Four men run out of a building, "Z"s cut into their chests.. Behind them, a person in a suit lights up fireworks. They shoot into the air releasing green gas, and the four escapees choke to death.
Jim calls General Wade, who says that Walker has eluded their dragnet. He tells Jim that nothing is standing in the way of unification and he's recommending they begin it immediately. He insists that he has the authority to take action unless something destabilizes Gotham again. Afterward, Jim and Harvey talk. Alfred has been missing for five days and the search parties have found nothing. Bruce has been leading the search and barely slept. Jim insists that Bruce stay and get some sleep, and Bruce wonders what happened.
Once Bruce leaves to get some rest, Jim and Harvey meet with Griffin. She's found the four dead men and confirmed they breathed poison gas. One of them is wearing a fake mustache, and they're near a building set up as a film set. Jim figures that they have to stop the killer before news reaches the mainland. The dead men have tattoos of the Chessmen, a gang in the Narrows.
As Bruce heads home, he comes to a newspaper on the ground. It has a front page story about his parents' murder, and Bruce realizes that copies of the front page are pasted on the walls. Bruce sees a couple that look like his parents going into the subway, and goes down after them. He comes to a chamber with a tunnel leading beneath the river, and finds one of his mother's earrings on the floor. Bruce continues on into the tunnel.
Lee goes to the hospital and finds Barbara waiting for her. Barbara says that she needs medical assistance and asks Lee to be her OB. She insists that she wants the best for her child and that's Lee, and says that it's none of Jim's business. Jim comes in and Barbara tells him to go. Lee wonders why he's there, and Jim says that they have a case with a connection to the Narrows. She tells Barbara to talk to Jim if she wants Lee to be her doctor. Once she leaves, Barbara says that it's not about him and his involvement with her life is over. When he suggests that she's not fit to be a mother, Barbara walks out.
Bruce follows the tunnel and hears a woman laughing ahead. The tunnel leads into Wayne Manor, and Bruce's parents are apparently sitting in the study. Bruce demands to know who they are, and they greet their "son". Alfred comes in and complains that Bruce is running around in the mud. The couple insists that they're Bruce's parents, and Alfred shows Bruce that they have a guest: Jeremiah.
Jeremiah says that he faked his death to put Bruce off his scent. Alfred grabs Bruce when he tries to grab Jeremiah, and Jeremiah reveals a stack of explosives. Alfred has been hypnotized to think that everything is normal, and Jeremiah says that he kidnapped an innocent couple who were built similar to the Waynes. He used plastic surgery to finish the resemblance, and explains that he's giving Bruce the chance to experience his parents' deaths again. Jeremiah says that it's the most important day of Bruce's life and he didn't get to be a part of it, so he's going to rectify it. He tells Alfred to make dinner and the butler leaves.
Oswald and Selina watch as Oswald sends a guinea pig across the river. The mines blow it up, and Selina remembers that Jeremiah was digging a tunnel under the river. Oswald admits that he doesn't have any better plan to escape, and Selina says that they can check it out in the Dark Zone after night falls.
Jim and Lee go into the narrows and hide when they spot the Leopards, the Chessmen's rivals. As they wait for the gang to move in, Jim says that it's his child as well. Lee spots a symbol on the wall saying what direction to go.
At the manor, Alfred serves dinner in the kitchen. Bruce tells him to let Alfred and the couple gone, but Jeremiah insists that he has to get every detail right. "Thomas" puts a pearl necklace on "Martha,", and Jeremiah says that he lost his parents as well and the wounds haven't healed. Bruce tells him that it will never be real, and Jeremiah thinks that Bruce is thinking about the night and that's all he needs. He grabs Bruce and says that he just wants to be connected to him, but has realized that if they can't be friends then they can be connected in other ways. Bruce asks how, and Jeremiah says that he'll see in time. He then says that he and the Waynes have a date with destiny. Jeremiah tells Bruce to find Alfred and leaves, sets off the explosives, and leaves.
That night, Lee and Jim follow the symbols to Ace Chemicals, which is activated. Inside, the Chessmen are manufacturing the gas and loading it into fireworks. They grab a hypnotized gang member, and he and the others all start speaking in rhythm about blowing up Gotham. Jim realizes that it's Jervis, just as Jervis comes out and greets Jim and Lee. The gang members come at them, and Jim and Lee fight them off. A roller-skating Ecco beats Jim down.
Selina tells Barbara that Oswald needs a way off out of Gotham, and says that she needs Barbara's help to move Oswald's loot and leave Gotham after they kill Oswald. She's also surprised that Barbara is pregnant.
Bruce finds Alfred and says that they have to go because of the bombs. Alfred is hypnotized not to see them as bombs, and Bruce tells him that there's a gas leak in the kitchen and they have to leave. Once he says that he's warned his parents and his guest, they go out through the basement tunnel and the manor blows up behind them. The blast knocks Alfred out of his spell and he reveals that Jervis hypnotized him. When Alfred is unable to walk because of an injured leg, Jim hugs him and leaves for where he knows Jeremiah will go.
