Police cars pull up to the Crane house, and Gordon and Harvey lead the men inside after Jonathan. They find his lab and realize that they made more of the fear toxin. There's an asylum uniform with Jonathan's prisoner number on it. Jim sees a scarecrow out in the yard, and he and Harvey go to investigate. Grady is in the outfit, and screams in terror that Scarecrow is coming.
Alfred comes to the station to see Bruce and tells him that Wayne Enterprise's top lawyer came to engineer Bruce's release. Bruce tells Alfred what happens and insists that he could have taken all of the robbers. Jim comes up and Bruce tells him that he wasn't breaking in. He says that he was on the roof looking for Selina, and Jim releases Bruce and tells him that they'll talk more about it later. As Bruce and Alfred leaves, Grady screams in the holding cell.
At Arkham, the guards put the prisoners to bed. Reed is burning his papers when the Scarecrow approaches him holding a scythe. He tells Reed that it's too late to cover his tracks because his dirty deeds have stained him. Reed realizes that it's Jonathan, and Scarecrow tells him that he's not the frightened boy that Reed threw into a cell. The warden says that Scarecrow could just leave, and the phone rings. Scarecrow smashes it and tells Reed that he cured himself. He feared the scarecrow, and now they are one. Reed reaches for a hidden gun, and Scarecrow sprays him with fear toxin.
As Alfred and Bruce leave, Lucius sees them and points out that there's concrete and stone residue on Bruce's clothing. Alfred claims that Bruce was rock climbing, and Lucius tells Bruce to be careful because it's a dangerous sport.
Reed collapses to his knees in terror, and Scarecrow tells him that his father wanted to end fear for his stake. He asks Reed what he fears, and Reed hallucinates a clown. Scarecrow tells Reed to face his fears and defeat him, and Reed grabs his gun and shoots at the clown, and then runs out of the office. He walks down the hallway and hallucinates guards as clowns. He shoots them all and stumbles away. Meanwhile, Scarecrow goes into the ward and says that his father would have freed them. However, the GCPD killed him because they didn't understand. Scarecrow says that the prisoners will be his army and the GCPD will know fear, and sprays the prisoners with the toxin.
Oswald arrives at the station with reporters in tow and calls for Jim. Harvey tells Jim to play nice, and Jim refuses. Oswald asks him where Jonathan is, and Jim says that they don't know. Harvey holds up the newspaper asking if Oswald is a penguin or a chicken, and Oswald condemns the police incompetence and corruption. Jim points out that Oswald is taking money for crime licenses, and Oswald insists that it's working. He tells Jim that he's there to save the GCPD and Gotham, and Jim warns him that he'll arrest anyone whether they have a license or not. Oswald says that he can either find Jonathan within 24 hours or agree or let Oswald clean up the city. After a moment, Jim agrees.
Selina goes to a building, and Tabitha arrives and wonders what she's doing there. The younger girl says that she got an invitation saying that an opportunity awaits there, and Tabitha reveals that she got a similar invitation. They go in and Barbara greets them. When Tabitha says that she saw Barbara die, Barbara advises her to check for a pulse next time. She tells them that a new opportunity awaits them, and she'd take back what happened if she could. Tabitha holds a knife to Barbara's throat, and Barbara says that she was jealous and stupid. She dares Tabitha to kill her if she doesn't believe her, and Tabitha shoves her away.
When Selina asks if it's Barbara's place now, Barbara says that it's their place. She throws a lever revealing a hidden arsenal of guns. Barbara explains that they can provide supplies to every lowlife who buys one of Penguin's licenses, and they'll find out what they're planning. Tabitha refuses, saying that what Barbara took from her she will never get back. Once she walks out, Barbara asks Selina to convince Tabitha to join her and Selina walks away.
At the manor, Alfred finds Bruce preparing to go out again. Alfred says that he won't stop him but he's not coming with him. He asks what happens if Bruce's opponents have guns, and Bruce says that he feels more alive than ever before fighting crime. Alfred tells him that he doesn't want to stand by and see him get shot, and Bruce walks out.
Harvey tells Jim that Arkham is under siege, and Jim tells the officers that there's a riot at the asylum. He asks who is with him, and no one speaks up. Disgusted, Jim tells them that Oswald is getting rich off of the lowlifes that they once hated. When he says that they're not worthy of wearing the badge, a desk sergeant tells him that they don't make a difference. The other officers agree, and Harvey stays behind. He tells Jim that if he goes with him then he loses the others, and the new captain will be someone Oswald chooses. After a moment, Jim leaves on his own.
Jim enters Arkham and inmates move through the shadows. One of them comes up to Jim and laughs maniacally, saying that he's not afraid of Jim because he is him. He runs off before Jim can shoot him, and Scarecrow watches on the monitors. He recognizes Jim as the man who killed his father, and tells the inmates over the PA that the enemy is here. Scarecrow opens the gate and lets the prisoners in, and then closes another gate to cut off Jim's escape. The inmates advance on Jim, and he shoots at them toward they retreat.
