Gotham S04E01 "Pax Penguina" Recap

A couple is about to be robbed but Bruce intervenes in his black, vigilante outfit. One of the men tells Bruce he has a license to rob, which Bruce takes for himself to study. As he walks away, Ra's al Ghul peers out from a corner to look at him.

A wedding takes place until armed criminals march in with guns and begin to rob everyone of their wealthy items. Victor Zsasz interrupts the robbery and declares that the men aren't permitted to commit a crime without a license from Penguin. Zsasz shoots the finger off the leader of the group and orders them to leave, before another gang of robbers comes in that Zsasz announces do have a license to rob.

Penguin has a meeting with the new mayor. Through the new system, Penguin has cut down violent crime by 57% but his proposal is one that unionises crime. Penguin is set to profit from this new means of organisation. The commissioner of the police is there and is informed that if any of his men encounter someone committing a crime, they must be let go if they have a license. The law enforcement will take a 1% profit from the system.

Jim walks in on a robbery and despite the man having a license, Jim arrests him anyway. Harvey tries to implore him to go along with the system because the word has come down from the commissioner and the only reason Gotham survived after the city spun out of control was because of Penguin. Jim doesn't want to give over the city to Penguin but Harvey is insistent that this is the only way, for the time being. They can arrest and stop Penguin another day.

Bruce feels guilty for being the one to press the button that unleashed the virus on Gotham and now he feels he must do what he can to stop Penguin's new system of crime licenses. Alfred wants him to focus instead on his necessary training to take on Ra's al Ghul. Bruce remains determined that he can do both simultaneously.

The criminals that Zsasz stopped go to Arkham Asylum and break out Jonathan Crane, who has spoken about having the formula his father used to create extreme fear in those that are infected with it. Jonathan is suffering from a shaky constitution due to the experiments his father performed on him by repeatedly injecting him with the formula as he developed it. Jonathan leads them to a house in the woods where some more of the supplies are hidden under the floorboard along with some notebooks of the formula. They also torture him by bringing a scarecrow that he hallucinates of being alive and terrifying, and demand that he make as much of the formula as they want. They then use a batch of the formula to rob a bank, spraying everyone with it that tries to get in their way.

Jim and Harvey realise that someone else must be trying to send a message to Penguin. Jim wants to go after these criminals himself and quickly determines that the formula must be from Jonathan Crane's work. Jim and Harvey go to interrogate the warden of the asylum, who tries to feign ignorance on how the formula could've gotten out and be used in a bank robbery. They threaten to leak his name to Victor Zsasz so the warden gives up the names of the men that came to get the formula from Jonathan. Jim and Harvey track down the hideout of the criminals and are promptly held at gunpoint. They exchange words about their disagreement regarding the men committing robberies but seem to both agree that Penguin is a shared enemy. The men leave Jim and Harvey in the apartment and head out to commit more crime.

Selina and Tabitha beat up some men in an alley, as part of Tabitha's ongoing training of Selina. When they return to their small apartment, Zsasz pays them a visit to invite them to a party Penguin is throwing. They are expected to arrive, kiss the ring, and they'll be issued a license. Tabitha doesn't want to work with Penguin, but Selina is more open to the idea as she wants to better her circumstances instead of continuing to live in squalor.

Bruce pays a visit to Jim at the station and suggests that there must be a registry of all the names of criminals Penguin has issued a license for and what crimes they are for - including ones that have yet to be committed. Jim still wants to take down Penguin but still has to work the system of his job, while Bruce is implied to have decided to hunt down the list himself.

Penguin invites some journalists to his club, that was formerly Barbara's, and dodges their questions about Barbara's disappearance and the criminal licenses. He chooses to show them the frozen block of ice he has on display with Ed Nygma trapped inside but Jim arrives to make a power-move against Penguin. He informs him that the criminals that robbed the bank with Crane's fear toxin aren't working for Penguin. Penguin says they will be hunted down promptly and that Jim has become irrelevant in Gotham.

Penguin talks to Ed frozen in the ice while Ivy continues to be his second-in-command, though he still sends her away when he wants to wax poetic to his ex-BFF.

Jim had deliberately goaded Penguin into making threats against the gang in the hopes that they would attack his club-opening so the GCPD would be able to arrest them. Jim is later attacked by fellow officers that want him to stop making waves against the licensing system.

Bruce and Alfred attend the club-opening and Bruce gets Penguin to reveal his henchman that's responsible for the organisation of the licensing system. He plans to go after it but is momentarily distracted when he sees Selina arrive. She's ready to take Penguin up on his offer, and Tabitha shows up shortly thereafter, as she was worried about Selina's well-being.

The rouge group of criminals shows up and prepares to disrupt the party and go after Penguin, but both he and Zsasz reveal themselves with other henchmen in tow to take the men captive instead and make an example of them. He brings them out to all the guests and media in attendance and tells them to spread the word that he is the one that is keeping Gotham safe, not the GCPD.

Bruce meets Selina up on the rooftop and apologises to her for lashing out when she came to visit Alfred at the hospital. He later asks Penguin, in front of everyone, about what he's going to do with the criminals he has in captivity. He implores Penguin to turn the men over to the police, hoping that having an audience will make him more compliant, but Penguin refuses. Ivy, feeling annoyed with Penguin, shuts off the lights and the disruption gives the men opportunity to regain their weapons and attack Penguin who is sprayed with the chemical toxin and hallucinates an icy Ed tormenting him. Tabitha is shown to take up a weapon to protect Penguin, while Alfred takes up a weapon to protect Bruce and holds Zsasz at gunpoint. The standoff is interrupted by the arrival of Harvey and Jim, who ends up with Penguin in his arms due to his fearful state. They arrest the men and the picture of Jim holding Penguin is printed in the newspaper.

Bruce dons his masked suit and steals the registry. He spots a robbery taking place but accidentally falls through the glass. The alarm is going off and the men escape but the GCPD arrive and Bruce is caught in the middle of the scene.

One of the lone men from the criminal group that had gotten away returns to the hideout and tries to order Jonathan Crane to make more of the toxin so a plan can be formulated to get the gang out of prison but Jonathan has donned a new scarecrow suit and assumed the role of the iconic villain, spraying the man and declaring that Crane is gone and only Scarecrow remains.

Gotham airs on Thursdays on FOX at 8/7c.