Jerome signaled his return as a villain to be reckoned with by blowing up the power plant in Fox’s Gotham season three episode 13. In episode 14 airing January 30, 2017 and titled ‘The Gentle Art of Making Enemies,’ the freaks are taking over the GCPD headquarters, attacking cops and firebombing the station after being inspired by their resurrected hero, Jerome.
Oswald’s search for his BFF Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) has finally paid off, and the two are reunited with a one-sided hug. Ed kills Oswald’s goons and Oswald (Robin Lord Taylor) freaks out, clearing not understanding he’s been played by Ed. Ed confesses he kidnapped himself and shows Oswald Isabella’s wrecked car, explaining that now he’s taken everything from Penguin in retribution for her death.
The city of Gotham is cloaked in darkness and the Court of Owls may have to step in.
At the police station, Jim (Ben McKenzie) gets word of riots and mobs of Jerome’s freaks taking over parts of the town. Harvey (Donal Logue) is shocked to learn the lights won’t be back on until tomorrow at the earliest, and Jim says they have to take out Jerome to calm the rioting. Jim figures out they should talk to Lee to see what it was that Jerome wanted to do now that he’s returned. That will give them a good idea of where to start the search.
Ed ties Oswald to the hood of Isabella’s car, telling Oswald the man he thought was his dead father was just a guy Ed hired to impersonate him. He yells, “Ghosts aren’t real!” and confesses he put Oswald’s dad’s remains in a dumpster instead of returning his body to his grave. Oswald says he forgives him, admitting he killed Isabella. Ed thinks he would have been happy with Isabella but Oswald knows he would have just killed her eventually. Oswald proclaims his love for Ed, but Ed absolutely does not want to hear it.
Acid hangs above Oswald’s head, poised to pour down on his body once the ice holding it in place melts. Oswald screams as Ed leaves him to die.
Jim catches up with Lee (Morena Baccarin) who’s examining injured citizens, and her icy tone indicates nothing has changed in their relationship. She tells him Jerome wanted his face back, asked about their romance, and that he mentioned Bruce Wayne and not being able to finish the job of killing him. Lee says she’ll call Alfred as Bruce heads over to the Wayne Manor.
Alfred (Sean Pertwee) doesn’t pick up the phone before it stops ringing and is too late in reacting when he’s knocked down by Jerome’s gang members. With his newly stapled face in place, Jerome bends down to Bruce’s level and says, “My, my, look how big you’ve gotten!”
The freaks are tearing up Wayne Manor when one walks up with the glass owl. Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) notices how Bruce’s eyes perk up and asks for the owl, which Bruce claims is worthless. He drops it but it doesn’t shatter so he tosses it again and it does. Jerome lets Bruce know he’s there to kill him, saying it was the last thing he wanted to do before he died. Bruce says he was a showman when he took over the benefit, playing on Jerome’s theatricality and saying it would be a letdown to just be killed in Wayne Manor with no one watching. Bruce suggests killing him should mean something and there should be an audience. Jerome knows what Bruce is doing, but agrees anyway. He says he knows just the spot for Bruce’s murder. Jerome orders Alfred killed and Bruce says, “I will see you again!” “You carry on, son. You carry on,” replies Alfred.
Oswald is screaming for help as the ice melts and the acid begins dripping down onto the car’s hood. A cop arrives and delays rescuing Oswald until the last second. As he’s freed, the acid pours onto the car’s roof.
Back at Wayne Manor, Jim’s arrived and is hiding in the doorway as Alfred talks to the three men left to kill him, describing their weapons and locations as if he’s just carrying on a normal conversation. Jim comes in firing, taking down two while Alfred takes care of the bad guy with the machete. They head out to try and track Jerome.
Jerome and his freaks bring Bruce to the circus which, strangely, has lights, music, and working rides even though the electricity is supposed to be out across the city.
Jim and Alfred have no idea where Jerome would have taken Bruce, and Harvey’s not much help when he reels off a list of potential sightings called in by concerned citizens. However, when he mentions the circus on the boardwalk, Jim knows that’s where Jerome has gone because he was raised in a circus.
They paint a clown face on Bruce and Jerome stabs one of his followers to use his blood to paint a frown on Bruce’s face.
Oswald makes it home only to discover Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) and Butch (Drew Powell) are already there, waiting for him. They demand to know where Nygma is, and Tabitha has to remind Butch they’re supposed to bring Nygma in alive. They decide to take Oswald back to see Barbara.
Jerome and Bruce engage in an argument over the citizens of Gotham, with Jerome saying all it took was the lights going out for them to want to bathe in Bruce’s blood. Bruce disagrees, claiming there are good people in Gotham. Jerome responds, “Face it, kid. Gotham has no heroes.” Bruce seems to take that to heart and he pushes Jerome before he can kill an innocent citizen. It’s only a temporary save though as Jerome still winds up killing the guy, while Bruce watches in horror.
