Arkham

"My parents believed a new asylum would bring hope to Gotham. Now that's gone. Everything they worked for is now falling into the hands of criminals."

- Bruce Wayne to James Gordon

"Arkham" is the fourth episode of Season One of Fox's Gotham. It was written by Ken Woodruff and directed by TJ Scott. It is the fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 13, 2014.

Synopsis
As a contentious city council vote on the future of the Arkham district approaches, politicians from both sides are in danger. Gordon and Bullock must race to protect the council and an old friend visits Gordon.

Recap
We open right after last week’s cliffhanger with Oswald Cobblepot’s unexpected visit to Barabara Kean’s apartment. After some awkward exchanges where James Gordon pretends that Oswald is a work associate, Gordon brings Oswald into the alley. There, an infuriated Gordon is given a proposal by Oswald: trust him to help Gordon save Gotham City from an impending mob war.

At a parking lot, Councilman Jenkins and his bodyguard are approached by a supposed constituent who turns out to be a hitman with an affinity for using a self-engineered stabbing weapon. The hitman efficiently kills them both in a cold and brutal manner. The next day, Captain Essen hands Gordon and Harvey Bullock the Jenkins murder case.

Fish Mooney holds an audition for a new lounge singer. But as we all know, nothing is ever straightforward with Mooney. Finishing her solo, the singer is asked by Mooney to seduce her. From Mooney’s reaction, this part of the audition is a failure because she’s not just looking for a singer — she’s looking for a “weapon.”

Bullock, with his usual finesse, questions a common mugger, but Gordon knows this isn’t their guy. Going back to his desk, Gordon finds an evidence box filled with Jenkins’ belongings. Within the piles of papers, he finds plans for Arkham. We quickly melt into Mayor Aubrey James’s press conference which give a good bit of exposition. The Waynes planned to use the land from Arkham District to build low-income affordable housing along with a new state-of-the-art mental health facility, replacing the old Arkham Asylum, thereby, creating Arkham City. But there’s an opposing plan — turn the area reserved for the new asylum into a waste disposal site. At Sal Maroni’s restaurant, he meets with his associates and hints at a land deal.

In a discussion with Alfred Pennyworth, Gordon learns that Carmine Falcone took over the Waynes’ plan after their deaths. Councilman Jenkins was backing Falcone’s plan and the only one strong enough to oppose Falcone is Maroni. The talk of Arkham grabs the attention of Bruce Wayne who tells Gordon that the new asylum was his mother’s dream.

At the front gates of Arkham Asylum, the hitman has his latest victim — Councilman Zeller shackled to the inside of an oil drum. The hitman then kills Zeller by setting him on fire. On the scene the next day, Gordon proposes his theory to Bullock and Essen: Jenkins and Zeller were on opposite sides of a war between Falcone and Maroni over Arkham District; Maroni struck first by killing Jenkins and Falcone retaliated by killing Zeller. Topping the scene off, the annoying Edward Nygma shows up to give his forensic findings, which point to both Jenkins and Zeller being killed by the same hitman.

Visiting Gotham State Penitentiary, Bullock and Gordon learn from an inmate that the hitman’s name is Gladwell. As Gordon and Bullock show up at Gladwell’s place of employment, Gladwell slips away. Going through Gladwell’s desk, Bullock finds newspaper clippings for Jenkins and Zeller. And a piece of paper vertically scrawled with three letters — “C-L-M.”

Waking from a nightmare, Bruce asks Alfred for more files related to Arkham. When asked for the reasons, Bruce reveals that he’s investigating a connection between the councilmen’s murders and the murders of his parents.

At Maroni’s restaurant, robbers steal bags full of cash and murder the restaurant’s manager. As the robbers make their escape, Maroni’s men enter and find a cowering Oswald hiding in the refrigerator. Oswald claims that he saved what he could and hid.

Barbara confronts Gordon about Oswald Cobblepot (not knowing that the man who visited them was actually Oswald). Gordon figures out that Detective Renee Montoya must have been the one who told Barbara. Pressing her as to why Montoya pays numerous visits, Barbara confesses to Gordon that she had a past relationship with Montoya.

