Barbara invites Oswald in, unaware of who he truly is. Oswald says
that his name is Peter Humboldt and says that it's lovely to meet
Barbara, and Jim claims that Oswald is a work friend. He walks Oswald
down to the street and then demands to know what he's up to, reminding
him that Falcone will kill them both if he realizes that Jim didn't kill
Oswald as ordered. Oswald says that he has nowhere else to go but
figures that Jim needs his help. He hands Jim a broken bottle and tells
him to either kill him or trust him. Jim knocks the bottle away and
starts to walk off, but Oswald says that he can help Jim save lives in
the coming mob war. Jim listens and Oswald says that everything comes
down to Arkham. Several teenage girls walk down the street and Oswald
use the distraction to slip into the shadows.
Councilman Ron
Jenkins and his aide are in a parking garage when a man, Richard
Gladwell, approaches them and says that he has something to show them.
The aide takes the metal tube that Gladwell proffers and looks into it,
and an automatic mechanism drives a spike into his eye. Gladwell stabs
Jenkins in the chest and follows the wounded councilman into an elevator
to finish him off.
The next day at the station, Essen orders
Jim and Harvey to investigate the councilman's death. Jim figures that
it's a political hit, but Harvey doesn't see the point when councilmen
are so easy to bribe. Once Essen leaves, Harvey tells Jim that he knows
just were to start.
At the club, Fish and Butch are auditioning
a singer. Once the girl finishes singing, Fish tells her to seduce her
as if she were a man. The singer doesn't do a very good job and Fish
dismisses her, telling Butch that she needs a weapon, not a girl.
Harvey brings in a mugger, Nicky, who lurks in parking garages. Nicky
insists that he's innocent and Jim believes him. Walking out, he
discovers that the officers at the murder scene have left him a box with
Jenkins' belongings. Among them is a development proposal for Arkham.
Mayor James is holding a press conference at his brownstone about how
City Hall plans to build affordable housing in the Arkham district, just
like the Waynes wanted before their deaths. The city will tear down the
old Arkham Asylum and replace it with a state-of-the-art mental health
facility. A reporter points out that there's an opposing plan to tear
down the area and build a waste-disposal site, but the mayor says that
his plan represents the future of Gotham.
At Bamonte's
Restaurant, Oswald is washing dishes as Sal Maroni and several of his
men come in. Three of them take duffle bags filled with cash to an
upstairs room, while Maroni tells the others that he has a lucrative
land deal in the works.
Jim goes to Wayne Manor and asks Alfred
what he knows about the Waynes' plans for Arkham. The butler admits
that Falcone is handling the plan now and stands to make a fortune from
the deal. Jenkins supported Falcone's plan and Jim figures that Maroni
had the councilman killed so that he can get his waste-disposal plant.
Bruce comes in and explains that his parent wanted to rebuild the asylum
to help the city's least fortunate, and that he doesn't want his
parents' dream to die with them. Jim warns that the struggle between
Falcone and Maroni could set off a gang war and wipe out the citizens'
faith in law and order. Harvey calls to tell Jim that Councilman Zeller
has been abducted, and that he was backing Maroni's plan.
Gladwell puts Zeller in an oil barrel and drives him to the old Arkham
Asylum building. He then pours gasoline on Zeller and apologizes for
giving him a slow painful death, but his employer needs him to set a
message. Gladwell then sets Zeller on fire and watches him burn.
The next morning, Essen meets Jim and Harvey at the asylum and admits
that Jim was right about Jenkins' death being a political hit. Jim
explains what he's learned about the war between Falcone and Maroni over
the Arkham district, and figures that Maroni struck against Falcone's
man and then Falcone hired someone to strike back. While Essen goes to
put patrolmen on the remaining councilmen and the mayor, Harvey wonders
where Jim is getting his information. Nygma comes over and tells them
that Jenkins and his aide died of puncture wounds to the eyes, and
Zeller had a similar puncture wound in his shoulder. They figure that
the same hitman is working for both mobsters, and Harvey says that they
need to talk to a friend of his.
At Bamonte's, Oswald watches Maroni's men count their bosses money, until the manager, Lou, orders him back to work.
At the Gotham prison, Harvey pays a former hitman, Minks, with two
boxes of cigarettes for information on Gladwell. Minks has heard of the
man from his MO and says that he works out of the Lansky Building. As
the two detectives check the offices, Harvey wonders why Jim is so tense
and figures that he knows something. They talk a receptionist who
identifies Gladwell as an HR employee. Gladwell is at his desk and sees
them, and slips into a back storage room. A co-worker tells the officers
where Gladwell went, and Jim goes in after him. Before Gladwell can
kill him, Harvey calls Jim back to show him the clippings of Jenkins and
Zeller that he found in Gladwell's desk. They go back to search the
storage room and find a worker stealing paper clips. She runs away
screaming, and Jim spots a piece of paper with the letters CLM lying on
the floor.
