Fox’s Gotham season three episode five features a no-holds barred battle between Penguin’s old right-hand man Butch and his new BFF, Edward Nygma. Airing on October 17, 2016 and titled ‘Anything for You,” the episode also moves the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle forward ever so slightly.
Episode five opens with Mayor Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) taking part in a ticker-tape parade down Gotham’s main street with citizens cheering him on. He also serves food to the homeless, does a ribbon-cutting ceremony photo op for a new school bus, and basically just begins his term as Gotham’s mayor having a wonderful time – all with Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) at his side. At home, he asks the statue of his mother if he’s made her proud. Oswald’s new BFF Ed believes his mom would definitely be proud. Oswald says the only thing that’s missing is someone to share this happiness with.
Oswald installs the statue of his mother on the steps of City Hall, telling the assembled press and general public that everyone in Gotham City will be safe from this day forward. He’s quickly proven wrong when the Red Hood Gang shows up and sprays bullets, shooting at Oswald’s mother’s statue and then chopping off her head. They leave but it’s interesting to note that they really didn’t do any damage other than to the statue and disrupting the press event.
Valerie Vale (Jamie Chung) doesn’t want people to think they’re a thing, so she’s not staying at Jim’s for a third night in a row. She wants to know more about Jervis Tetch and she wants to know if there’s something weird about Alice’s blood. Jim (Ben McKenzie) is angry at the line of questioning and wonders whether she’s asking as a woman or as a reporter.
Captain Barnes (Michael Chiklis) looks over Alice’s death certificate, wondering what’s up with her blood. Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) interrupts to tell him about the return of the Red Hood Gang – or actually more likely copycats and not the original gang. As they’re putting together a search party, Edward Nygma appears at the station and says he’s now the liaison on the Red Hood investigation. He wants access to everything, and Captain Barnes says he shouldn’t be anywhere near the station because he’s a cop killer and crazy. Nygma threatens Barnes with the loss of his job, and Barnes gives in, saying, “Every dog has its day, Nygma. Enjoy yours.”
Oswald is speaking to his “constituents” about his mother, angry that his mother’s memory is being desecrated. He wants the Red Hoods made an example of, and he wants the leader’s head brought to him on a spike ASAP.
The gang’s playing poker when the game is disrupted by the boss who turns out to be Butch! Butch (Drew Powell) is still holding a grudge because Ed Nygma’s taken over his place as Penguin’s right-hand man, and he tells the gang they have work to do.
Bruce (David Mazouz) visits Jim at his place and he wants to hire him to find Ivy Pepper. Selina doesn’t know Bruce is looking for Ivy, and he doesn’t want her to find out because he’d hate to get her hopes up only to disappoint her. Jim asks how long Bruce and Selina have been a thing, and Bruce tries to convince him they’re just friends. Jim absolutely doesn’t believe it.
Ed stops in Lucius Fox’s lab and Lucius (Chris Chalk) isn’t happy to see him. In fact, he’s still very angry about their last meeting and warns Ed to never threaten his life again. Lucius calls Ed insane and Ed replies, “Was insane. I have the certificate.” Despite his dislike for Ed, Lucius welcomes him to check out the Red Hood Gang evidence.
Harvey gives Jim and Bruce all the info he has on Ivy. It seems she didn’t actually kill the guy who let his plants die; Ivy only knocked him out and robbed him. Bruce thinks it was Ivy because she left her sweater behind, but Harvey says the man swears the person who hit him was in her 20s. Bruce thinks that’s a lie, but Harvey thinks if the guy was just a perv who liked young girls he wouldn’t have called attention to himself by reporting it. They all wonder why this girl had Ivy’s sweater. Lee (Morena Baccarin) walks up and wants a word with Jim.
Lee warns Jim her engagement announcement is coming out and it will say that Mario’s part of the Falcone family. Jim already knew and Lee’s shocked he didn’t mention it. Jim admits he was initially surprised, but it’s none of his business and he’s very happy for her.
Next up, Ed pays a visit to Lee who slaps him hard, knocking off his glasses. She warns him she’s not afraid of him just because he now works for Penguin. She brings up her future father-in-law’s name and warns Ed not to mess with her.
Barbara (Erin Richards) and Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) are hard at work trying to figure out who’s behind the Red Hood Gang. They managed to snag a member, stuck him in the freezer, and after he thaws out they’ll question him.
Meanwhile, members of the gang are blowing up the new church school bus and kill a priest while the school kids look on. They tell the kids to spread the news it’s Penguin’s fault. Butch gives his gang suits to wear to Penguin’s party that evening but says they absolutely can not kill Penguin there. Just then Tabitha and Barbara show up and want a heart-to-heart alone with Butch.
Bruce and Jim grab a bite to eat at a diner, and Jim tells Bruce he should talk to Selina and tell her how he feels. Bruce wants to know if that works and if Jim’s taking his own advice. Jim says he’s done with Lee but Bruce is actually wondering about the new woman Jim’s seeing. Seems young Mr. Wayne noticed lipstick on a coffee mug at Jim’s place. Jim admits that’s a complicated relationship and Bruce says so is the one he has with Selina. Bruce also says he wishes sometimes that he had a sign so he could figure things out. The TV news is on in the background and it’s about Penguin’s party that evening. Bruce says he’s supposed to attend because Alfred wants him to connect with people.
