‘Gotham’ Recap With Spoilers – “A Beautiful Darkness”

Selina and Ivy show up at a rich family’s house and Ivy puts them under her spell. She uses a special perfume to get them to do as she asks. While the family is being controlled by Ivy Selina begins robbing them blind. After Selina walks away, Ivy reveals that she’s not there to rob them at all, but she wants to kill the father of the family because he “tortures plants for science.” Ivy then cuts the man’s neck with her fingernail and he dies, turning green with plants growing out of his mouth.

At the station, a man in lock-up tells Jim that he works for Sofia and that he needs to call her.

Lucius and Jim show up to the scene of Ivy’s latest murder and they learn that the man works for Wayne Enterprises. The family tells Lucius that a redhead woman and a girl with a whip came in and the redhead killed the father. Jim sets off to find Selina while Lucius calls Bruce to inform him of Roland Charles’ death.

Ivy explores the dead man’s documents and reveals a plan for something called “Project M.” She wants to figure out what it is and she believes that all approvals for Project M lead back to Bruce Wayne. Selina storms out because she doesn’t want to be a part of what Ivy is doing.

At Wayne Manor…

Bruce wakes up in the parlor after a night of drinking. Ivy is standing there waiting for him. She says she’s there to speak for the plants and Bruce brushes her off. Ivy mentions Project M, calling Bruce “billionaire boy.” Just as he starts to realize who she is, she kisses him and he starts to fall into one of her hypnotic traps.

Penguin in going through the lunch line at Arkham Asylum before making his way over to a table by himself. A Joker card is thrown down in front of him. Jerome approaches and sits down across from Penguin, saying that he’s disappointed that Penguin hasn’t done anything exciting. Penguin responds by saying he can’t try to escape because Sofia has someone he cares about. 

Jerome finds Penguin boring. He says that last time he found someone boring he turned them into a mess of a human that doesn’t have much of a brain left, and soils himself regularly. The conversation ends when Jerome gets up from the table and says that he’s going to cure Penguin.

Bruce told Ivy everything about Project M. We don’t hear what he said, but Ivy mentions that it wasn’t what she was expecting. Since Bruce owns Wayne Enterprises, she says he needs to pay. Ivy scratches his neck, beginning his slow and painful death. Bruce collapses, turning green and gasping for air.

Commercial Break

Bruce is on the floor trying to breathe when he has a vision. In this dream, R’as al Ghul appears and cuts Bruce’s face off and takes it away. He then tells Bruce that he’s dying before bandaging up his head.

Jim arrives to the Sirens Club to look for Selina. He’s greeted by Barbara and Sofia, the latter of which wants to speak with Jim alone. After Barbara leaves, Sofia tells Jim that she wants him to release her man that’s in custody. She assures Jim that she is in control of everything he does, blackmailing him with the events of Professor Pyg’s arrival. He walks away when he catches a glimpse of Selina walking through the club.

Some Arkham inmates kidnap Penguin and bring him before Jerome, with an entire audience surrounding. Jerome demands that Penguin make him laugh. The inmates then dress Penguin up like a clown, against his will, and Jerome waits to be entertained. Penguin cries and asks to be left alone which makes Jerome even more impatient. Penguin tries to attack Jerome but he’s stopped by the other inmates, beaten to a pulp as Jerome leaves.

Jim chases Selina onto the roof of the club. Selina then informs Jim that Ivy has transformed into something more dangerous, and that she killed Roland because she’s trying to take down Wayne Enterprises. Jim realizes Lucius lied and the two leave the roof.

Ivy finds Lucius because Bruce told her he would know everything about Project M. She puts Lucius under her spell.

Commercial Break

Bruce is still in his hallucination, exploring the halls of Wayne Manor. He comes upon a party with all of the other Gotham characters, dressed in swingers clothing. Jim has a mustache, Penguin has a top hat, and Lee is wearing an Egyptian outfit. Bruce finds someone wearing his face and attacks them. This fails and he’s pushed down, immediately disappearing into thin air.

