And it's a terrible night to be a parent. Jacob Skolimsky and Mrs. Kapelput try to avoid some unpleasant truths about their sons. Does Maroni flirt with Mrs. K. and then try to shove that her son is a murderer down her throat because he knows about Oswald's plan? Or was this just him dicking around because he can? Does he know Oswald bought Olivia's deli? If he does, then Oswald's plan is for nothing. Does Oswald consider this before he goes all throat-slitty? Oswald transitions between scheming murder and viscerally shoving a glass shard into a neck beautifully. And, I mean beautifully. Every contortion of his jaw and eyes reveals he is desperate that his mother believes, or at least pretends to believe, that he's a good boy. He needs his mother's unadulterated adoration. Maroni crossed a line with Oswald.
I'm going to prove I'm not a psycho by killing the guy who said I am
Jacob Skolimsky likes to think he has no illusions about his son; he covered up his son's initial murder. But he hasn't seen little Jason since that murder, and he's convinced that Bullock and Jim are lying the second the detectives claim Jason's been seducing women. Haha, he's got them! Because Jason was initially ugly. So ugly his mother left. And Jason glommed onto the affectionate recluse who employed his father. Miss VanGroot burst disfigured Jason's precious bubble, and he probably killed her as bloodily and greedily as Oswald killed the flower delivery guy. Is the face Jason started life with the reason he's called "The Ogre" now?
The episode also touches on something that will become a major theme of the Batman saga- being two people. Now, it's about hiding a monster behind a respectable human mask. One day, Batman will hide a human behind a horrible mask. For now, we only have Barbara Kean and Jason Skolimsky commiserating over having to hide their pain and dysfunction.
They meet in a bar, seemingly by chance. It's all going just as it did with every other cop tracking him... except it turns out, his information is out of date. Jim and Barbara aren't a thing anymore, and now she's insulted that he thinks she's a slut. He can't decide whether to kill her out of habit or not, when she tosses out a bit of self-pity, and hints that deep down, she's actually a terrible person no one should care about. Then, she kicks him out.
So, now he has to be obsessed with her.
Jason and Barbara's plotline will skip in and out of Selina and Bruce's plan, which they hatch right after Reggie Payne's drop out a fourth-floor window. Bruce is horrified at Reggie's murder; Selina holds firm that nothing's more important than keeping Reggie from ever ratting them out. She also points out that Reggie Payne was probably the gunman who killed Bruce's parents.
Really? That's it? Couldn't we have spent another episode figuring that out?
Selina tries to back out, but Bruce makes it clear that if he goes down for this, she's coming too. And he says the magic word: "safe". As in, a safe she could break into. Now, she's in it for the challenge, and the plan is to meet at the Wayne Enterprises Charity Ball, which he invited himself to, and find this Mr. Bunderslaw. Selina's pretty sure she can engineer a way to copy the key to his safe if Bruce can find the guy and distract him.
With Selina living with Barbara, and both couples ending up at the Ball together, Selina and Barbara wander in and out of each other's story, coming together for brief moments, such as when Barbara sees the clothes Bruce sends Selina for the Ball, and when she meets Bruce as he comes to pick Selina up. Barbara really doesn't even suspect the two have their own mission; it never even occurs to her to ask how they met. Selina, though, is suspicious of Jason the second she sees him leaving the Ball with Barbara.
Once, at the Ball, Bruce and Selina dance awkwardly, trying to smile while grownups surround them and coo over how adorable they are. Jason and Barbara spin seductively among the couples, with him whispering in her ear at how much trouble he went to to attend a party with her, and how they're actually alike, two people hiding something awful beneath.
Like, how you're trying to hide that it's a wig
Jim and Bullock spend the episode hard on the heels of the something awful beneath. Before Jim can get to the hard-nosed detective work, he's desperate to make sure Lee is safe. The scene is filled with thriller-tropes. Lee is in the bath; she hears a sound and investigates alone; she finds a cat and is setting it free when someone comes up behind her. She ends up clocking Jim in the face, which he deserves, as it seems he'll only admit he loves her if he thinks someone's trying to kill her. Jim tries to talk her into leaving town, just as he did with Barbara. Jim can really only see women as an impediment, can't he? Lee throws that idea out- she has a job. That job is at the precinct, surrounded by cops. She's not going anywhere. Except Jim's lap.
Now that the detectives can get to work, Bullock is fully vested now, to the point that he joins right in with Jim. They both lean on the original detective who tried tracking The Ogre. When The Ogre killed his wife, he caved, scratched out some clue in his notes, and let eleven more women die. He wanted his own daughter to live. Jim throws photographs of dead women in front of him, and it's Bullock who points out they were all someone's daughters. How should the fathers of these women feel about GCPD's cowardice?
Original Detective gives them a lead on the original victim, who worked as a secretary for a cosmetic surgeon. The secretary was suggested for the job by a patient who Dr. Bigboobs won't disclose without a warrant. On their way back to the precinct, Jim spots a car he's seen before today- is someone tailing them? They won't anymore, not after nearly running Jim and Bullock over to get away. Essen finally gets to know what's going on, and she apparently has decided to overlook the fact that this is the first time she's briefed on anything. While they wait for a warrant to find Dr. Bigboobs' patient, Jim decides to take a mysterious call at his desk, where no one but himself can hear it.
