Original Airdate: November 17, 2014
After one of the best episodes of the season last week, Gotham had a big challenge in front of it. And you know what? They did it. This show keeps getting better and better.
Gordon arrives home to find that Barbara is gone. He has Selina with him, who is impressed that he lives there. As Selina goes off to the kitchen, Gordon finds the note from Barbara saying that she his nervous, needy and screwed up. She needs some time to get back together. He gets a call, and in the meantime Selina finds the note. She asks where she’s going to stay. Gordon tells her that he knows she’ll break out of juvenile hall or jail, so he has a sketch artist coming over first, and then she’s going to Wayne Manor. Her green eyes get even bigger. She has been there before, hasn’t she…?
At Blackgate Penitentiary, the GCPD is about to unload one of their worst criminals, a bomb maker named Ian Hargrove. The officers instruct the junior officers to not speak to him. He has a nasty reputation for building bombs out of random items. Hargrove is led to the van, and he has something in his hand when he is cuffed for the ride.
At Wayne Manor, Gordon asks Bruce if he recognizes the man who killed his parents. He doesn’t. Bruce wants to know who she is. Gordon says her name is Selina Kyle and he wants her to stay there for her own safety. Alfred is totally opposed to housing a criminal, but Bruce puts his foot down and says she can stay. Bruce walks out of the study and Alfred asks what the plan is. Gordon says that he is meeting with Allen and Montoya, and they have a reputable DA waiting to prosecute the case. Alfred can’t believe that an honest lawyer exists in Gotham, but he’s willing to do what it takes to solve the crime.
Bruce wanders down the hall and finds Selina playing with a vase. He tells her it’s from the Ming Dynasty, and he barely gets out that it’s 500 years old when he realizes that he has seen this girl before. He’s totally smitten. She laughs and says that you can buy one just like it for five bucks in Chinatown. He extends his hand and formally introduces himself. She tells him that people call her Cat. He smiles.
The van carrying Hargrove is driving along. The officer in the back sees Hargrove fidgeting with something in his gloved hand. He uncuffs him and sees that he was holding an origami flower. Suddenly a car cuts the van off and it crashes. Men jump out of another car and quickly shoot the driver and guard. The back of the van opens and that guard is shot, and then a heavily accented voice calls out for Hargrove.
Now we meet Harvey Dent (Nicholas D’Agosto) on the steps of the courthouse. He’s admonishing a kid for screwing up. He tells him that he’ll flip a coin as to whether or not he will go to jail, but if he goes free he has to promise to God that he will go back to school. The kid wins and Dent sends him on his way. Gordon, Montoya and Allen are waiting for him. Dent laughs and says teens almost always pick heads, but he has a two-headed coin. Gordon laughs. He likes him. In Dent’s office, Dent thinks that the sketch is a good first step. While an eye-witness won’t necessarily help on the stand, it will help the case overall. He shows Gordon a guy named Lovecraft who has dealings with Falcone, Maroni, and the Wayne Family. He’s willing to bet his career that Lovecraft is involved, so he wants to set up a story to ferret out the killer. They decide to give it a go.
When Gordon returns to the office, Bullock tells him about Hargrove’s escape. Four men broke him out. It’s odd given that Hargrove has never had any visitors aside from his brother John, and he never worked with accomplices, so who busted him out? Bullock teases that he thought he was on his own today, and naturally Gordon can’t tell him about the meeting with Dent, so Gordon says it was girl trouble. Bullock nods sagely. Those uptown women are wound too tight.
Alfred is making good on his promise to teach Bruce to fight. When Selina steps out onto the patio, Bruce looks away and Alfred hits him. She laughs and asks what he’s doing. Bruce tells her that he’s learning to fight. This makes Selina laugh; it’s not like he lives in a bad neighborhood. He says he’s learning in case something happens in Gotham, but Selina points out that they don’t fight with gloves there. She’s hungry, but staunch Alfred says that she slept through breakfast and that lunch is at noon. Selina says she’ll figure out what to eat, but Bruce graciously offers to have Alfred make her food. He says this isn’t a hotel, but Bruce insists. Selina walks away, and Alfred calls her a minx. If he only knew…. One thing he does know, though, is that Bruce likes her. He says it’s totally fine for him to like her, but she’s sneaky. They get into a sparring match, with Bruce teasing the older man about his experience with women.
Penguin arrives at Liza’s apartment and scouts around. He knows she is up to something, courtesy of Fish’s man. He looks at her bed and finds a blouse there. He inhales deeply and smells lilacs. He walks out just as she arrives home. She immediately notices that the blouse is missing, but Penguin is already gone.
John Hargrove has no idea where is brother is. He says that Ian is innocent, but he was blowing up places that made weapons and thought he was doing a good deed. He felt bad about the crimes but didn’t know better. As John talks about his brother being ill and their parents not having enough to get help for him, we see Ian assembling a basket bomb. Some henchmen place treats inside, and then it is delivered to a guard tower. The guards hastily eat the treats, but then they hear ticking. Ian Hargrove watches as the building explodes.
Bruce reads about the explosion when Selina comes in and grabs some breakfast. She says she slept well but the house makes noise. Bruce offers for Alfred to buy her some clothes. He knows she lived on the streets and wants to know what it’s like. She doesn’t know why he wants to know given that he’s a billionaire. She asks why he isn’t in school. Bruce is “developing” his own curriculum. He asks about her parents, and she gets defensive. She isn’t an orphan, she says. She has family everywhere. She rushes from the room, bumping into Alfred, who has a troubled look on his face.
