Alfred is home from the hospital and Jim wants answers. He knows the pair lied about who stabbed Alfred; but Bruce can only try to apologize for his sandwiches. The bread slices are too thick, you see. Which ruins the whole sandwich. It's interesting to see this compared to another character, near the end of the episode, who also tries to smooth over food that's not quite right. Jim warns Bruce that Alfred should not try to handle this alone. Does he know that Bruce means to investigate too, or does the warning cover both of them?
Penguin has taken an interest in local color, specifically a hole-in-the-wall place owned by a virulent matron who disapproves of her daughter's new boyfriend. The owner's rolling pin means business; but Penguin still manages to coax a deal out of her; if he can break up the daughter's affair with a guitar player, they will do business. Penguin has no worries; breaking relationships up is his specialty.
Jim, the new union president, thinks he's getting the beginning of a fan club. Officer Neat & Trim, a young cop who totally hopes Jim succeeds in changing things, thinks Jim is such an awesome detective that he's got a request. Would Jim the Hero look at this case that he was the original uniformed officer on? It's a typical Dead White Woman case- she was missing for months, then turned up dead and dumped somewhere. Jim, at least, tries to see if the cop has some ulterior motive for wanting Jim's help, but the guy just wants justice done. Maybe he just knew the victim somehow that didn't come up before; maybe he wants Jim to show up another detective that pissed him off. Either way, Jim can't see the harm in checking and Lee is in when she hears "homicide" and "body". Nygma's always up for something that stumped everyone else.
The only unwilling participant is Bullock. He hates the whole idea from the start. He can't stop Jim from wasting Jim's time. And, it seems, he can't stop Jim from wasting his time, either. Lee is the one who suggests checking the private, hidden "speakeasies" of Gotham, which is a thing now. Which is just what Bullock wanted to do today: run through all of Gotham's most exclusive bars and not be able to have a single drink. I think more than his feet are hurting as they try the last on the list Nygma gave them. It turns up a small lead, a bartender who remembers Grace, the victim, on a date with some guy who was hot enough she noticed, but bland enough she can't really remember much about him.
So, now that we've got a clue, we can get a drink!
Good thing the show immediately switches to a flashback, in which we see Grace with her date. The bartender was right: Jason is hot, but not memorable. He looks like he does something profitable but not important or useful. And his line that he's looking for "unconditional love", spoken like he's already demanding it of Grace, cements her to him. She's at his place within minutes, and stays the night. Grace is entirely too trusting and polite; she tries to exit the next morning, claiming work responsibilities. But what's work, when the guy you thought was wonderful last night turns out to be a psycho who handcuffs you permanently? We see Grace, long into her imprisonment at Jason's apartment. She's impeccably dressed, she looks healthy. But she's in dire fear the whole dinner.
She points out that the lamb is overcooked before they even eat. She stammers through every statement. Jason eventually loses patience with this woman who he wanted to turn into his perfect doll, and breaks up with her. His break-ups are a little harder than most; it involves a Polaroid camera, a blindfold, and a really awful-looking knife.
Single again!
Back in the present, Lee can't find anything wrong with Grace's body besides the killing wounds. She wasn't abused while a prisoner, leading her and Bullock to wonder if she just ran away. But Jim won't buy it. Grace had a wonderful life. Why would she run from it? It's Nygma who provides the answers tonight. He digs up a photo of evidence that went missing; Bullock recognizes the symbol of the broken heart right away. And he so wishes Jim had listened to him.
Back on Dullmacher Island, Fish is testing the security system to see who answers the alarm. It turns out to be a man only called The Catcher. He's a hick-type who appears to really be into his job. He doesn't have to do much; very few prisoners ever even get outside, and apparently, can't swim. But Fish has her eyes on the boat. And the helicopter. She confides to Kelly, back from his surgery to remove who knows what, that they're getting out of here. ASAP.
The cage isn't even gilded!
Her first step is to find the muscle for the job. She needs guys who can handle danger, not the pantywaists she's been hanging with. When the guys bring up the helicopter, having heard it land before, Fish asks who there knows how to fly. When that turns up no one, she brings up the boat, and promises to get the keys.
Which she does, but not before almost getting shot by Dullmacher who almost catches her going through his desk. She manages to turn it into a monologue on killing oneself out of fear of failure and punishment, so Dullmacher sends her away with a warning. When she sets the plan in motion with her new team, she leads them out just as she promised, telling them the gate outside has been opened, and they're to wait for her to return with her good friend Kelly. As the alarm goes off again, she dashes back downstairs.
