Source: Gotham FOX
After an agonizing hiatus, we’re finally back! The mid-season finale ended with a HUGE cliffhanger, and had fans slowly dying over the course of the hiatus. The mid-season premiere opens at Mario Falcone’s funeral, where Lee and Don Falcone are grieving. Jim stands off to the side, so very certain that he did the right thing, and wants to comfort his companions. Harvey convinces him otherwise and the two get called away for work.
Harvey, currently acting as Captain, (they should just permanently give him the position at this point) joins Jim Gordon on what seems to be an unsolvable case. Lucius Fox (Current Medical Examiner, due to Lee’s current life issues) reveals to them a body that, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t have arrived in the GCPD’s Morgue – simply because she was already dead. She had already died and was being held at the city morgue, but she was found out and about in a local cemetery.
Jim and Harvey decide to make a visit to the city morgue, where Harvey makes the crack that at this point they should be “Calling it a hotel” since no one ever seems to stay in it. Lee confronts Jim in the middle of the GCPD and tells him, in similar words, that he sucks the life out of everyone he meets until they either move away or die. She storms off after that, leaving Jim and Harvey to do their work. They meet with the Medical Examiner at the city morgue, a shifty-looking dude named Dwight, who agrees to help them as much as he can. They find him intensely suspicious and decide to follow him as he leaves work.
Meanwhile, Don Falcone and Lee are having an intense discussion about how much they despise Jim Gordon. They’ve decided to place a hit on his life, and Falcone warns Lee that she will have to live with the fact that she will be part of the reason as to why he dies. Lee tells him she’ll manage, and so Falcone sends Victor Zsasz after our favorite detective. (FYI Zsasz is literally the best character in this episode.) Zsasz stops by Jim’s apartment to tell him that he’s most likely going to have to kill him, mentions that there shouldn’t be any hard feelings, and that Jim “is a good egg.” …Also Zsasz drank his milk. Straight from the carton. Like…Victor, come on, at least use a glass.
After following Dwight, Harvey and Jim discover he is the leader of a “Jerome cult,” a group of people who are obsessed over the ideals and teachings of Jerome Valeska. They break up the band of cultists and try to track Dwight down, but lose him in the chaos. They’re interrupted by Zsasz and his two right hand women, who open fire on both Harvey and Jim. Jim tells Harvey the truth, and how they’re only after him. He tells Harvey to meet him later and runs off, drawing the gunfire of the trio.
Lee decides to have a meeting with Barnes at Arkham Asylum, where they have a relatively normal conversation – until Lee mentions a cure. Former Captain Barnes tells Lee that he doesn’t NEED cure, that he is finally realizing his true nature, and that he will purge Gotham City of all its evil. Lee, perturbed by Barnes’ confession, runs to Don Falcone and tells him to call off the hit, that maybe Jim was right about Mario not being able to control himself. Don Falcone tells her that yes, he will call off the hit, but she needs to re-evaluate her love for Jim Gordon.
Back at his apartment, Jim and Harvey hash it out when Zsasz barges in. Harvey ends up with a gun pointed to his head, while Jim has his gun aimed at Zsasz. He tells Zsasz to let him go and walk away, when Don Falcone walks in to tell Victor that the hit is off, he can go home. Victor departs with a chipper “Okay, boss!” and that’s the end of that. Falcone tells Gordon that were it up to him, Jim would already be dead, which leaves Jim questioning who it was really up to.
While these drama queens are going at it, Mayor Cobblepot is having his own issues. Troubled over the lack of communication between himself and Edward Nygma, Oswald tries to focus on his work. His new right hand man, who is honestly irrelevant and not Edward, and I’ve forgotten his name, convinces him to set up a LIVE interview with one of the most influential t.v. hosts in the nation. She tells Oswald that she doesn’t like him and that she won’t be holding back during the interview. That evening, Penguin is woken to the sound of his father calling his name. He sees an apparition of his father begging for his help; he mentions Isabella being on the other side with them, and that he “shouldn’t trust the birthday boy,” before vanishing. Oswald answers a knock at the door and finds two police officers, who regrettably inform the mayor that his father’s remains were taken from his grave.
The next night, his father visits him again, once more pleading for his help. Again, he tells Oswald to be wary of the birthday boy, before disappearing into the night. The next day, (The day of the interview) Mayor Cobblepot is obviously frazzled and nervous. He catches sight of his new right hand man, Not-Edward, celebrating his birthday, before deciding to inspect his office. He locates a secret compartment, where he finds the stashed remains of his father in a duffle bag. Not-Edward shows up and asks if everything is okay, before Oswald begins smashing his head in with a decorative statue on Not-Edward’s desk. As he falls, Not-Edward was nice enough to put his cake on the table (as to avoid a mess, I’m sure) before Cobblepot murders him. He leaves the mess behind and runs to the interview, where his frazzled nerves begin to get the better of him. As he tries (and fails) to answer all of the t.v. host’s questions, he sees his father walk around the set, carrying the murder weapon Penguin had just used. Oswald tells the host he has to go, and when she asks “What about the people?” he hatefully replies “To hell with the people!” before storming out – effectively ending his career as Mayor. He storms into Not-Edward’s office, only to find his father’s remains, the body of Not-Edward, and any evidence to be completely gone.
Across the street, in a darkened lot, Edward Nygma stands near an open trunk with the body of Not-Edward and the duffle bag of his father’s remains. He greets the apparently living, breathing embodiment of Oswald’s Father -just kidding, it’s ClayFace! He tells ClayFace that he did a wonderful job, before Barbara and an admittedly amused Tabitha approach to praise his work. Tabitha asks Edward why he didn’t just let Oswald take the fall, and Ed explains that he wants to completely destroy the Mayor. He wants to take his mind, his reputation, and then give the power he holds to Barbara. On a personal note, this is the darkest I’ve ever seen Edward be, and I adore it. Cory Michael Smith is doing an amazing job with The Riddler, and I’m so excited to see him REALLY blossom into the notorious Batman Villain.
At Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred are puzzling over what the glass owl could mean to the Court, when they’re interrupted by a visitor. Bruce sets the owl aside, but just as he turns his back, the sun hits it and a map is reflected from the owl onto the wall. Is this a map of the court itself? Or a map that leads to the weapon that can destroy them? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The duo find Selina Kyle’s mom in a small bit of distress after trying to interact with her daughter. She had gone to Selina in the hope of reconciling their differences, but the younger Kyle shut her down and was left alone to brood. Her mom had turned to Alfred and Bruce to help, which Bruce does without a second thought. He acts as a medium between the two, and after Selina’s mom presents her with a box of memorabilia from her time with her daughter, Selina hugs her and begins to cry. Alfred, Bruce, Selina, and her mother, sit down to dinner, where they tease Alfred relentlessly (and it’s extremely obvious that Alfred has a thing for Selina’s mom.) Bruce and Alfred drop Selina and her mother off at the hotel her mom is staying at, and as they depart, the two Kyle women are confronted by a very angry man, demanding to know where his money is. Selina tells him she’s friends with Bruce Wayne and can get him the money, to which he responds that he’ll just pay them a visit instead.
At the end of the episode, Dwight (the city Morgue guy) meets with his companion. The two have been working diligently to perfect the formula that will bring people back to life. Their goal? Jerome of course. They’re going to bring back the clown prince and allow him to wreak havoc across Gotham City. Which, according to the previews, should be coming as soon as Episode 13! Be sure to tune in to Fox every Monday, and tune in to twitter to live tweet with me, 7:00 PM, central standard time!
