“We could all go insane with one bad day….”
This week on Gotham, Bruce is the first one to arrive at St. Ignatius in search of Jerome. He is greeted by a hypnotized headmaster who is threatening to blow himself up. Bruce wants to know about Xander Wilde. Jim and Bullock quickly arrive and hope to try and break Jervis’ spell. It doesn’t go well as the headmaster ends up blowing himself up.
We get the first ‘Mandatory Brunch Meeting’ which features some prominent villains in Gotham including Jerome, Penguin, Firefly, Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter and Mr. Freeze. Jerome tells them he has plans for Gotham. He wants to “paint this town crazy.” I really enjoyed this scene and love seeing all of the villains here together.
The Riddler is keeping busy in The Narrows as he is hosting a popular riddle game show. The people love it but Leslie is very against this idea. She wants this shut down. She challenges him to his game and if she wins, he must shut down this game. The Riddler can’t wait to challenge her.
Jim and Bullock continue their search for Xander Wilde. They find out about Wayne Plaza and find out that Xander Wilde had dealings with Thomas Wayne. He must have been important. Jerome also goes looking for Xander. He goes into a business meeting and takes out one of the board members. He doesn’t get many answers and nobody knows exactly how Xander is or what he looks like. Jerome does find Xander’s proxy Echo and tries to intimidate her. She responds by knocking him out and reporting to Xander that she has captured him.
Penguin is also keeping busy. He goes to see his old buddy Butch/Grundy. He tells him about Jerome’s upcoming plans for Gotham and proposes that the two of them work together again. Butch originally wants nothing to do with it. He has a change of heart when Penguin returns and tells him that if they work together, they can find Dr. Strange and he can cure Butch. It looks like the team of Penguin/Butch are back together again.
Jerome wakes up in a cell with cameras everywhere. He is being watched (by Xander we can assume) when he notices on another camera that Jim and Bullock are approaching his house. They go inside a small looking house which actually turns out to be an elaborate maze. They meet Echo the proxy and she takes them to see Xander. We finally see Mr. Xander Wilde. His real name is actually Jeremiah Valeska, the twin brother of Jerome. He was hidden from Jerome to protect himself. He knows Jerome would eventually track him down. They figure out that he has actually captured Jerome.
The Riddler’s game continues as he gives a riddle to Leslie and she appears stumped. She is actually playing mind games with him as she is trying to appeal to Edward and have him break through this “Riddler” persona. I hope this doesn’t happen. I enjoy The Riddler much more than Edward. Leslie then tries to stump The Riddler by getting him to admit that he loves her. He won’t admit it in front of the crowd. She later confronts him and knows that he loves her. This awkward tension the two of them have been sharing is finally shattered when she kisses him. It seems like the team of Leslie and The Riddler could be a solid force in Gotham.
Jim and Bullock try and convince Jeremiah to tell them where he is hiding Jerome. They notice the rest of the villains crew is on the way. They keep wandering around the maze that is Jeremiah’s house and they have a brief fight with Echo. They get past her and are lost in the maze while Jeremiah and Jerome have a brotherly reunion. They revisit some old memories in which he realizes Jerome killed their mother and Jeremiah put the blame on Jerome. Jerome wants to kill Jeremiah but wants to do it in a more public setting. Jerome escapes again as they all finally get out of the very interesting maze.
Jim and Bullock take Jeremiah to GCPD to place him in protective custody. They wonder what Jerome’s grand plan for Gotham is. It is at that moment that Jerome is waiting for his test subject. He is sitting around with his crew when they get a test subject. Scarecrow sprays him with a toxin that shows the man laughing very violently and looks like it is slowly killing him. It looks like this “laughing gas” could be the big plan Jerome has to send Gotham in true chaos….
Gotham airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. only on FOX.