Oswald takes a bus back to Gotham and admires the crime and filth
around him, realizing that he's home. He passes by a TV that is running a
newscast from the penthouse apartment of Arnold Danzer, a business
magnate who is out on bail after bilking hundreds of investors out of
their savings.
Inside, Danzer calls his lawyer and tells him to
pay off whoever he has to, to get him off. He then sneaks out the back
way and crosses a balloon cart vendor wearing a pig mask. The man
confirms Danzer is who he is looking for and then fastens a manacle to
Danzer's wrist. Danzer realizes that the manacle is chained to a large
weather balloon hidden among the others on the cart. The masked man
released the weather balloon and it drags Danzer up into the air,
screaming for help. The news reporter hears the screams and runs over,
and her camera crew gets Danzer on film as he floats up into the sky.
Jim and Harvey are called to the crime scene but Harvey isn't
interested in bringing the killer to justice, figuring Danzer got what
he deserved. They go back to the station and Lt. Bill Cranston
approaches Jim and boasts about his reputation for roughing up suspects.
He has a trophy from the Chamber of Commerce that he proudly boasts
that he uses to beat suspects. Once Cranston goes back into the
interrogation room, Jim asks Harvey where he's getting on the
investigation. Harvey says that he hasn't bothered, pointing out that
two men killed themselves when Danzer swindled them, and has no sympathy
for the con man.
Davis Lamond from Juvenile Services stops by
the station to turn her over to Jim, and explains that the next day
they'll be moving her from the new building to the upstate prison. Jim
signs for Selina and tells Lamond that she's helping him in an
investigation. He then take her to the alleyway where the Waynes were
killed, explaining that he promised Bruce that he'd find his parents'
killer. Selina says that she was up on a fire escape when she saw the
killer put on his mask. Jim doesn't believe her and Selina says that she
pickpocketed a man two blocks over. The detective admits that the man
reported a thief matching Selina's description, but wants evidence. She
says that she dumped the wallet into the nearby sewer and Jim handcuffs
her to the fire escape and goes down to look. Once he's out of sight,
Selina easily picks the lock on the handcuffs, then goes to the manhole
just as Jim finds the wallet. She tosses down the handcuffs and walks
away before he can climb up.
Fish is at her club talking to
Laszlo, her lover that Carmine had beaten, when Renee and Crispus come
in and ask about Oswald. She claims that she hasn't seen him and Renee
says that Oswald has disappeared and they figure he's dead. Fish tells
them that word on the street is that Jim pulled the trigger, but says
the important thing is to find out who could order Jim to kill a man.
The MCU officers figure that it was Carmine, and Crispus wonders if Fish
is trying to get revenge on Carmine for having Laszlo beaten. The club
owner assures him that she just wants Oswald's killer brought to
justice.
Oswald is on the street counting his money to buy a
meal when a street thug approaches him and realizes who he is. He drags
Oswald into an alleyway, figuring that he can turn him into Fish for a
reward. Oswald insists that he's Gotham's future and stabs the man in
the foot, and then kills him. He then takes the thug's wallet and goes
over to buy a meal.
At Wayne Manor, Alfred playfully fences
with Bruce using wooden sticks, trying to cheer him up. Once they're
done, Alfred notices that Bruce has been going over the police file on
his parents' murders, and Bruce admits that he bribed someone in the
GCPD to get the files. He explains that he's looking for clues and
Alfred, realizing that it's unhealthy, tells Bruce that Jim has promised
to find the real killer. The butler insists that that he's sure that
Jim will try to keep his promise.
Jim goes back to the station
and calls Juvenile Services to tell them he lost Selina. Renee and
Crispus approach him and accuse him of killing Oswald on Carmine's
orders. They don't believe Jim's denials and he tells them that he has
nothing to say to them unless they have some proof.
Oswald
applies for a job as a busboy at an Italian restaurant. The manager
figures that Oswald has never done the job and doesn't even have the
right shoes, and Oswald eyes a nearby dishwasher's footwear.
