Season 4 begins with Bruce in a dark alley, fighting crime in black clothes. It’s weird, he almost looks a little bit like Batman. Maybe it’s his destiny? (Note: Bruce TOTALLY growled when he talked to the criminal. Not saying he sounded like a tiny Christian Bale, but also not denying it.)
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After getting beaten down, one of the criminals shows that he has a paper in his pocket. The man tells Bruce to stop beating him, because he went and got a license to do what he was doing. The “License for Misconduct” has Penguin’s seal on the bottom. R’as al Ghul watches Bruce from a nearby building, but he stays in the shadows.
A swing band plays as a nice wedding takes place. WAIT – men with guns come in and scare all the rich people. They have come to rob the place and ask for everything they’ve got. In comes Victor Zsasz, who tells the men that they can’t commit crime because it’s illegal without a license. So, quick recap, you can do nasty things in Gotham as long as you ask Oswald first.
Victor makes all the men leave, and the guests get excited for a moment. Then Zsasz’s men come in and they, of course, do have a license.
Penguin is talking with the new mayor, and it’s been three months since the Tetch virus. Penguin made a deal with the lawmakers with his licenses, since he was able to cut crime in half. Since enough is never enough with Cobblepot, he now wants to unionize crime. He knows that he made Gotham safe, which seems incredibly ironic. He’s offering crime in the hands of professionals, which he will profit from.
It’s worth mentioning that Oswald has a new haircut, which finally means that those weird bangs aren’t hanging over his eyes. It’s a nice touch, to be sure.
Anyway, Penguin makes a deal with the men in charge, and he heads out to open his new Iceberg Lounge.
A man is holding up a bar, taking all of the owner’s money. Jim enters, because he needs his coffee, and the man shows him his crime license. If you know Jim Gordon, you know that’s not going to fly. He grabs the man and begins to cuff him, delivering a classic Gordon one-liner.
“I’ll take that coffee to-go.” Heck yeah you will, Jimbo.
Commercial Break
Jim takes the man into GCPD, and he’s still crying about having a license. (You’d think he would have gotten it out of his system on the car ride over.) None of the other cops seem to like how Jim is handling things, and a lawyer is talking with Harvey about it. He says Jim isn’t complying and Harvey assures him that Jim will obey the new rules. As though you needed more proof that Jim Gordon was actually Jim Gordon, he’s the only cop in town willing to stand up for his badge. Even Harvey is playing ball in order to win the game in the long run. Of course, nothing matters to Jim but cold hard American justice.
Bruce shows Alfred the license and he wants to try and stop Penguin. Alfred, being the zen master of common sense that he is, tells the boy to try and be smart about things. He tells Bruce that things are messy and dangerous but he needs to prepare for R’as to return. Bruce says that he hears Alfred (we all know that he totally doesn’t) and that he can prepare for R’as while also saving Gotham. Odds are not in his favor with this one, you can almost guarantee it. After all, he needs to see more death and destruction before turning into a grumpy vigilante with a chiseled jaw.
It wouldn’t be Gotham without Arkham Asylum, and the robbers from the wedding have arrived in need of some help fighting Penguin. Of course one of them used to be an orderly, and of course he knows all about Jonathan Crane and his toxin that makes people see their greatest fears. They pay for Crane, who can be controlled by the effects of the toxin, and take him away. This scene is so reminiscent of Shutter Island, stylistically raising the bar for the rest of the series.
Commercial Break
At Crane’s fathers old house, the men make Jonathan produce more of his toxin, using a scarecrow to force him into work.
Fast-forward a bit and the men are robbing a bank, using Crane’s toxin to spray down everybody in the place. When Harvey and Jim arrive on the scene, the people are screaming about the demons (which were SUPER creepy). Since they didn’t have a license, Jim goes back on the warpath. He knows that Crane’s formula is being used and he’s going to track down Jonathan. The orderly at Gotham tells him that Jonathan can’t be bothered right now, going even further to prove that he’s a lying dirtbag. After being pressed just a bit, the man gives up the robbers that took Crane.
Jim and Harvey track down the bandits and they’re – OH NO! – ambushed.
After a quick commercial, the head criminal tells Jim and Harvey that they’re trying to go toe-to-toe with Penguin. They exit the old apartment, leaving the cops on their own.
Finally, Selina appears for the first time this season, and she’s walking down a creepy ally by herself, since those are apparently the only kind of streets Gotham City actually has. A bunch of older men surround her, moving in on the young girl. Since she’s a total badass, Selina reveals that she just setting them up as an exercise, and she beats them down with her whip. One man remains, but Tabitha comes out of no where to stop him.
Back at their apartment, Selina and Tabitha get a visit from Zsasz (who has become Butch-Lite?). He offers them a peace deal with Penguin, an “Or-else kind of deal.” Selina wants to work for Penguin, while Tabitha is very against it.
