Gotham: Selina Kyle Recap With Spoilers

The episode opens on Bruce Wayne, holding his hand over a lit candle and trying not to scream with [...]

The episode opens on Bruce Wayne, holding his hand over a lit candle and trying not to scream with the pain. Alfred enters the dark room and yells at him, then hugs him, apologizing for it.

Cut to Selina Kyle, apparently surveying her day's haul; she's holding up a thin, gold necklace which she pockets when a truck pulls up with a pair of smiley, friendly people from a "homeless outreach program." They feed the homeless in the alley, knocking them out with a needle embedded in a big pen while they eat. Selina watches cautiously and then escapes into the dark night as one man is shot and killed. Another hobbles away, and the man from the "outreach program" runs, catches up to him and throws him through the front window of a restaurant.

Later, under the elevated train, Jim Gordon is examining the body of the man who was shot; he finds a dog tag on the man. From above, Selina watches him. Bullock shows up, saying that they should dump the bum on somebody else. A uniformed officer shows up, and when Jim bawls him out for not being on the scene sooner, he says that the restaurant down the street was a priority because they pay protection. Gordon asks why the homeless man had "jumped" through the window and the cop says he was probably high, just a homeless junky. He's not interested in the conversation, but when Gordon presses, it turns into a confrontation.

Cut to the police station, where Gordon and Bullock are interviewing the teenager who was thrown through the window. We come in at the tail end of the story we just saw unfold, who tells them that street kids have been disappearing by the dozen for a few weeks. Bullock doesn't believe him, and tries to pin the murder on him. The kid tells her to ask Cat.

Bullock threatens to beat the kid, and Gordon pulls him aside to tell him to calm down. The pair get into an argument that devolves into a shoving match; when Bullock steps on another cop's foot and the cop objects, Bullock kicks him, knocking him down and storming out.

Next, we see Oswald Cobblepot, who is hitchhiking and gets picked up by some "bros." They're drinking behind the wheel, making dumb jokes and occasionally mocking him. He takes it fairly in stride, grateful for the ride, until one of them says he looked like a penguin waddling down the road, and he breaks a beer bottle and kills one of them with it.

Back at the police department, Essen is telling Gordon that he has to bend the rules sometimes, but she can't order him to break the law. When Gordon tells her what the boy told them, Bullock disputes it, saying he doesn't see the point in abducting homeless kids nobody wants in bulk. During their conversation, Nygma enters and tells them that there are trace amounts of a fast-acting knockout drug in the boy's bloodstream. It's hard to get, there's no recreational use, and they used to use it at Arkham to take down troublesome patients. Bullock says it's interesting, and Essen excuses Nygma. She tells the pair to keep it quiet, not to tell the press or the public. She tells them to follow up on the Arkham connection, and Bullock says Arkham has been closed for years. They also ask whether it's safe for the pair to go back to Fish Mooney's turf or whether she's still mad at them.

Cut to the nightclub, where Falcone has come to visit Mooney. He tells her that he talked to Cobblepot before he died, and that Cobblepot told him the Waynes' death will bring chaos. Falcone says he agrees -- that the Waynes and his empire were the pillars of the city and that without the Waynes everything is out of balance. He says the power vacuum is giving Maroni the motivation to make a move, and that if he does, so will every criminal in town, and who knows who will come out on top?

He tells her that he knows what she told Cobblepot about his being old and soft and ready to be taken out. She promises him she would never say anything like that, and he tells her it must have been the babbling of a condemned man. They descend into small talk. He asks her who is her lover, and she denies having one, but says she does hav ea boy she keeps around "for exercise." He calls a waiter over, and after revealing that he knows he was her lover, has him taken away and beaten. He thanks her for her honesty and leaves, and she explodes, screaming at the crowd to leave.

Allen and Montoya are at the home of Cobblepot's mother. She's convinced that he made off with a woman, and that he's in no danger, but she still wants him found.

At the club, Butcher is telling Mooney that it's too early to make a move on Falcone, and she says she knows, and that she'll play loyal and bide her time. She tells him that she will kill him soon. She says she wishes Cobblepot was still alive so she could make him suffer worse.

Out on the road to Gotham, Cobblepot pulls over to a house where there's a trailer for rent. He pays the man cash to rent it and then has a momentary panic attack when the man tries to look inside the truck, but then makes his way to the trailer without trouble.

In a dark room, a group of the kidnapped homeless kids are talking in hushed tones.

Back at the club, Bullock and Gordon join Fish, asking if she's still mad and she says no, that she knew she'd regret killing them, so she's glad it worked out that way. Gordon asks her about the kids who've gone missing, and she derails the conversation asking him about killing Penguin. She neeedles him a bit about having disappointed her by not really being a straight arrow and Bullock redirects the conversation back to the suspects. She says there's a new overseas buyer who will take anyone young and healthy, even if they aren't attractive.

