Gotham went “horror-story” this past week when Jonathan Crane ‘”overcame” his fear of scarecrows by becoming The Scarecrow. In doing so, he takes his revelation to Arkham Asylum, where he forces the Warden to face HIS fears. It turns out his fears are basically a B-movie version of the clown from IT. Jonathan convinces him to go after his fears; to face them down. And so, with a gun in hand, the Warden shoots every clown he sees – which…well they all turn out to be orderlies, but still. While he’s distracted by the terrors, Crane uses his Fear Toxin on the patients of the Asylum, claiming them as his own to be his army.
Jonathan Crane – Gotham – Fox
Meanwhile, Ol’ Brucey got himself locked up over a mistaken identity in a robbery. After Alfred goes to bail him out, Jim decides that it won’t be necessary and lets the little goober off of the hook. Upon their exit, Lucius confronts them, though they stick to their guns and tell Mr. Fox that they were simply…y’know…rock climbing. But Young Master Wayne isn’t content with just…giving up and letting those thieves go. He sets out to go out again and Alfred is all “Well I’m not helping you,” and Bruce is all “you don’t gotta, Al, I’m a MAN NOW.” and Alfred makes a sandwich while he complains about not wanting to watch Bruce die, but Bruce is a big baby about it and storms into the night, trench-coat whipping in the wind.
Locked up, they won’t let me out. Won’t let me out noooo. – Gotham – Fox
He tracks down the thieves, but oh no, it’s a SET UP. They unmask him and are preparing to murder him, but he’s smarter than the average vigilante. He manages to escape, but as soon as his feet touch the ground, the gang leader jumps him. Just as he’s about to pull the trigger and ruin the future of the Dark Knight, Alfred swoops in and knocks him out, before swaggering off with a casual “I told you so, you lil shit.” (I’m paraphrasing.) When they get home, the two argue up a storm, but their little father-son spat is interrupted by Lucius, who only stopped by to drop off a safer, bullet proof outfit for Bruce. Not only does it include more flexibility, but it also comes with a communicator, in case Alfred and Bruce get separated while…Rock Climbing.
Meanwhile, at the GCPD, Penguin confronts Jim about the GCPD not being able to protect the people. Surrounded by the media, Oswald forces Detective Gordon to make a deal: Bring in Jonathan Crane in 24 hours, or admit that the only way to save Gotham is through his ridiculous criminal licenses. After it’s all said and done, a call comes in that tells Captain Harvey a riot is going down at Arkham Asylum, and there’s some serious rumors saying Crane is behind the ruckus. Jim announces to the other officers that they need to stop it, but no other cops volunteer. They complain about being under-appreciated and no one loves them, so and so forth. So Jim looks at Harvey and tells him they’re on their own, but Harvey refuses to go. He tries to reason that if he goes, he loses the cops that are on Penguin’s side, and then the Captain would end up being someone in Oswald’s pocket. So Jim goes all on his lonesome to face off with The Scarecrow.
Oswald you look like a cheeseball – Gotham – Fox
When he gets there, it honest-to-god looks like he’s walking through a haunted house. He comes across the Warden who, in an attempt to rid himself of his fear, has “become the clown.” Jim manages to subdue him, but Crane lets loose the patients. Jim takes out a few of them, and scares the rest off by firing his gun into nothingness. When he and Crane come face to face, he tries to talk Jonathan down. But he’s the Scarecrow now, so instead he sprays Jim in the face and makes the Detective face his fear. He wanders through the asylum until he finds…Lee. This is pretty graphic guys, and while this show isn’t light on head-turning, bloody graphics, suicide is no laughing matter. So if you’re not up for reading this, you can skip past it. But she’s in a tub, wrists slit opened, and as much as Jim tries to keep her awake, she gives in to eternal sleep, her final words essentially being that He led her to this. With a razor in hand, he puts it to his wrist, ready to join Lee and prove his love to her – or so Jonathan is trying to convince him to do. But Jim knows better. He knows Lee wouldn’t want that – so he escapes from the fear toxin on his own.
Literally I might’ve cried – Gotham – Fox
Jonathan is furious that he was able to truly overcome his fear so quickly, and decides to run off into the Cafeteria, where he sends a horde of Fear-Toxin-induced patients at him. Jim gets a few of them, but soon he realizes that water washes away the Fear Toxin and decides to set off the sprinklers. Though it cleans the patients of their toxins, Crane manages to escape. Back at the Department, Penguin confronts Jim about not being able to capture Jonathan, and Jim flat out SHAMES birdboy in front of everyone. Harvey manages to convince Jim that what he did was reasonable, and so the two go for a drink. While at the bar, Harvey moans and groans about Penguin’s tactics; he makes the comment that he misses Falcone, but that sparks a dangerous idea. Jim decides he wants to bring ol’ Falcone back in the game….big issue, since y’know…he shot his son to death. Seems like a bad plan, but…y’all know Jim. He’s got no issues with crossing some heavy lines.
Honestly It’s a brilliant idea – Gotham – Fox
In another, mystery part of Gotham, Selina and Tabitha meet at a strange house, where they were summoned by a mysterious card. It turns out Barbara is mysteriously alive and has a new goal in life: If Penguin is handing out criminal licenses, well…they’re gonna need a supplier, right? Why not her? So she wants to recruit Tabby and Selina to help her work the underworld – but Tabitha is more inclined to just kill her. After they leave to think on it, Penguin, my bb Zsasz, and Ivy all arrive to confront Babs about her new frontier. While talking, Ivy puts in her two cents, but Oswald insults her and you can tell it gets her down. Babs agrees to comply by Penguin’s tax, and the trio of baddies part ways. At Selina and Tabitha’s place, the two are discussing whether or not to join Barbara, when Ivy sneaks in from behind them and tells them she wants to join as well. Tabby insults her, which leads her to a potions master. After a bit of persuasion, she convinces him to give her the most powerful and mystical potions he has – of which, she drinks them all. Tabby goes to Barbara and tells her they’ll join…on the condition that Barbara give up her hand. Both Tabby and Butch lost their hands to Penguin’s insanity, so why not Babs as well? Barbara agrees, but Tabitha chooses not to at the last minute.
Gotham is in shambles, and Penguin’s got it by the kahonas. But I guarantee Jim will snatch them back…until then, tune in with us every Thursday on Fox!