It turns out to be The Ogre, going right to the threats and warning Jim that he shouldn't believe he's as awesome as the press makes out. Essen, Bullock, and Jim all agree that the call was supposed to scare him, but Jim's decided to not give The Ogre what he wants. So, he parades Lee out as his girlfriend supporting him while he walks right into a press conference to announce The Ogre's existence. And to promise, for the public's benefit and Jason's, that he's ending The Ogre's reign of terror. Has anyone but me noticed how much his hair has grown? He looked barely out of the army at the season premiere. Now, he's become the look we all associate with Jim Gordon.
Totally cool with being bait
The warrant comes through and was worth the wait: the patient was a wealthy old lady named Miss VanGroot. She was from old money and a recluse, but somehow wanted cosmetic surgery anyway. Jim and Bullock go over to her swanky mansion, where they just wander in to find the butler has just tried to hang himself.
The butler is Jacob Skolimsky, and he doesn't believe a word Jim or Bullock say about his son killing women. He holds firm, despite Jim and Bullock insisting it's true. The pictures of Jason as a disfigured boy and young man throw them for a loop, and Essen thinks they're on the wrong trail until Bullock reveals that Jim now knows the real connection between Jason and the first victim. After killing Miss VanGroot over her humiliation of him, Jason somehow got control of her money and used it to get cosmetic surgery on his face, so he could have a handsome mask concealing the monster within. The first victim, knowing Miss VanGroot, may have recognized Jason before, and could have recognized him after.
Quick question: why didn't Jacob and Jason just bury Miss VanGroot in the backyard, and claim she was overseas? The smell of a dead body gets everywhere, no matter how big the house. And, no body means it's very hard to accuse someone of murder. Miss VanGroot could have been permanently missing. Now, Jason is definitely on the hook for her murder.
We're hauling you in for not even bothering to hide the body
And, what will Nygma do with Doherty's body? He'll definitely be smarter than the Skolimskys. And, he'll definitely make sure the blade is clean of Doherty's DNA. Maybe, he'll even destroy it. After all, blades can be matched to their stab wounds. Wouldn't want to get caught with a blade that could have killed a cop. Did Nygma really just want Doherty to leave Kris alone, or leave town? Or, did he plan on killing Doherty the second he saw the bruises on Kris' arm, and realized her squirming when embraced by Doherty was from fear? In the Records Annex, Nygma interrupts Doherty getting a very unwilling forgiveness from Kris for something, and it totally ruins the exquisitely carved watermelon treat he had planned for them.
(Side remark: only Nygma would think of taking a watermelon used in a forensic investigation and turn it into a treat for his crush.)
Kris tries to warn Nygma off intervening, insisting that it's her fault, and none of his business. Has Doherty convinced her she'd never find anyone else, is worthless without him? Nygma doesn't know, and he doesn't care. No one hurts Kris Kringle. Not while he's got a Riddle left in him. Nygma is all seriousness as he tells Doherty:
I can start a war or end one,
I can give you the strength of heroes, or leave you powerless,
I might be snared with a glance, but no force can compel me to stay.
What am I?
The answer is what Kris Kringle gave to Doherty: love. Riddles are about the contradictions and multiple meanings and descriptions in many of our words. And, love is almost the most contradictory thing ever. Love can build you up or rip you down. It can warm your hearth or burn your house. It can make Nygma stammer nervously around Kris, but address Doherty as if he's the boss. And it can make Nygma back up the Line he draws on a street at night, under elevated tracks with sparks from a passing train ripping through the shadows. There are still plenty of shadows as the two battle it out, with Nygma winning by shocking Doherty with a few stab wounds.
Nygma can't believe he's managed to actually do it. His murder is full of "Oh dear". He sounds more like an old lady spilling tea. Once Doherty's body is on the ground, and he sees the knife is a bloody mess, his hair comes loose, making him look less like a Forensic Expert and more like a mad scientist. He laughs as he trembles. There's a riddle in there, somewhere.
What feels better than killing some prick? Answer: nothing!
Selina and Bruce end their night successfully; Sid Bunderslaw is off in the morning on a flight somewhere while two tweenies have a mold of the key to his safe. Selina is relaxing at home while Jim realizes why Lee hasn't been attacked yet. When the cosmetic surgeon can only provide a crappy description that leads to a sketchy sketch, he, Essen and Bullock need to drum up something better. So, Essen gets Jim to go back over his phone call from The Ogre. And Jim realizes why The Ogre hasn't touched Lee; he quoted Jim a newspaper article that featured his picture... with Barbara.
Barbara seems totally unconcerned about serial killers as she toys with her fur, waiting for Jason to pour her a drink at his place. When Grace Fairchild was here, he made sure she didn't see his toy room. But, Barbara is different. Barbara is invited to wander on in. And she does. And it looks like the medieval weapons room at the Met. Which she's totally cool with. Jason follows her in, wondering if she'll actually try to run. But Barbara has only a cool stare for him.
Barbara seems totally unconcerned about serial killers as she toys with her fur, waiting for Jason to pour her a drink at his place. When Grace Fairchild was here, he made sure she didn't see his toy room. But, Barbara is different. Barbara is invited to wander on in. And she does. And it looks like the medieval weapons room at the Met. Which she's totally cool with. Jason follows her in, wondering if she'll actually try to run. But Barbara has only a cool stare for him.
So, what are your issues?
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