A Guy With A Thing - Gotham - Season 1, Episode 14

What happened!?  We went from Gotham's most solid episode two episodes ago, back to the show's original format of the cast dancing around each other without much happening.  Essen is still warning Jim to be careful, and starting to worry that Bullock has been infected with Jim's love of Truth.  Bruce is back to brooding, darkly, over his solitary mission.  Selina Kyle is still pestering Jim and then fleeing him.  Nygma is still awkwardly wooing Kris Kringle.  Penguin still has to keep himself from getting killed from a Gotham mob boss.  Everyone's still plotting their next move.  Time to move, people!  I mean, really, Fish gets attacked by pirates?!!??

There's only so much I want to talk about this episode.  But, I'll get the kids' stuff done first.  Jim decides to visit Barbara's old apartment, while Selina is still house-sitting there.  At first, they play cat and mouse, but Jim gets tired of the game and surprises her for a change.  He's still thinking of stashing her someplace safe.  So, Selina snorts at the idea that Jim has anywhere safe for her to go, and breaks the bad news to him.  She wasn't really a witness.  Oh, and she's going to leap over the balcony before Jim can stop her.  But she does affect the plot slightly by telling Jim that Bruce is back in town before leaping.

I don't know where your cufflinks are, I swear

Jim goes right to see Bruce, thinking they can commiserate over the lost witness; Bruce treats Jim like a frenemy.  Bruce is definitely in grown-up mode.  He reluctantly shakes Jim's hand and fires him from his job of finding the Waynes' killers.  Remember that mystery?  There was a time when the show seemed interested in secret goings on at Wayne Enterprises and Arkham.  And trying to link those secrets to the Wayne Murders.  But that was half a season ago.  Now, there's no witnesses, and Wayne Enterprises hasn't done anything interesting in a while. Bruce frames it as "releasing" Jim from a promise the guy can't keep, but his disappointment and disillusionment is clear.  Jim has let Bruce down.  And Bruce is cutting him off.  Alfred insists he'll protect Bruce for future investigative work.  We are supposed to believe this scene is pivotal for setting up Bruce's lifelong dedication for working with only Alfred's backup.  But, the show's writers will figure a way to draw it out forever.

Jim decides it's time to go to his real job, where Bullock has already gotten a new homicide for him.  The night before, some office drone type was hung from a rooftop water tower, suspended over the side of the building for the maid to not notice (something good was playing on her headphones), and then re-raised back to the roof to be found the next day by a smoker.  Nygma finds a small incision and super wants to investigate; Essen tells him that his attempts to perform autopsies are about to get him in trouble.  Essen also decides to mother hen Bullock a little, warning him to stay away from roof ledges; Flass' buddies are still angry, and will be happy to take the anger out on him.  Bullock waits for her to leave before wandering back to the ledge for a peek over.

What they don't know, and we do, is that Office Drone was suspended in a chair facing down before being hung.  His killer, a dapper man in a hat and glasses, made sure the height and angle had really gotten the old heart rate going before killing him.  And, we know from Nygma that he then made some sort of hole in Office Drone after killing him.  For what?

Bullock is not much interested, as there's a pretty woman in the precinct.  To see him for a change.  With Mooney gone, Bullock seems a little restive and ready to connect with someone else.  That someone else is Miss, yes Miss Scottie Mullen,  Bullock is intrigued with her red hair and possible Irish ancestry from the start.  She's actually there because she knew Office Drone from a support group.  For people with phobias.  And guess what Office Drone's was?  Yep, heights.  Bullock is immediately on to the clue; Office Drone was killed in such a way that would definitely have triggered his phobia.  Mullen has no other names, as the group members are anonymous, so Bullock offers to attend her phobia group and take her Irish beauty out to dinner.  She reluctantly agrees and is leaving as Jim appears at work.

Jim, though late, has already been doing some digging and manages to score some info on the chair found on the roof.  Which is good, because the Fear Killer is striking again, this time with a pig against an old man.  Using a henchman and a van, the pig-scared guy is quickly kidnapped.  Bullock and Jim find him quickly enough, while checking out the lead on the chair.  Henchman is dressed as a pig, carrying a knife, and surrounded by real pigs while the victim is tied to a chair and surrounded by what, apparently, is his worst fear.  Jim and Bullock quickly shoot the knife-wielder and save the day.  Once again, the mystery seems to be solved pretty fast.

Essen spends most of the episode trying to manage her precinct.  This includes suspending Nygma when he directly disobeys her and autopsies Office Drone anyway, and trying to convince Jim that they have, in fact, caught the killer. It doesn't work.

Oh, you really meant "No more autopsies?"

Jim convinces his new doctor friend, Dr. Lee Thompson, to put on a nice dress and lipstick so he can show her the case file over dinner.  Dr. Lee, to say the least, is a little confused over whether Jim actually wants to have dinner with her, so Jim has to stumble his way through smoothing it over so Lee will open the case file and become interested.  The current ME is the same guy who ruled a witness' death stab in the back a suicide, so Jim has no faith in him and plenty in Lee, who wants to hold on to the file when Jim suddenly gets called away.