Essen says that now they have a bigger problem than just an escape now that a building has blown up. The press is calling Hargrove an urban terrorist. Bullock reports that Hargrove stole some HMX before the explosion. They need to do some more work to figure out what is going on. That’s when Gordon’s phone rings. It’s Alfred, and he tells Gordon that things aren’t working on. Selina is a “tough nut” and she can’t stay there. Gordon says there is nowhere for her to go and promises to check on them soon. Alfred relents, albeit begrudgingly. Sean Pertwee is awesome. Just plain awesome.
Butch brings two cell phones to Mooney and says that everything is ready. He asks if she still wants to go through with it. Penguin walks in and says he was just passing by. He inhales her scent. Lilacs. She says he should go, so he leaves. She tells Butch to forget about him because “he’s nothing.” She is so long.
Bullock pulls all of Hargrove’s files. Gordon tells him that Barbara left him. Bullock says that it’s a common ploy for him to set a date. That’s when Nygma comes up and asks if they play video games. He likes them a lot. When prompted, Nygma says he found a nameplate from an old warehouse. Bullock and Gordon go to investigate and they find Hargrove chained to a table. Hargrove tells them that he was broken out by some Russians to pull a job on Falcone. He is about to say more when the men return and start shooting. Gordon and Bullock manage to chase them off.
Selina is about to go exploring. She sneaks out of a window when Bruce finds her and says they can call her a taxi. He says that he’s sorry for bringing up her family. She says she wasn’t upset. She picks up a picture of Martha Wayne and says she looks nice. Bruce asks about the night they were killed. He says he didn’t do anything and she tells him that a gun is a gun, and that he couldn’t do anything. She tells him that her mom is a millionaire celebrity covering for her job as a secret agent. Bruce seems to buy this story that she has clearly concocted to hide her pain. Selina changes the subject and asks if he has ever kissed a girl. Of course, Alfred interrupts and announces that it’s time for his studies. Selina bails, smiling.
Mayor James is upset at the media coverage on the “terrorist” situation. Gordon says this is all the mayor’s fault because they kept a mentally ill man at Blackgate and then he was broken out of jail on his way to treatment. James storms out of the office and Essen tells the duo that Hargrove’s brother has been placed in protective custody just in case.
Dent has a meeting with Lovecraft and his band of lawyers. He tells Lovecraft that he has him going down for the murder of the Waynes. When Lovecraft laughs, Dent growls at him and grabs the man’s shoulder, telling him that he will rip him apart. Lovecraft is shocked at the turn in Dent’s personality. It’s almost like he’s two people. Dent composes himself in the blink of an eye and tells him that it’s good to see him.
Bullock has found the Russian man and he has a long rap sheep. He worked for Nikolai. But who could be financing Gregor now?
Fish Mooney arrives in the alley and tells Gregor that everything is set for him. If he wants revenge for Nikolai, this is the chance. She tells him to break a leg.
Bruce is training himself to hold his breath. He’s fully dressed, which is odd. He checks the time and finds that Selina has been watching. She says he’s the weirdest kid ever. He explains that he’s developing “self-discipline and will power.” She tells him that it’s not enough. He needs to be mean and ruthless. She says all of his work, including holding his breath, won’t do a damn thing.
Nygma is listening to a radio program and he’s getting every question right on the trivia competition. He’s testing the compound that Hargrove stole. He reports back to Bullock and Gordon that the compound is specifically made to blow up iron. Banks don’t use iron in their safes anymore, so they figure out that there was iron in the old safe at the Gotham Armory.
Gregor and his men are at the Armory and Hargrove is finishing up the bomb to blow the door. Once the door is open, the men see millions of dollars behind the door. Hargrove tells Gregor to promise him not to kill anyone else. They load the money into the truck, and that’s when Gordon and Bullock appear and tell Gregor that they’re surrounded. The demand Hargrove’s return, and as he backs away, a cell phone goes off. It’s attached to a bomb. The truck explodes, sending the money flying. Butch stands up and walks away from the scene. The deed is done.
Bruce and Selina have lunch together. She smiles and throws a bagel at him. She says he probably can’t hit her. Hit her and she’ll let him kiss her. A food fight ensues, and Bruce starts laughing as they throw bagels and muffins at each other. Alfred walks in and sees the change in Bruce, and he looks relieved. Gordon calls and apologizes for the delay. Alfred tells him that Selina is a breath of fresh air.
Liza returns home and finds the Penguin sitting at the foot of her bed. She knows who he is. He says that he knows she is spying for Fish Mooney. While he doesn’t have any proof, the reality is that if he mentioned it, it would create doubt for him. He says they can call Falcone and ask if he minds, but she stops him. He tells her that she will keep working for Fish and she won’t tell anyone about Penguin or she’ll die. Poor Liza really looks upset at her predicament.
Dent catches up to Gordon at the station. He tells Gordon that Lovecraft was scared at their meeting. He got people talking. Gordon tells Dent that they need to move together on the next steps as soon as something happens. He sees Bullock approaching and parts ways with Dent. Bullock reports that Hargrove is being moved to Arkham as part of Mayor James’ plan to move the mentally ill inmates at Blackgate into Arkham for rehabilitation. Gordon can’t believe it, given that the building is 200 years old. “That’s Gotham,” Bullock replies.
Mayor James holds a news conference and announces that there have been several tragedies the past few days. They have happened as a result of the criminally insane not being rehabilitated. But now they will all go to Arkham for treatment. It’s a brand new day for Gotham.
Later, Gordon calls Barbara. He understands that she needs time away from Gotham and him. We see her in a hotel room in front of a big fire. And there is another woman with her. They kiss.
Well. I don’t think she’s coming home any time soon.
We’re one week away from the fall finale, and next week’s episode looks amazing. What did you think of tonight’s episode?
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