Dullmacher meets her at the door to the jail. He's ready to shoot her for real this time, but it turns out that Fish left the jail gate open, so all of Dullmacher's other prisoners, about five of them, can storm out and attack Dullmacher themselves. He's left bloody and broken on the floor, with no organ sources now, while Fish and the rest make their own way out.
The guys make it to the gate, only to find that Fish screwed them- it's still chained up. The Catcher finds them before they can find Mooney, blowing them to bits where they stand. He realizes he's not done when he hears the chopper. Fish has led the rest of the prisoners to the helicopter that she can fly. She's just picky about who she takes with her. They're off the ground and making their way when The Catcher hauls out the rifle, getting a shot in that leaves Fish conscious but bleeding. She's got to fly fast and reach a hospital soon. Or else they'll all die in that chopper.
When Alfred turns out to be really not ready for anything, Bruce leaves him napping at Wayne Manor after scanning the phone book. Alfred has insisted that Reggie Payne is probably still in Gotham, using whatever money he made from spying on them to get drunk and then find a place to shoot. So, Bruce decides to check Gotham's shooting ranges. Almost seeing a very irate Penguin, who's on his way to solving this whole daughter/guitar player dilemma.
While Bruce turns up nothing, Penguin decides the best way to get a guitar player dumped is to cut off the fingers that make girls love him. They fall to the floor while Penguin's henchman, Gabe, does the cutting. Antonia is back at her mother's in hours; Penguin loses no time closing the deal. And, he finally reveals to Gabe why he wanted the place so bad. He doesn't want to run it; he wouldn't dare tell the owner, Olivia, what to do. It doesn't make much money. It has something else Penguin desperately wants. It has access to a certain Gotham crime boss who's already threatened to kill him. Penguin has decided to kill Maroni first. But, would Falcone approve?
Bullock finally explains that GCPD already knows who killed Grace Fairchild. The broken heart removed from evidence, and only found by a determined Nygma, is the calling card of the Don Juan Killer, aka The Ogre. And, he doesn't just go after women he meets. He also looks for women GCPD Detectives trying to find him like. So, Jim's just put Lee in danger looking for Grace Fairchild's killer. And someone at GCPD set him up. Officer Neat & Trim, under duress, admits that it was Loeb. Still angry over being beaten by Jim over his secrets, Loeb had Officer N&T set Jim up for losing Lee. And Jim is pissed. Luckily, the object of his new anger is, right now, sauntering through the precinct. With no Captain Essen in sight to rein him in, Jim angrily confronts him, grabbing him and shooing away Loeb's security. Who really wants to go at it with a guy who can subdue a criminal with his bare hands?
Jim lets Loeb know he's gone too far. And, he lets Loeb know that he's going to stop The Ogre once and for all, unlike every other detective who's failed. And when The Ogre is behind bars, Jim is coming for Loeb. And, not for another sweet union position. For Loeb's job. For now, Jim can only try to reach Lee and make sure The Ogre hasn't found her yet.
Bruce comes up empty at Gotham's gun ranges. But that's because Reggie doesn't shoot guns. Or, at least, not when he's flush with money. Which is where Cat comes in. Or, rather, flips down a ladder in.
So, where's Cat?
She immediately know what a "shooting gallery" is, and it's what you don't want to see; a floor of people laying on mattresses on the floor in some forgotten building shooting up drugs. It really is no place for a kid. Not even Cat. They find Reggie right away, though, and immediately set to questioning him, using his bag of whatever he's taking as leverage. Cat makes a show of almost throwing it out the window a couple times, which gets Bruce the answer he wants: Reggie was hired by a guy named Blunderslaw. What is it with the creepy Germanic names on this show? No one at the shooting gallery thinks to ask this, as they're busy worrying about Reggie's bag of drugs. Cat throws it out the window in a fit of pique at how pathetic Reggie really is- two kids could play him.
Reggie finds that the drugs haven't spilled thirty feet below to the alley. They're just hanging precariously under the windowsill. And once he's done leaning precariously over the window trying to get them, he tells the kids that he's going straight to Bunderslaw and telling all about Cat and Bruce. Who can't have this loose end. Bruce balks at dealing with Reggie, but Cat doesn't. She pushes him out the window before Bruce even realizes it's happened, and the would-be snitch lies motionless on the ground below, surely dead. Bruce looks down in horror as Cat gets out of there pronto.
So, the last three episodes are set: Jim will be tracking down a monster to save a woman he knows; Bullock will be worrying about him; Lee will be constantly pestered by a worried Jim; Penguin is going to try to kill Maroni, even if it risks Falcone's wrath; Fish will be returning to Gotham by hook or crook; and Bruce is going to track down this Bunderslaw. I'm sure all our heroes will get their happy endings. Totally sure.
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