Flass, Alvarez leads him away. Homicide wins!
Kris Kringle and Nygma make up, showing us all that Nygma really hates onions, but establishing that these two might have a future together. It's been painstakingly sweet to see these two slowly affect each other. Nygma slowly impresses her bit by bit, while Kringle establishes her boundaries and slowly coaches Nygma on how to befriend her.
Throughout, we see the saga of Bruce Seeking Selina. Back from the Alps, Bruce has Alfred drive him repeatedly in Selina's favorite neighborhood. Alfred begrudgingly agrees that Bruce can circle the block on foot, and Bruce scores when he catches Ivy wandering around. It only costs twenty bucks for Ivy to agree to send Selina along to see Bruce. It's always amusing to watch Bruce instruct Alfred to do something; here, it's watching Alfred actually pay Ivy for a favor he'd rather no one do. But Ivy does her job; later that night, Selina interrupts Bruce's rousing one-boy chess tourney.
My opponent cheats!
Bruce suffers being teased for playing chess by himself so he can present Selina with a snow globe, brought all the way from Switzerland. Selina's mildly impressed with the thing, but Bruce wants more. He wants her to return to Wayne Manor and help Bruce find his parent's killer.
Selina decides that it's time rip the bandage off. She admits what we've all suspected; that while she saw the murder, she never actually saw the killer. She only lied to get out of a trip to juvenile detention. After telling Bruce to leave her alone, because he's only a pest to her, she leaves Bruce to his shattered snow globe and tears. When Alfred finds him later, he manages to get Bruce to stop crying by mildly embarrassing him over it. It seems like a cruel thing, to try to tease a kid for crying. That's what kids do, right? Not this kid. Bruce remembers that he's the oldest twelve-year-old ever, and returns to his Wall of Murder. He re-dedicates himself to his solo quest of pinning pictures to the Wall.
We're almost at the end. It seems that Bullock learned that Mooney is alive, and needing a sympathetic ear at the docks tonight. He meets her there, handing over his jacket for the cold. Bullock tries getting her to see the sense of leaving Gotham for good, and it's about as effective as his sensible advice to Jim. Mooney is even more dedicated to killing Penguin. Bullock doesn't say much more, except to agree to find First Mate, and help him, if possible. Turns out, Bullock's affection for her wasn't fake or because she was his source; they share a brief, gentle kiss before he leaves her with his jacket. She's alone, but free. She could go and be anything she wants to now, but she'll return and meet her fate trying to destroy her enemies.
Just when you think Gotham will end on a sweet note for a change, we get the ominous end we've come to expect. Jim is wandering after a successful day, only to be accosted by Delaware, in full panic mode. Seeming to swear off every bad thing he's ever done, Delaware is clingy and loud as he begs Jim to protect his family. Delaware is sincerely terrified. Of Jim. Jim can only stare in horror as he starts to realize somebody might have gotten hurt. Is Penguin really a friend?
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