Back at home, Gordon is talking about the case with Barbara, who says she can't believe the system is so corrupt. He tells her she has no idea, and she's upset that he's not telling her everything. He denies it, saying that he's having trouble sleeping. She suggests that he call in an anonymous tip to the newspapers and when he says he can't, she calls the Gotham Gazette and tells them everything they need to follow up. He tells her that she can't do that kind of thing when he tells her stuff, and she counters that it was the right thing to do. He tells her that's true, but not to do it again.

The next morning, Essen is furious that someone called in the case to the press, and accuses Bullock, who apparently has done it before -- but never on his own case. Gordon says he didn't call it in, and then proceeds to tell them where they've gotten with the ATP drug. He says they have three places that are selling the drug, and they're going to follow up with all three.

Cut to a seedy pharmacist, where the two smiley kidnappers, who apparently work for someone called The Dollmaker, are having a conflict with the man who's been giving them the drugs and letting them use his storage space to keep the kids. Apparently, he's not happy with the heat brought on by the media attention. They take down his security goon with the pen and then see the police car pulling up outside.

Gordon is outside, and Bullock pieces together that it was Barbara who called the press. They banter about women for a moment then go in.

They have a warrant to search the place, but while the proprietor stalls, a gunfight breaks out in the dark. At the end of it, the pharmacist tells one of his guys to kill the kids and hose down the room, but Gordon is there with a gun. He follows the guy and shoots him, saving the kids.

At the police department the next day, Mayor James comes to award Gordon and Bullock for their service, promise better for the kids and announce a new program; they're going to open a "humane but tough love program" to get the kids off the streets.

Afterwards, in Essen's office, he tells them that the cute ones will go to foster homes and the others will send homeless kids upstate to a corrections facility. Gordon objects to imprisoning them without a trial, and the mayor thanks him for his input.

Alfred arrives, asking Gordon to come see Bruce; that he's not prepared to deal with Bruce's antics and can use someone the boy respects.

Bruce is sketching something that looks very much like the Batcave while listening to loud music.

At the bus upstate, Selina arrives and tells the woman taking names that she needs to talk to Gordon. She sits down next to a kid who's crying and gives him advice for surviving juvie. As she's talking, the driver and bus attendant show up; it's the smiley kidnappers. Selina tries to run but is forced back into her seat at gunpoint.

Back in Essen's office, Mayor James is furious that the whole busload was kidnapped. Essen tells him it could be the same suspects, and he's furious.

In holding, Bullock is hitting the pharmacist trying to get information out of him; Gordon is allowing it because lives are in the balance. He offers up that there was a logo on their van. Gordon tells him to draw it.

The snatchers arrive at their dstination, where Selina has stowed away on the bus rather than get out. They predict as much, and the woman goes looking for her, but she manaes to sneak out of the bus undetected. They aren't too upset, since the Dollmaker will be pleased with the count they got.

After coming up empty on the logo, which they thought was a plate and fork, Gordon figures out it was a Trident, for an international shipping company. Back at the site, a man stumbles across Selina and she gouges his eyes. The female snatcher sees that he's in bad shape and shoots him in the head, then goes looking for Selina, who continues to evade her with her stealth and acrobatics until she drops the locket containing a picture of her parents and the woman almost guns her down. Gordon shows up to rescue her, though, and asks her name, which she won't give. Bullock brings the other suspect by, and Gordon demands to know where the kids are.

At Wayne Manor, Gordon shows up and is told Bruce isn't sleeping -- that he's having nightmares and he's hurting, cutting and burning himself. Gordon asks if Bruce is getting professional help. Alfred says that Bruce's father had forbid psychologists and left specific instructions, that he has to trust Bruce to make his own course.

Bruce arrives, startling them like Batman, saying that he's fine and that Alfred worries too much. Gordon tells him that he should talk to someone, and Bruce asks whether it helps him to talk. Jim says yes, but Bruce can tell he's lying. Bruce says he's testing himself, not hurting himself. He says he's been following Gordon's cases in the newspapers, and that he'll give Gordon some money for the kids. Gordon says that it doesn't work like that -- that they need people who care for him -- and Bruce offers to buy them clothes.

Back at the police department, Selina objects to still being sent upstate. They say they can't put her back on the street. She tells him that her mother is still alive somewhere and when he's unmoved, she demands he get Gordon or she'll say he touched her.

In his trailer, Cobblepot is looking at a map of Gotham decked out on a kind of crazy collage on his ceiling. He forcuses in on the name "Wayne." He answer a phone when it rings; it's the parent of the driver who picked him up; he wanted ransom for the kid, but the mother won't believe him that she's got him hostage, and thinks her son is trying to scam her.

When Jim comes to see Selina, he recognizes "Cat" as being the friend of the guy from earlier. She offers him evidence on the Wayne murder in exchange for getting her out of custody. She says she saw the killer clear as day.

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