BWW Recap: Location, Location, Location! Arkham is Prime Real Estate in GOTHAM

As last week's episode of GOTHAM ended, Barbara Kean opened Jim Gordon's apartment door to discover Oswald Cobblepot greeting them across the threshold. Oswald is bonding with Don Maroni, rival crime boss to the Falcone family. Earlier, Gordon and partner Harvey Bullock put a stop to Gotham's first vigilante who was nabbing corrupt officials and floating off to their deaths by weather balloon. Throughout the show, hints about an important place called Arkham were dropped by various characters. Are you ready for episode number four of GOTHAM, this week entitled "Arkham."Watch out for spoilers!

Opening where last week ended, Cobblepot is at Gordon's door, pouring on the charm with Barbara and fibbing about his identity. Walking his guest outside, James slams Oswald up against the wall, steamed since Falcone thinks Oswald is dead and Jim pulled the trigger. They could both end up really dead, he fears. Oswald insists he has returned to help Gordon, whom he calls the last good man in Gotham and begs Jim to trust him. "I told you there's a war coming and I can be your spy," Oswald offers. He alludes to politics and money being the main weapons of the impending war, centering Arkham. (Full details still to be revealed.)

A gentleman approaches Gotham City Councilman Jenkins and his aide late at night. The man hands the politician an object that looks like a flute and the aide ends up dead. The man pursues the councilman and he ends up dead too. As the title card rolls, Gotham's streets are once again littered by two corpses. Sound familiar?

At the police station, Bullock and Gordon get the double homicide case of Councilman Jenkins and his aide, seemingly a cut and dry case. Bullock thinks starting with one of his street informants should get the case rolling. Across town at Fish Mooney's the lady of the underworld is trying out a new chanteuse/femme fatale for her fold.

Finally, Mayor James reveals all the details of Arkham at a press conference. He announces the plan for Gotham to continue the dream of Thomas and Martha Wayne to develop the area, which covers 26 city blocks, by moving the rundown homes and refurbish the rotting old asylum into a state of the art facility. At Maroni's restaurant, the crime boss talks about his own plans for the Arkham area.

Seeking more details on Arkham, Gordon stops by the Wayne mansion and learns that Falcone and Maroni have competing plans. Bruce, overhearing the men talk, reminds them of his parents' dream to help the poor sick souls of Gotham with a new and improved Arkham Asylum. Gordon is worried a gang war will break out and the Wayne's dream will die. Bruce insists Jim must stop the war.

Now another councilman is caught up in the gang hits, Councilman Zeller; this time a Maroni supporter. The hit man from before dumps Zeller into a barrel and immolates the politician. The cops see that the murders are all about the Arkham votes. Forensic specialist Edward Nygma discovers all three victims were killed by the same person, which means the hit man is working both sides. Bullock goes to another informant who says the hits sound like a guy named Richard Gladwell, a real pro. Harvey and Jim track the man down but he escapes but not before they find a possible clue: a paper with the initials "C," "L" and "M."

Waking from a nightmare memory of his parents' murder, Bruce asks Alfred to show him more files on the Arkham plan.

While Oswald is washing dishes at the Maroni restaurant, masked gunmen rush in, shoot up the place and steal half of the cash. The work of Falcone's men, it seems, and Oswald was able to hide but also save part of the money. Maroni's henchman takes Cobblepot to Maroni. To express his appreciation for his work, Don Maroni promotes Oswald to restaurant manager.

Later, when James and Barbara meet at home, she is frustrated he is keeping secrets. She tells him she heard about Cobblepot from Montoya and admits to her previous relationship with the female cop. He is taken aback at the news while she is still trying to understand his secretive nature.

Pondering clues, the detectives track down the real Richard Gladwell, dead for five years, therefore their hitman has been living under the stolen identity. Gordon gets a call from Cobblepot who offers the information of new hit to take place that night on another key figure in the Arkham vote. Meanwhile, Bullock heads to see Fish to see what she knows and just misses another audition for a singer, this one named Eliza.

Jim gets an idea to check the protection details for the officials and realizes the clue "M" means Mayor James is next target. In a torrential rain, Jim arrives at the mayor's mansion, just as Gladwell and his favorite weapon show up, too. In the scuffle, Gordon loses his gun to the assailant and they have a struggle. As Gladwell is about to strike Gordon, Bullock arrives just in time. The two cops shoot away at the hit man and save the mayor.

Barbara visits the police station to talk to Jim about their tension. She presses him about Oswald but he continues to stonewall her. She tells him to make a choice, "Let me in or let me go." Hearing no answer from James, Barbara leaves the station, their relationship in limbo.

In the dead of night, down by the waterfront, Mooney has the two potential singers duke it out to see who gets the job. Eliza gains the upper hand and asks Fish, "When do I start?"

In other criminal news, we learn that the crafty Mr. Cobblepot orchestrated the hit on the restaurant, making sure the blame was shifted to the Falcone side. His accomplices eagerly await splitting up the money when Oswald brings them delicious and deadly cannoli which they devour for a one time treat. Clearly, Oswald has a master plan and working his way through Gotham on his own terms.

The episode also ends with the results of the contentious vote about Arkham. Mayor James - caught between the powerful crime family interests - announces the compromise plan granting the Falcone's low cost housing development and the Maroni's waste disposal plant. The mayor also announces the dilapidated Arkham Asylum will be retro-fitted to make a new facility.

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce is upset the dream of his mother and father has been destroyed by criminals. Gordon reminds him they avoided gang warfare and the dream of Thomas and Martha Wayne lives on in Bruce. The orphan looks at James and asks, "Is Gotham worth saving?" The rookie detective answers, "I believe it's worth trying to save."

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and follow me on twitter @jeffwalker66.

See you next week: Same Gotham time, same BWW-TV World location!

Episode 5, "Viper" and is described as follows: Oswald gets closer to the Maroni crime family, while Fish develops her plot against Don Falcone. On the streets, Gordon and Bullock investigate the source of a euphoric drug and has a deadly side effect.

PHOTO CREDIT: Fox

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