Bullock is on his own date.  Now with a second victim terrorized by his phobia, Bullock knows the Phobia Support Group is the best lead, and Scottie Mullen brings him to their meeting, where Bullock is shamed by Mullen's calling out his bullshit into confessing that he, actually, spends most of his time afraid of his job killing him.  It's not really a phobia, but the group is impressed and supportive anyway.  And now, it's time for another member to speak.  Like Bullock, he's talking for the first time.  And he's desperately afraid of failure.  Dr. Gerald Crane goes on for a while about how much he strives to avoid failing, and how disappointed he is that his son seems to have inherited his same fear.  He gets emotional and storms out, with Scottie Mullen following.  It doesn't take Bullock long to realize Dr. Crane is the killer and just got himself his third victim.  Bullock also races out of the meeting, then dashes over to the precinct to figure out where Crane could have taken her.

Bullock needs only one phone call to know where they've gone; a local public pool where Scottie almost drowned as a kid;  Bullock is sure this is it, and Jim is willing to go along.  Essen would love to mother hen them for a while, but one of her officers brings her a new problem. A body part.  Found in the ME's locker.  Along with a lot of other stray body parts.  Essen has no idea how they got into his locker, though it looks awful for him.  She has little choice but to get rid of him and reinstate Nygma, who engineered the whole thing.

We get some stalling moves from Dr. Crane, who's made sure Scottie is securely bound, gagged, and can see she's about to go into the pool, trying to gauge just how fearful she is.  The next stalling is from a teenager, who hesitantly comes in, gets reassured by Dr. Crane, and then wanders out.  It's Dr. Crane's son Jonathan, and we immediately realize who is going to become the Scarecrow.

Remember. this needs to scar me so I'm a criminal for life

Jim and Bullock manage to show up as Scottie is done thrashing around in the pool, to save Mullen.  Bullock has an emotional moment, holding her once she's breathing again.  Jim, however, fails to capture Dr. Crane.

Back at the precinct, Nygma triumphantly announces his return to Kris Kringle, who wants the pencil Nygma ruined replaced.  I think he respects her love for her pencil.

Also back at the precinct, Dr. Lee reappears with the case file.  With the killer still at large, Jim is happy for her news that the adrenal gland was removed.  It's the gland that produces cortisone, and hormone produced by fear.  Which explains the phobic victims.  That's a lot of cortisone Dr. Crane is stockpiling.  Dr. Lee has gone from clinic doctor at an insane asylum to unofficial ME.  So, Jim offers to make it official, pointing out that there's an opening.  Dr. Lee, who probably hasn't conducted an autopsy since medical school, considers Jim's offer of a new job and a proper dinner date.  But only if he'll kiss her in front of the whole precinct, which he happily does.  It's a long, gross kiss that makes it clear They Are Now A Thing.  Which means Barbara will be back in the next episode.

Penguin, once again, has to barely survive being killed by a mob boss.  This time, Maroni.  Mooney, about to leave Gotham, decides to snitch on Penguin by phone while the two are sitting in Maroni's restaurant.  Maroni, at first, doesn't trust Mooney's info over the phone;  but as Mooney describes Penguin's secretive nature and attitude perfectly to Maroni, he realizes it's worth checking out, and enlists Penguin for a trip out of town.  To see A Guy.  About A Thing.  Penguin agrees, but it's obvious he hates the idea of going anywhere, especially not without telling anyone.

And when they arrive at a small cabin in the woods, Penguin clearly has nothing but disgust for nature.  The trees don't care how important he thinks he is, so he has nothing but disdain for them.  Maroni, though, loves the country, claiming that the fresh air helps him reflect, connect, and think.  Oh, and the fresh air encourages honesty.

Have you figured out yet I want to kill you?

On that note, he leaves Penguin alone long enough for Penguin to find a gun and stow it in his jacket.  It's a little big to be concealed, but that's okay.  Maroni meant for him to find it.  When Maroni tries to play Truth or Dare, it quickly turns into Just Dare, with Penguin trying to shoot Maroni and realizing Maroni's played him all day.  Maroni is quick for a big guy, quickly launching himself onto Penguin.

Their next stop is Duffy's car dump, where Mr. Duffy crushes cars for Maroni. Penguin tries to bargain, then beg for his life.  Maroni is amused at first, but quickly loses interest and doesn't even pity Penguin.  Maroni's pissed after realizing that Penguin killed Frankie, his lieutenant, and wants to know what Falcone wants with Indian Hill, which Penguin got Maroni to offer him.  So, there's no mercy for Penguin.  At least, not from Maroni.  But, Duffy's another matter.  Using a cell phone dropped in the car, Penguin manages to convince Duffy that Falcone's on his way and not happy with Duffy, saving Penguin from being crushed with the car.  Maroni is pissed, at first trying to chase Duffy down, then realizing that Penguin took the chance to escape.

Yeah, you're pissed- but you have yet to get anyone killed

Penguin doesn't return to Gotham.  At least, not right away.  He's clever enough to sleep under leaves, in the woods outside town.  And, he's found the next morning by a couple of church ladies, thankful to God for finding him alive.  Which, we all know, they shouldn't be.  Penguin is happy to appear jovial and use some Bible characters to compare himself to, earning him a free ride back to town.  Which he uses to scowl at the window, mad at the world again.

He's no doubt wishing revenge on Mooney, who's about to have her own problems.  Fleeing Gotham in a freighter that looks a little old-fashioned, she's being spoiled by the captain when she hears gun shots and shouting.  Always ready for a fight, she's not scared at all when one of the attackers appears in her room.  They're running towards each other, and a fight about who knows what, when we leave them.

Dressed for a fight in the 1980s