At
the station, Harvey tells Jim that James Gerrick, the owner of a
weather balloon factory, has something for them. Jim tells his partner
that the MCU thinks that he killed Oswald, and Harvey assures him that
he's in the clear. He figures that Oswald got what was coming to him,
just like Mario Pepper did, but Jim insists that the Waynes' killer is
still out there.
As the dishwasher from the restaurant goes
home, Oswald approaches him and asks what his shoe is. He's happy to
hear that they have the same
Gerrick tells Jim and Harvey that
he saw the balloon on the news and recognized it, and that an
ex-employee, Carl Smikers, stole it and three others a month ago. To the
best of the owner's knowledge, Smikers never mentioned Danzer.
That night, Cranston beats up a drug dealer and then goes out of the
alley. A hooded hot dog vendor approaches him and tries to manacle
Cranston to the cart. Cranston kicks him down and searches him, and is
surprised to find a familiar piece of paper. As he takes it in, the
Balloonman cuffs Cranston's leg and releases the weather balloon.
Screaming, Cranston floats up toward the sky.
The next day,
Bruce is reading a newspaper and refusing to eat. He shows Alfred the
news story about the Balloonman, and Alfred, unimpressed, tells the boy
that he has to eat and keep his strength up. Bruce says that he's not
hungry and walks away.
After hearing about Cranston's death on
the news, Barbara checks on Jim as he's going to work, and wonders if
he's in danger now that the Balloonman is going after cops. He assures
her that he isn't and tells her that he's unhappy that nobody cared
about Danzer, but everyone is concerned now that the vigilante is
targeting cops. Jim insists that everyone has to matter or people lose
faith, and that when some of the become vigilantes. Barbara assures him
that he's giving people and that he's a hero because he brought the
Waynes' killer to justice.
At the station, Essen demands a
report on the cop killer. Jim tells her about Smikers and Harvey assures
the captain that if they can find him, he'll get him to cop. Concerned,
Jim doesn't believe that Smikers is the Balloonman given his ignorance
of Danzer, but figures that he's connected to the vigilante. Essen
dismisses them and Jim reminds Harvey that he didn't kill when the
Balloonman was just targeting conman. Harvey says that it's a matter of
self-preservation now and hits the street, talking to prostitutes and
beating up drug dealers.
Oswald goes back to the restaurant
with his new shoes and the manager hires him. The man warns Oswald to
keep his mouth shut and then goes to greet the owner, mobster Sal
Maroni.
Harvey tracks down Smikers to his apartment and a woman
answers the door. When she realizes that they're cops, she yells at
Smikers to run and then tackles Harvey. Jim brings Smikers down and then
draws his gun and orders the woman to surrender. She does and Harvey
punches her unconscious.
Lazlo warns Fish that if Carmine finds
out what she did, he'll come after her. Fish thanks him for his concern
and dismisses him, and tells one of her thugs to have Butch arrange an
accident for Carmine's girlfriend, Natalia... and to eliminate Lazlo
because he's too depressing.
Barbara comes out from the shower
and finds Renee waiting for her. Renee says that she still has the
apartment key from when they were together and figures that Barbara is
high. Angry, Barbara tells her to leave and Renee insists that Carmine
had Jim kill Oswald. Barbara doesn't believe it and Renee tells her
former girlfriend to look in her eyes and see if she's lying. Renee's
former lover asks if Renee is going after Jim because he's her fiancé,
and Renee says that while she can't make up for what she did when they
were together and she was drinking, she still cares for Barbara and
figures that she deserves better than a killer and a crooked cop. She
kisses Barbara, who tells her to get out. As she goes, Renee tells
Barbara to ask Jim where he was on the night Oswald disappeared.