Oswald, Ivy, and Victor go to Barbara's house and admire her guns. The crime lord insists that Barbara should have licensed her business with him, and Barbara explains that she's waiting for her partners to join up. Ivy wonders if she's talking about Tabitha and Selina, and offers to talk to them. Oswald tells her to keep quiet, and then tells Barbara that she has to pay a weapon tax. He warns her that he'll keep a close eye on her, and Barbara says that she understands. As he goes, Oswald wonders who is financing her. She doesn't say, and Oswald tells her that he'll find out.
Jim continues through Arkham to the ward. Scarecrow attacks him from behind, disarming Jim, and Scarecrow says that he believes in fate. Jonathan removes his mask and insists that his father was trying to help mankind. He says that his father taught him that they can embrace their fears, and sprays Jim with the fear toxin Jim backs away in terror, and Jonathan wonders what scares Jim the most.
Jim wanders off and Scarecrow follows him. A woman screams in the distance, and Jim follows the sound to a room. Lee is in a bathtub, her wrists slit, and tells Jim to let her go. She says that he's caused her so much pain, and he destroys everything that he touches. Lee dies and Scarecrow tells him that he can join her to show her how much he loves her. He hands Jim a razor, and Jim starts to cut his own wrists. Jim insists that Lee loves her and wouldn't say that. He turns and discovers that Scarecrow is gone.
When Jim goes into the next room, Scarecrow attacks him and demands to know how Jim defeated the toxin. Jim tells him that he overcame his fear, and Jonathan doesn't believe him. He attacks and says that someone can't just stop feeling fear, and that they can only become their demons like he did. Jim tells him that they can fight it and offers Jonathan help. Jonathan removes his mask and says that his father thought he was weak, but he's not weak anymore and will never go back to being that boy. He slashes at Jim with a scalpel and then runs out.
Bruce spots four thieves breaking into a building. He goes in and the door closes behind him. The men are waiting for him, having spotted him. They demand to know who he is, and yank off his mask. The thieves say that they have licenses and Oswald gets his share, Bruce head-butts one of them, and the leader prepares to shoot him. Bruce grabs the gun and redirects it so the leader shoots one of his own men. He then grabs a blow torch and some aerosol, burns another man, and swings out the window on a rope. As he walks away, the leader prepares to shoot him. Alfred knocks him out from behind and says that they have to leave.
At their apartment, Selina suggests that they give Barbara a chance. She says that she's tired of not being taken seriously, and figures that with Barbara and Tabitha they could give all of the creeps a run for their money. Ivy comes in and says that she wants in, and says that she hates Oswald. She says that no one takes her serious, and she'd do anything to get back at them. Selina believes her and Tabitha tells Ivy to get out. After a moment Ivy leaves, and Tabitha tells Selina to get word to Barbara that she'll talk business but wants something in return.
Jim finds Jonathan rallying the inmates against Jim, calling on them to destroy him. They charge forward and Jim grabs a fire extinguisher and sprays them with it. The water washes away the fear toxin, and Jim grabs a burning brand and activates the sprinkler system. The inmates revert to normal, but one berserk prisoner attacks Jim. Jim takes him down while Jonathan slips away.
Back at the manor, Bruce insists that he had the situation under control. Lucius arrives and shows them a Kevlar-like uniform that Wayne Enterprises was working on for the military. It has claws, long distance radio communicators, and is bulletproof. Lucius says that he didn't want to see Bruce get hurt again and says that he has to go, and Bruce tells him that he feels safer already.
Selina and Tabitha go to Barbara's home and Tabitha demands her hand. She takes out a cleaver and points out that she and Butch both lost a hand to Oswald's mind games, and it's Barbara's turn. Barbara agrees and holds out her hand. Tabitha brings the cleaver down... just missing. She says that she trusts Barbara... for now.
The next day, Oswald and the reporters arrive at the station and Oswald asks where Jonathan is. He reminds Jim of their deal, and Jim says that Oswald tried to undermine the GCPD and there was no deal. Oswald asks the officers if they're sick of the station being a constant war zone, and says that it's time to police themselves. He offers to triple the wage of any cop that works for him insuring the safety of the citizens and leaves.
Jim tells the officers that Oswald just wants to pay them to look the other way. Harvey asks if he would blame them if they did. When Jim tries to walk off, Harvey whispers that if he had gone with Jim then they would have lost the officers and the war.
Ivy goes to an apothecary and the owner complains that the last time she used her perfume on him. She wants his mystical potions and demands to know where the potions are. The owner directs her to his safe, but warns that they're dangerous. Ivy starts drinking them and then groans in pain as she starts to mutate.
Harvey buys Jim a drink and wonders if they're really making a difference. He says that they'd need an army to take on Oswald, and misses Carmine because at least he ran the underworld with honor. Jim gets an idea, and Harvey tells him not to mess with Carmine after Jim kills his son. His friend figures that they don't have a choice because Carmine has the only army that they can use.
Bruce, wearing his new suit, chases a criminal across the rooftops. He puts on the mask that Alfred made him and looks out across Gotham.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 29, 2017