At Ace Chemicals, Ecco and the others tie up Jim and Lee. Ecco tells Jervis to check with Jeremiah before he hypnotizes Jim and Lee. Jim apologizes for getting Lee into it, and Lee tells him to save it until after they escape. He then tells Jervis that he didn't think he was Jeremiah's errand boy. Jervis insists that he's having fun, and Lee taunts him. Ecco whispers something to him, and Jervis asks Lee if she's running from her past when she becomes something new and holds up his watch to her face.
Selina takes Oswald to the building with tunnel and they hear Alfred approaching. He emerges from the tunnel and explains that Jeremiah sealed the other way out. Selina is shocked to learn that Jeremiah is alive, and Alfred explains that he's reenacting the night when Bruce's parents were killed. Alfred says that Bruce needs Selina's help, and she puts a knife to Oswald's throat and says that he deserves to die. Alfred tells her to put the knife down and help Bruce, and after a moment she walks out. Oswald tells Alfred the way to the Green Zone and leaves.
Bruce enters the theater where his parents were that night, and Jeremiah turns on a projector. The fake Waynes are seated in the audience, and the movie plays from the night of the Waynes' deaths plays. Jeremiah is Zorro in the movie, and he wonders what intrigues Bruce about Zorro. He slashes the tied-up men across the chest, and then says that Bruce's parents might still be alive if he hadn't asked them to leave. The fake Waynes walk out and the movie ends.
When he runs out into the alleyway, Jeremiah steps in front of the fake Waynes and says that he has to be the face that Bruce sees when he closes his eyes, not a random gunman. He then reveals that he already shot the fake Waynes, and has the hypnotized Jim and Lee turn around. Jeremiah explains that he's going to kill the man that Bruce thinks of as his second father figure Lee. Once he does, they'll be bound together. Ecco pulls up in a truck loaded with the gas, he explains that when the chemicals rain down on the city the government will cut Gotham loose.
Jeremiah explains that the hypnotic spell will end when the pearl necklace hits the ground, so that they know they're dying. Selina arrives and whips the gun out of Jeremiah's hand, and Bruce attacks Jeremiah. When Selina yanks the pearls off of Lee and drops them to the ground, it breaks the spell. Jeremiah breaks free and yells to Ecco to trigger the fireworks. Jim goes for the truck while Bruce and Selina go after Jeremiah. Unable to stop the fireworks, Jim tells Lee to call Harvey and have him get everyone to cover, and drives off.
Jeremiah runs back to Ace Chemicals and Bruce goes in after him.
Jim drives the truck onto one of the destroyed bridges, jumps out of the cab, and lets the truck go off into the river. The water absorbs the gas, keeping it from spreading.
Bruce walks out onto a catwalk and tells Jeremiah that it ends that night. Jeremiah steps out and Bruce attacks him. They fight and Jeremiah knocks him down and beats him. Jeremiah asks Bruce if he feels the connection to him, and Bruce says that he means nothing to him. Recovering Jeremiah knocks Bruce back against the rail and says that he's the answer to his life's question. He swings at Bruce, who ducks and Jeremiah goes through the railing and falls into a vat of chemicals below. Bruce looks down but there's no sign of Jeremiah.
Jim looks down at the gas in the water.
Later, Oswald goes to Edward and asks for his help. Edward draws a gun on him, He says that he had plans to save Edward from Jim, and insists that fate has plans for them to be together. Edward lowers his gun and asks what the plans are, and Oswald says that Gotham is now a prisoner and it's time for them to escape.
At the station, Jim talks with Lee and says that due to the chemical spill, reunification has been put on hold for a couple of months. He tells Lee that he wishes he could go back and do things differently and better. Lee says that he's having a baby with Barbara, and she wonders what would happen if they hadn't lost their baby. She tells Jim that he let her down. Jim apologizes and asks what it means for them, and Lee says that they'll have to live with the past. When he tries to take her hand, Lee slaps him and then kisses him.
Selina and Bruce find Jeremiah in a hospital ward, brain-dead and disfigured from the chemicals. Bruce thanks Selina for helping him, and she says that she should have done something the night his parents were killed.
Oswald and Edward arrive at Oswald's office and find Barbara waiting for Oswald. As she prepares to shoot him, Edward realizes that she's pregnant. Oswald asks her to come with them, figuring that she really wants to raise her child away from Gotham. Edward reveals the plans for a submarine that can track the mines in the river, and explains that they have to build it. Barbara aims the gun at Oswald, but realizes that she can't pull the trigger. She finally says that she won't shoot Oswald for the sake of her child but she'll never forgive him, and Oswald tells her that he understands. She tells them to let her know when the sub is ready. As she goes, Oswald asks who the lucky father is.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 22, 2019