Jim and Harvey question Smikers, who insists that he had nothing to do
with the Balloonman murders. He admits that he stole the weather
balloons but sold them to pay off loan sharks. Smikers never saw the
face of the man who bought them. Harvey points out that Smikers has
committed the perfect crime, and an exasperated Smikers tells them that
the weather balloon will eventually pop when they hit the upper
atmosphere.
A woman is walking her dog on the streets when
Cranston's body falls out of the sky and splatters in front of her.
Later, Jim and Harvey arrive to check out the scene and Jim gets word
that the Balloonman targeted Cardinal Quinn, an accused pedophile. An
officer finds Cranston's trophy, shattered to piece and wrapped in a
piece of paper. The paper has Jim's name on it, and Jim realizes who the
Balloonman is.
At Maroni's restaurant, Maroni is talking to
one of his men about the situation with Arkham and how he can use it to
overthrow Carmine. The man doesn't get it and Maroni notices Oswald
listening in. He approaches the busboy and Oswald assures him that he
didn't hear anything, and that he's Italian on his mother's side. Maroni
appreciates the sentiment and tips Oswald, and tells him not to say
anything about what he might have overheard. The news reports the attack
on Cardinal Quinn and Maroni tells Oswald that killing priests isn't
good for business.
At the station, Jim tells Essen that Lamond
didn't show up at work and isn't at his apartment. He knows Lamond is
the Balloonman because the form he signed earlier for Selina was on
Cranston's body. Jim figures that Cranston found it on the vigilante and
took it before he was killed. Essen is desperate to find the Balloonman
and Jim assures her that they have the man's photo out. Once he and
Harvey are alone, Harvey admits that his people on the street haven't
turned up anything. They figure that Lamond is storing the balloons
somewhere safe, and Jim declare that the man is at an abandoned
building.
The partners drive to the old Juvenile Services
building, and Jim explains that he remembers Lamond talking about it
when he dropped Selina off. They find an open gate and go in, and find
the van Lamond used to transport his cart, with a weather balloon
attached. Lamond gets the drop on Harvey and holds a gun to his head,
and tells Jim that he should be helping him. Jim insists that they can't
have vigilantes enforcing the law, but Lamond reminds him that people
like Danzer, Cranston, and Quinn are above the law. When the mayor
rounded up the children, Lamond realized that the entire city government
was corrupt and he couldn't take it anymore. He tells Jim to decide who
he's really fighting for. When Jim hesitates, Lamond shoots him and Jim
ducks for cover. Harvey manages to disarm the vigilante and attach the
last weather balloon to him. Rather than let Lamond die, Jim grabs him
and the weather balloon carries them both up. Harvey has no choice but
to shoot the balloon to save his partner.
Carmine visits Fish's
club and she assures him that there's no hard feelings. The mob boss
mentions that his girlfriend Natalia was mugged, and promises to make
the mugger and whoever gave him his orders pay with their lives. Carmine
then asks Fish if she's heard that Maroni was involved, concerned that
he might mess up his Arkham arrangement. She hints that Maroni might
have been and Carmine tells her to keep her eyes open.
As the
medics take Lamond away, he tells Jim that he's only the first vigilante
that will strike back because the law won't do its job. Jim promises
that he will, and asks Lamond who he was saving the last weather balloon
for.
Bruce is watching a newscast on the Balloonman and tells
Alfred that the vigilante was a criminal because he was a killer. Alfred
tells him to try and eat something and leaves. As Bruce picks at his
food, the reporter on the news wonders who will now defend the people of
Gotham.
When Jim returns home, Barbara asks him what's wrong.
She says that he can tell her anything, and Jim says that Gotham is
sicker than he realized. The Balloonman told him that it didn't matter
who his last target was, because all of the corrupt authorities deserved
to die. The city embraced the vigilante because they feel the same.
Barbara wonders if Jim would ever kill someone, and a shocked Jim
wonders if she thinks he could. His fiancée assures him that she knows
he wouldn't, just as there's a knock at the door. Barbara opens it and
Oswald greets Jim, saying that they're old friends.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 26, 2019