Going through the restaurant robbery with his right-hand man, Maroni requests the presence of Oswald. Impressed by his loyalty, Maroni promotes Oswald to the position of manager, which was made vacant by the murder of the previous manager.

Bullock’s investigation into Gladwell reveals that the real Gladwell was murdered five years ago and the hitman took his identity. To get more information, Bullock visit’s Mooney’s club, where he finds her holding an audition for a new prospect — Liza. Bullock learns that Falcone will do anything to not let Maroni have a piece of Arkham. If Maroni is allowed to muscle in on the land deal, Falcone would be viewed as weak. Meanwhile, Oswald calls Gordon and warns him of another hit. Getting a list of police details for Gotham officials, Gordon learns that the letters “C-L-M” refer to the surnames of officers protecting Mayor James.

Rushing to the Mayor’s residence, Gordon finds empty squad cars. As Gordon takes the Mayor under his protection, they are greeted by an attacking Gladwell. Running through the house, Gladwell corners Gordon and the Mayor in a room. Gordon and Gladwell engage in a brutal fight. Gladwell finally gets the upper hand on Gordon, but surrenders when he’s held at gunpoint by Bullock. In a last ditch effort, Gladwell lunges at the Mayor with his weapon. Both Gordon and Bullock kill Gladwell in a barrage of gunfire.

At the station, Barbara continues to press Gordon for the significance of Oswald Cobblepot. Gordon refuses to tell her anything. Barbara gives him the ultimatum of either being truthful with her or ending their relationship.

Mooney, narrowing her selection to two potential singers, has Liza and the first auditioning girl engage in a tie-breaking fight. Liza wins after pummeling the other girl.

As the restaurant robbers count their money, they’re paid a visit by Oswald, revealing the whole robbery to be set up. Oswald hands them a box of cannolis as a gift.

Mayor James holds a press conference revealing a “best of both worlds” plan — Arkham district will have both low-cost housing and a waste disposal site, and Arkham Asylum will be retro-fitted and reopened. We are then shown reactions to the announcement: Gordon disappointed and surprised by the news; Maroni celebrating with his men; and Mooney happy that Falcone is weakening. Bruce is saddened that everything his parents have worked for is now being controlled by criminals. Gordon reassures Bruce that trying to save Gotham is a worthy endeavor.

In the closing scene, Oswald leaves the now dead robbers, poisoned from the cannolis, and takes their bag of cash.

Starring

 * Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon
 * Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock
 * David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
 * Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen
 * Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot
 * Erin Richards as Barbara Kean
 * Camren Bicondova (credit only)
 * Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma
 * Victoria Cartagena (credit only)
 * Andrew Stewart-Jones (credit only)
 * John Doman (credit only)
 * Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney

Guest Starring

 * David Zayas as Salvatore Maroni
 * Richard Kind as Mayor Aubrey James
 * Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean
 * Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Richard Gladwell
 * Makenzie Leigh as Liza
 * Danny Mastrogiorgio as Frankie Carbone
 * Brad Calcaterra as Minks
 * Evander Duck Jr. as Councilman Ron Jenkins

Co-Starring

 * James Georgiades as Lou
 * Flaco Navaja as Nicky
 * Lucille Sharp as Singer
 * J.W. Cortes as Alvarez
 * John D. Haggerty as Councilman Zeller
 * Danny Doherty as Maroni Thug
 * Ivan Quintanilla as Dickey
 * Jake Choi as Gunman #2
 * Jamie Choi as Receptionist
 * Aesha Waks as Co-Worker
 * Pearl Sun as Secretary
 * Krista Braun as TV Reporter
 * Genevive Barker as Female Reporter
 * Logan Crawford as Reporter

Production Notes

 * Oswald Cobblepot introduces himself to James Gordon and Barbara Kean as "Peter Humboldt". "Humboldt" is also the name of a species of penguin.

Goofs

 * During mayor's "live" interview Gordon is in police dept, and next scene still during "live" interview Gordon is with Bruce.
 * When Jim Gordon drops accidentally drops his gun, it was close to the entrance. In the next shot, the gun has moved closer to the stairs.
 * When Gladwell is entering mayor's house, there is rain everywhere but on him. In contrast to the rain that fell on Gordon couple of minutes ago.