Bruce shows up at the GCPD to see Gordon. Jim comments that he didn’t hear Bruce come in, just another sign that he’s well on his way to bat-status. Bruce tells Jim a great plan about using the licenses to stop crime, but Jim tells him that everyone in the GCPD has gone along with Penguin’s plan. These two are finally forming their own partnership, and we’re all here for it.
CLASSIC BATMAN MOVE – Bruce disappears while Jim is talking to him. Let’s be honest, these guys are going to be fun to watch from here on out.
Cobblepot is talking to reporters at the opening of his club, and he unveils the centerpiece. It’s Nygma, frozen in ice. Penguin lies to the press by saying that Nygma had a brain disease, and he’s freezing him until a cure is found.
Here comes Jim to spoil the party. He warns Penguin about the gang with the Crane toxin, and that it will make other gangs confident in standing up to Cobblepot. The Penguin does his usual song and dance, saying that he will keep Gotham safe. Yeah, it’s a long-shot.
Back at the farm house, the gang throws Crane into a dark closet with the scarecrow, and he’s screaming the whole way in. As damaged as this kid is, he’s going to turn into one hell of a Gotham villain.
Commercial Break
Penguin is getting crazy, talking to frozen Riddler. Ivy interrupts, and that’s that. Over at the station, Harvey provides a voice for the audience and lays out Jim’s entire plan in an angry tone. They’re going after the gang, but no one on the force is happy about it.
Crane is locked in his shed/closet/room/thing and the scarecrow in the corner starts talking to him. It might have just eaten his soul. We’ll confirm later.
The commissioner tries to talk Jim out of challenging Penguin, but he’s standing firm. He sits down his gun and fights the other cops. Of course, since there are six of them, he gets put down.
Everyone is at Cobblepot’s grand opening, including Bruce and Alfred. In another Batman move, Bruce asks Penguin how the licenses work, saying that they could have saved his parents. Penguin says that no one deals with the papers directly, but that the lawyer Mr. Penn controls everything. While trying to lay out a plan to Alfred, Bruce sees Selina across the room. Lovestruck and speechless, once again.
Selina and Tabitha talk to Zsasz and agree to work with him. They throw some shade at Ivy while they’re at it.
The gang is at the party but Penguin finds them first.
Commercial Break
Bruce and Selina have some heart-to-heart time on the roof, because that’s where Batman and Catwoman talk. Bruce finally deflates his ego and apologizes for being a giant turd. He even goes far enough as to compliment Selina on her dress. It’s obvious she’s happy to have Bruce wrapped around her finger once again.
Penguin parades the gang around the party, trying to prove that he is the one that keeps the city safe. Bruce wants to save the lives of the men, but Alfred won’t let him. So, little Bruce stands up for justice and tells Penguin to turn them over to the police, in front of all the members of the press. An upset Ivy shuts off the power to the club, the men go spraying that toxin everywhere, and all hell breaks loose. Oswald sees Riddler coming at him (because of the poison) and he can’t take it. Jim and Harvey rush in to arrest the gang and save the day. Alfred somehow ended up with a shotgun in his hands, but no one is really complaining.
The episode comes to a close with Jim telling Harvey that he needs to find Jonathan Crane before he can use more of his father’s toxin.
Bruce shows up, in his hooded gear, to the lawyer’s office. He takes the licenses and makes a shadowy exit. Since he’s almost Batman, he climbs to the top of a roof to stop some bad guys from robbing a museum. Unfortunately, he falls through the sky light and gets caught by the police.
At the farm house, Jonathan Crane is donning a TERRIFYING Scarecrow outfit, and he sprays down one of his captors.
That outfit is easily one of the scariest things Gotham has ever created; nightmares are on the way.
Commercial Break
Bruce and Selina have some heart-to-heart time on the top of the roof, because that’s where Batman and Catwoman talk. Bruce finally deflates his ego and apologizes for being a giant turd. He even goes far enough as to compliment Selina on her dress. It’s obvious she’s happy to have Bruce wrapped around her finger once again.
Penguin parades the gang around the party, trying to prove that he is the one that keeps the city safe. Bruce wants to save the lives of the men, but Alfred won’t let him. So, little Bruce stands up for justice and tells Penguin to turn them over to the police, in front of all the members of the press. An upset Ivy shuts off the power to the club, the men go spraying that toxin everywhere, and all hell breaks loose. Oswald sees Riddler coming at him (because of the poison) and he can’t take it. Jim and Harvey rush in to arrest the gang and save the day. Alfred somehow ended up with a shotgun in his hands, but no one is really complaining.
The episode comes to a close with Jim telling Harvey that he needs to find Jonathan Crane before he can use more of his father’s toxin.
Bruce shows up, in his hooded gear, to the lawyer’s office. He takes the licenses and makes a shadowy exit. Since he’s almost Batman, he climbs to the top of a roof to stop some bad guys from robbing a museum. Unfortunately, he falls through the sky light and gets caught by the police.
At the farm house, Jonathan Crane is donning a TERRIFYING Scarecrow outfit, and he sprays down one of his captors.
That outfit is easily one of the scariest things Gotham has ever created; nightmares are on the way.