Jim arrives back at the station and every officer in the place is under Ivy’s spell. They all turn on Jim because he called Ivy a psycho. 

Penguin sits alone in his cell when an officer informs him that he has a visitor. Ed Nygma is waiting for him in the visitation room. Nygma says he only came to gloat about how he was doing, and how poorly Penguin was. After Nygma leaves, Penguin realizes that he left something: a riddle on a piece of paper. Penguin realizes that The Riddler is still alive in Nygma’s head, convinced that his former friend will help him escape Arkham.

Jim and Selina get to the lab and figure out where the Project M lab is. They evade the rest of the GCPD in order to get there and track down Lucius and Ivy.

Commercial Break

Penguin is taken from his cell by the inmates once again. Jerome ties a noose and says that tonight he will cure Penguin. He puts the noose around Penguin’s neck, takes off the hood and reveals the Dietrich, the man that Jerome turned into a walking vegetable. Dietrich urinates on himself and Penguin appears from the crowd, throwing an electric lamp into the puddle of urine and electrocuting the Dietrich. Jerome isn’t amused. 

To get his attention, Penguin begins performing a mime act. Jerome acts like he’s going to stab Penguin but reveals he’s playing a part in the act as well. The two mime together until Penguin brings Jerome inside the “box” and beats him. Penguin celebrates and Jerome begins laughing hysterically. He believes he has cured Penguin.

In Bruce’s vision, the party suddenly disappears and it’s only Jim and Bruce. Jim vanishes and Alfred appears, busting through the window in his special agent gear. He then grabs Bruce and goes back out the window.

Lucius and Ivy are at the Project M labs and he reveals to her the substance that the entire project is based around: Lazarus Water. This liquid is born from R’as al Ghul’s Lazarus Pits and it stimulates cell growth at an alarming rate. Ivy is going to use it to “make miracles happen.”

Commercial Break

Bruce is back in vision, Alfred dragging him to the alley where his parents died. A caped figure stares down at Bruce from a nearby building. A deep voice, coming from the figure, tells Bruce “This is where I was born.” He then jumps down onto Bruce as the camera cuts away.

Jim finds Ivy and Lucius and he tries to stop them. She explains that she has finally “bloomed.” If Jim doesn’t cooperate she’s going to kill Lucius. She then tells Jim about the seed she planted in Bruce. If he lets her go, he can save Bruce. Ivy leaves a vial of the antidote with Lucius and escapes. The two men go to find Bruce.

Bruce wakes up in a cave and searches around for somebody. The caped figure appears on the other side and says, “I am the one you cannot escape. The one you cannot kill.” Bruce replies, “You’re me!” The conversation ends when the figure says, “You’re scared. You should be,” before turning into a horde of bats and flying at Bruce. The young man wakes up with Jim by his side.

Commercial Break

Jim and Bruce talk about what he went through, and Jim assures him that it should be over now. Bruce says he saw who he really is, that what he saw was real. Jim tells Bruce not to fight these things alone, and to trust people like him and Alfred. 

Bruce tells Jim that he was in the vision and that he had a mustache. Jim replies, “Well clearly that’s a very dangerous toxin.” After Jim leaves, Bruce calls Alfred and leaves a message, saying he needs help.

Jim returns to the station and everyone assures him that they aren’t hypnotized anymore. He puts an APB out on Ivy Pepper. Sofia calls Jim and she says there are “other ways” she can hurt him. After she hangs up, Lee is seen sitting across from Sofia in her study.

Jerome approaches Penguin’s cell and Penguin discovers that Jerome is planning something big. He’s sticking around in Arkham to find the craziest people to help him with this new plan. Jerome then asks Penguin to join him on his quest. 

“When we’re done, the world out there, that will be the asylum.”

Penguin declines the offer because he’s convinced Nygma is going to help him escape soon. Jerome tells Penguin “You’ll come around” as he leaves. Penguin gives a letter addressed to Nygma to the mailman.

Ivy combines her blood with the Lazarus water and causes a plant to instantly grow. She blows the pedals at the owners of the apartment who have just returned home. They instantly fall down, flowers breaking through their chests.

The end.