The episode title says it all. Things in Gotham have gone from bad to worse. The explosion that rocked The Haven has left many injured, 24 missing, 311 dead. Harvey Dent (Nicholas D’Agosto) finds the badge of the young kid who Jim (Benjamin McKenzie) had “deputized” last week. There’s still no help from the outside world. We also find that Barbara (Erin Richards) spared Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), who swears that his crew was not the cause of the explosion. The crime lord does come up big, however, as he teams up with the GCPD and supplies them with ammo — “no strings attached” or so he says.
This episode also sees the return of Jeremiah (Cameron Monaghan) sporting a Jack Nicholson type hat. He has a classic ballroom dance scene with the new Harley Quinn, Ecco (Francesca Root-Dodson) that definitely pays homage to the Joker, Vicki Vale scene from the original Tim Burton movie. We are unsure of his plan but Selina (Camren Bicondova) is tracking them. Bruce (David Mazouz) and Alfred (Sean Pertwee) are not far behind, as they try to save Selina from herself.
Another surprise return is that of Victor Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan), whom GCPD suspects caused the explosion. After Jim’s interrogation and research from Team Nigma and Fox (Chris Chalk), he is ruled out as a suspect. “Do the math. If I blew up a bunch of people, there would be scars all over my body. You can check,” Zsasz states in a very true to the character moment.
Spoiler: It’s no surprise that Penguin quickly turned his guns on the GCPD and demanded a trial for Zsasz. In my opinion, this is a tremendous waste of time because things quickly get out of hand during the “trial” and it’s obvious Jim is starting to lose his grip on the people he is trying to help. Jim releases Zsasz. “This city is never going to be what you want it be Jim. It’s always gonna belong to the bad guys, like me,” Zsasz states. Jim surprisingly challenges the villain to a duel of sorts, and Zsasz actually backs down. “People like you are always trying to own this city. But you never will. Get the hell out of my face.” It’s a great scene but Harvey tells Jim to pull himself together.
The conclusion of the episode sees Selina sneak up on Jeremiah and stab him A LOT. Bruce and Alfred get her out of there, as Jeremiah’s body lays on the floor. We can’t safely assume he’s dead after all the Jerome and Jeremiah comebacks and reincarnations so far.
Meanwhile, Ed (Cory Michael SMith) finds an old lady that reveals to him that his other self (The Riddler) shot the rocket launcher at The Haven. Ed has a moment of clarity, and unfortunately throws the old woman out the window. Wow.
But wait! There’s more. Jim’s been drinking in his office and guess who shows up? None other than a leather clad Barbara Kean to help him forget about his sorrows. To put this delicately, I think we may have just witnessed the Batgirl origin story as the camera pans away.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
