The episode begins with a Gotham politician who swindled citizens out of their money being lifted in to the air when a man wearing a pig mask straps several weather balloons to him, the press nickname the killer the Balloonman. Gordon and Bullock are assigned to the case but Gordon quickly takes Selina to where the Waynes where murdered; he finds a wallet but Selina manages to give him the slip and escape. Detectives Montoya and Allen question Fish about Cobblepot who has actually just arrived back in Gotham. At the Wayne Manor, Alfred finds out that Bruce is looking over crime scene photos over his parent's murder much to his dismay.
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| Using a pig mask to approach his victims? Now where have I since this off.... |
Cobblepot then kills someone who works the kitchens in one of the restaurants of the Maroni family, rivals of the Falcones so he can get a job there. Gordon and Bullock question the man who made the balloons but says three where stolen by a former employee, at night Lt. Bill Cranston, a dirty cop, is the next victim of the Balloonman. Gordon and Bullock then find the employee by asking around Gotham who admits he sold the balloons but cannot remember the face of the person he sold them to. Montoya later visits Barbara to say that she doesn't trust Gordon and it is revealed the two where lovers meanwhile a third victim of the Balloonman falls from the sky and crushes an unsuspecting civilian.
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| "You see Gordon that's how you handle a woman" |
At the restaurant Cobblepot starts off on good terms with Don Salvatore Maroni (David Zayas) while the third victim of the Balloonman was found with a set of keys that belonged to social worker Davis Lamond. Gordon and Bullock go to an old juvenile facility but are ambushed by Lamond at gunpoint who says he is sick of the corruption of Gotham and the way it treated its street kids he wanted to protect so he became a vigilante. After a short fight Lamond is stuck to one of his balloons but Bullock shoots it down after Gordon refuses to let him die like that, before being taken away Lamond warns Gordon that more vigilantes who are sick with Gotham will rise. The episode ends at Gordon and Barbara's apartment but they get a surprise visit from Cobblepot.
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| Surprise! |
This episode introduced the first vigilante in Gotham but of course this one chose to murder those who did wrong. I liked the Ballooman man because first his way of killing was really imaginative, it was like some over the top way a villain would kill someone form the comics and it was funny when that guy came falling back down. He was also a character you can sympathise with because it is Gotham's fault that he killed people because the guy was a good social worker just doing right until he encountered just one injustice too many. His warning to Gordon about more vigilantes rising also gets me hopeful that we will see more like him and how they could affect Gordon if he agrees with them because he wants to make a difference so much but is bound by the law.
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| "Bye, bye detective" |
I am again liking the partnership between Gordon and Bullock because as I have said before the interaction between the two and the way they handle cases is one of the best parts of the show. Like the montage they had when they gathered information on the streets (like in episode 1) and the funny way they raided that apartment and Bullock just slugged that woman who was beating him up. Also even though Bullock wants to come off as detached and thinks they can't really save Gotham I think Gordon and his views are growing on him because he did shoot down the Balloonman at the end.
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| "I should have though that through a bit more" |
Two characters who are defiantly two of the highlights of this show is Selina and Cobblepot. Selina only had a part in the beginning but it was so cool seeing her get out of those handcuffs when Gordon wasn't looking, hopefully she'll get involved in more cases in future episodes. As for Cobblepot he has come back to Gotham sooner than I thought and is joining the rival family, possibly to get revenge on Fish. Cobblepot may be young and isn't yet a somebody in Gotham but he comes across as one of the smartest characters in the show. I don't know why he showed up at Gordon's apartment or why yet he is working for the Maronis but you just get the feeling he has some big master plan in mind. Lastly I liked the scenes with Alfred and Bruce as well, with them having that sword fight which was Alfred's way of trying to get Bruce's mind on something else.
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| At least you can enjoy the view |
Now for what I didn't like in this episode was the reveal that Barbara and Montoya where lovers in the past and that is because I just think it is a cheap way to get Barbara more involved in the story. Barbara's been an alright character so far but this was just the wrong thing to do; if they wanted her to have a secret past with someone than have one with a comic book character not an uninteresting and unlikable character. Your probably going to hear my rip on Montoya a lot in these reviews but that is because she is the b***h in the show and every show seems to have the b***h character you just cannot stand and just want to see killed off. For Revolution its Rachael, The Walking Dead it's Lori and Andrea, in Falling Skies it's Anne (in season 4). In the end is this little subplot between Barbara and Montoya going to important or are we ever going to care? no not really.
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| Now this was really fun to see |
Overall this was just as good as the last one but I did like the villain better in this one.
SCORE: 7/10
Highlights: The Balloonman
Cobblepot is up to something
The way Gordon and Bullock handled their cases
Let - Downs: Introduction of a Barbara and Montoya past
The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;