Jerome has to staple the upper edge of his face as it’s falling off and when Bruce asks him if it hurts, Jerome replies, “Not much. You try.” He repeatedly staples Bruce’s arm but Bruce doesn’t cry out or flinch until the third staple. (These scenes with Cameron Monaghan and David Mazouz are terrific!)
Jim, Alfred, and Harvey arrive at the circus but their back-up is a few minutes behind. They can’t wait so they enter without them.
Jerome takes center stage to the cheers of his adoring followers. Bruce is brought in handcuffed to a pole. The canon is brought within feet of his body and the crowd cheers, “Boom! Boom! Boom!” A cannonball is loaded followed by dozens of knives and a bucket of nails. Bruce struggles to free himself as Jerome climbs on the cannon.
Jim, Alfred, and Harvey arrive in time to see Jerome waving to his fans while seated on the cannon. Jim fires a shot in the air, silencing Jerome’s people. Jim’s backup arrives, with the cops ordering everyone to stay put. Jim, Alfred, and Harvey fight their way through the crowd as Jerome lights the fuse. He waves goodbye to Bruce who’s still struggling to free himself.
The cannon fires but Bruce isn’t attached to the pole. Jim tells Alfred to find Bruce while he says he’ll go after Jerome.
Tabitha and Butch deliver Oswald to Barbara (Erin Richards), and Oswald is piecing together her plan. He knows that if he helps her locate Ed, it might make his own situation less dire.
Back at the circus, Jerome is hunting Bruce and sees him disappear into the hall of mirrors, which leads to some really cool camera angles as they chase each other and play chicken. Bruce tells Jerome he wanted him to follow, declaring Jerome will pay for what he’s done.
Barbara tells Oswald to call Ed and find out where he is. She can’t do it herself because he must have realized they don’t need him anymore. Oswald has figured out that maybe he didn’t actually love Ed, but he still killed Isabella. “I should have been able to sacrifice my happiness for his, but I couldn’t.” However, now he can sacrifice himself rather than give up Ed’s location. Barbara acts angry and just then Ed walks in. Oswald finally figures out they’re in it together and asks why. Ed said he wanted Oswald to die knowing he couldn’t love anyone, and Oswald starts laughing/crying and says he just proved he can love someone. Ed seems confused about what to do next.
Back at the hall of mirrors, Jerome tells Bruce they make a good team. Bruce reminds him he killed Alfred so no thanks to the team offer. Jerome tosses his gun across the floor and draws his knife. Bruce attacks and now they’re battling it out, hand to hand. Bruce beats him across the face and is about to stab him when he sees himself in the mirror holding the shard of glass. Bruce can’t kill Jerome and screams in frustration. He gets up and leaves Jerome on the floor, laughing.
Emerging from the hall of mirrors, Bruce sees Alfred and runs to him. They hug, and Bruce can’t believe Alfred is still alive.
Jerome stumbles out of the hall of mirrors ready to stab Bruce and/or Alfred when Jim intercepts him. He punches Jerome, knocking his face askew and finally all the way off. Jerome lands on his back, laughing but in pain.
At the station, Harvey concedes that even if Jim had shot him, Jerome would have probably come back from the dead. The rioting outside has finally calmed down now that Jerome’s been arrested.
Alfred cleans up Bruce’s wounds and wipes off the clown makeup, telling his young charge he doesn’t like clowns. Bruce confesses he thought Alfred was dead and Alfred reveals what he was thinking as Jerome led Bruce away was how proud he is of the man Bruce is emerging into. Bruce admits he wanted to kill Jerome because it felt right to do so. “It felt like justice,” says Bruce. Alfred reminds him there’s a fine line between justice and vengeance. Bruce is aware of that and knew where the line was while he was dealing with Jerome. Alfred is obviously even more proud of Bruce for restraining himself than he was before, but then he asks what he intends to do with all this training he’s receiving. Bruce says he doesn’t know and Alfred tells him he’ll need rules that he’ll never break, no matter the circumstance. Bruce says, quietly, “I will not kill.” Alfred tells him to say it again and he does so, with stronger conviction.
The Court of Owls’ Kathryn tells Bruce’s doppelganger they’ll be calling on him soon to act. Bruce says he’s still not sure how he can help save Gotham and a man says he knows what must be done and doesn’t doubt that “he” will do it.
Jim finally makes it home and pours himself a drink. He’s interrupted by a knock on the door and it’s Jim’s uncle, Frank – the man from the Court of Owls.
Ed holds a gun on Oswald by the river. Oswald says if he kills him, it will be the cold-blooded murder of someone he loves. Oswald yells, “You need me, Edward Nygma. Just as I need you! You cannot have one without the other.” Ed keeps repeating that Oswald killed Isabella and so he wants Oswald to suffer and die. Oswald says he created Edward Nygma out of nothing, and he’s the only one who sees Ed as he truly is. Oswald tells Ed he can’t kill him and Ed, again, says he loved Isabella and Oswald killed her. He shoots Oswald in the stomach and pushes him into the river. The water around Oswald fills with blood as Oswald sinks.