Bruce is dreaming of his parents' deaths and wakes
up, and tells Alfred that he had a bad dream. He goes back to reading
his parents' plans for Arkham and tells Alfred that he's looking for a
connection between the murders.
Three masked men break into
Bamonte's and order everyone down. Oswald takes refuge in the back while
the intruders kill Lou and drive off. Maroni's lieutenant Frankie
Carbone arrives with more men and they search the place. They confirm
that the intruders took the money and follow a trail of bloody
footprints to a cabinet in the kitchen. Oswald is inside, clutching a
duffle bag filled with money, and tells them what happened and how he
managed to grab one bag.
When Jim returns home, Barbara accuses
him of keeping secrets from him, and asks who Oswald is. Jim refuses to
answer, and figures that Renee told Barbara about the snitch. Barbara
admits that she was in a relationship with Renee for a year, and then
she ended it. She isn't sure if Renee is willing to move on, and assures
Jim that he's the one that she wants to spend her life with. Jim,
furious, says that she lied to him.
The next day at his
restaurant, Maroni tells Frankie that they're going to strike back at
Falcone and kill "The Mouth." The mob boss then talks to Oswald and
thanks him for recovering one bag of the money... and promotes him to
manager.
At the station, Harvey tells Jim that the unis found a
corpse at Gladwell’s apartment, dead from puncture wounds to the eyes.
They figure that the hitman eliminated the real Richard Gladwell and
took his place as a cover. Jim tries to work out the significance of
CLM, but Harvey tells him that it’s a dead end. Unconvinced, Jim warns
that if they don’t find Gladwell then they could have a major gang war
on their hands. Getting an idea, Harvey goes to see Fish.
At
the club, another singer, Liza, is auditioning for Fish. The owner asks
if Liza is willing to do anything to gain power and respect, and Liza
says that she is. Fish tells Liza to seduce her. Realizing that she’s
serious, Liza proceeds, impressing Fish with her efforts. Harvey comes
in and Fish tells Liza to wait. The detective says that he needs Fish’s
help and that he’ll owe her, and Fish warns that Falcone will just hire
another hitman. She describes Falcone as old and weak, and Harvey
wonders why she’s so eager to see her boss go down. Fish assures him
that she always has a plan B as she glances over at Liza.
Oswald calls Jim and tells him that Maroni has ordered a hit on a
politician, but doesn’t know the details. Once Oswald hangs up, Jim gets
an idea and checks the names of the policemen assigned to guard detail
over James and the councilmen. Officers Campos, Lazenby, and Martins are
all assigned to the mayor, and Jim figures that he’s the next target.
He leaves a message for Harvey to say where he’s heading and leaves for
the mayor’s brownstone.
When Jim arrives at the brownstone, he
discovers that the three policemen have disappeared. He gets James to
let him in, explaining that the hitman is on the way... unaware that
Gladwell is across the street. James goes to his upstairs study and
takes his money out of the safe, and says that his sister’s house should
be safe because they can’t trust the station. As they go downstairs,
they find Gladwell waiting for them. He slashes at Jim with his spike,
disarming the detective, but Jim manages to hold him off. Jim gets James
back upstairs to the study and through the back exit into the
conference room. Gladwell comes in after them and Jim jumps him. The two
men fight and Gladwell manages to pin Jim down. As he prepares to kill
him, Harvey arrives and orders the assassin to surrender. Gladwell
releases Jim but says that his employers hired a professional because
they knew he’d finish the job. He lunges at James and Jim and Harvey
shoot him down.
Later, Barbara comes to the station and tells
Jim that she doesn’t want any more secrets between them. He refuses to
tell her who Oswald is and that it was a mistake to discuss anything
about his job with her. Barbara says that she can’t live that way and
tells her fiancé to either let her in or let her go. Jim doesn’t respond
and Barbara walks away.
That night at the docks, Fish tells
Liza and her competition that she can only choose one of them and can’t
decide, so she’s going to let them fight it out. The two girls attack
each other and Liza knocks out her opponent, and asks Fish when she
starts.
The next day, Oswald visits an apartment where the
robbers he hired to hit Bamonte’s are holed up. He congratulates them on
doing an excellent job and hands them a box of cannolis as a reward.
At the station, Jim watches the news. The mayor goes before the press
and says that he was forced to compromise. Now the Arkham district will
have both low-cost housing and waste disposal.
At Bamonte’s, Maroni celebrates getting the waste disposal contract.
At the club, Fish is watching the newscast and tells Liza that Falcone
has taken a major blow, the first of many. She puts some ice on Liza’s
bruised face and says that she recruited her just in time.
Later, Bruce is watching the mayor’s announcement when Jim arrives.
Bruce wonders why James is compromising and Jim explains that the mayor
was caught between Falcone and Maroni. The compromise prevented a lot of
bloodshed, but Bruce insists that his parents’ great work is falling
into the hands of criminals. Jim assures Bruce that he’s still alive to
carry on their legacy, and it’s not too late to save Gotham.
Oswald steps over the three dead robbers, poisoned to death, and leaves with the money.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 26, 2019