Back at Oswald’s place, Penguin’s pacing around upset about the Red Hood Gang. Helping blot up wine Oswald spilled on himself while pacing, Ed puts two and two together regarding a clue he and Lucius discovered in the lab and says he knows where the Red Hood Gang is hiding out.
Tabitha and Barbara try to figure out what to do with Butch, and Tabitha doesn’t understand why Butch wants to hurt his boss. Butch explains it’s all a ruse so that he can take down the Red Hoods himself at the party. He wants to get back in with Penguin, and Barbara leaves the decision of what to do up to Tabitha. Tabitha will let things play out but Butch will owe her big time. Their conversation’s interrupted by a call from Penguin telling Butch they’ve figured out the location of the gang’s headquarters.
Butch beats Penguin to the warehouse but the gang refuses to leave when he tells them to. He sees Penguin pull up out front and kills all of the Red Hood members before Penguin makes it into the room. Penguin’s impressed; Ed is angry.
Penguin tells the press Butch took down the bandits, while Edward stews in the background.
Back at the crime scene, Ed inspects the murder scene and Harvey wants him to leave it alone. But, Ed has figured out the dead gang members were just standing there. Ed won’t let it go and further examines the scene, finding one of the suits for that evening’s party.
Lee thinks she’s in trouble for punching Nygma, but apparently he didn’t tell Captain Barnes. Barnes compliments her for the punch, but what he really wants to know is more about Alice’s blood. Lee says when they injected rats with the blood, they all showed increased strength and stamina. But then one of the rats killed the others so they stopped the study. It chewed through wire cages to attack the rest, and Barnes wants to know why it happened to just one of the rats. Lee’s not sure but thinks the others might have been immune to the side effects.
And now it’s time to party at Barbara’s club where Penguin’s the star of the evening. Bruce wants to leave pretty much the second he gets there, not liking this new life of fake smiles. Oswald welcomes them to the party and Bruce thanks him for saving their lives from ex-Mayor Galavan. Just then Bruce is distracted, saying he’s seen a sign (he’s actually seen Selina.) Selina’s busy picking pockets when Ivy grabs her but won’t tell her her name.
Ed confronts Butch, handing him a box containing a pocket square. Ed has found out Butch’s suit and the Red Hood suits were made by the same tailor, and the tailor said a man with a metal hand bought all of the suits. Butch threatens to snap Ed’s neck but Ed has a deal he wants to make: they will team up to kill Penguin. Ed doesn’t want to be #2 and he’s just been waiting for the chance to take down Penguin, offering to do it with Butch. They’ll run Gotham together. Ed tells Butch to put on the hood, he’ll help him escape, and together they’ll run the city. Butch says no, and Ed has yet another surprise. No matter what Penguin will die because Ed has recruited Penguin’s constituents, but will Butch be the one who kills him? If Butch doesn’t kill Penguin, then Penguin’s goons will kill Tabitha.
Bruce wants to know what Selina (Camren Bicondova) is doing there and asks if they can speak privately. She’s not happy about it but goes along.
Before Penguin takes the stage, Ed wishes him good luck. Penguin begins to address the partygoers when Butch shoots a couple of rounds in the air. He tells Penguin he’s about to shoot him but apologizes first, and Ed has a hold of Penguin’s arm as Penguin figures out it’s Butch. Butch pulls the trigger but there aren’t any bullets. Penguin’s goons shoot Butch in the back, but Penguin himself is completely unharmed. Butch doesn’t die and his mask is pulled off, and Penguin vows to kill him for this betrayal. Butch and Penguin argue and Penguin takes the stage again to say he’s shocked his friend betrayed him. He tells the crowd he’ll prosecute anyone who threatens the city. Just then Tabitha breaks loose from the goon who’s holding her hostage and Butch attacks Ed while Barbara declares, “Best party ever!” Penguin knocks out Butch and saves Ed from being strangled.
Up on the roof, Bruce tells Selina about hiring Jim to find Ivy. He also tells her a redhead had Ivy’s sweater but it wasn’t Ivy. Bruce then pours his heart out, telling Selina he likes her as more than a friend. She asks how many girls he’s dated and he says none. She wants to know if he’s considered the fact that maybe he likes her because she’s the only girl he knows. He denies it, telling her he feels something for her. He says again that there’s something between them and that she has to see that. She says, “Rule one, don’t ever tell me what I have to do,” before kissing him. Bruce is confused and doesn’t know if that means she has feelings for him, and Selina’s happy she’s got him where she wants him.
Valerie meets the man who ran tests on Alice’s blood at a nice restaurant. Jim interrupts, grabbing a seat at the table and telling the man to leave. Jim promises to tell Valerie what she wants to know, but she’ll have to buy him dinner first.
Oswald makes ginger tea with honey for Ed’s sore throat. Ed explains what actually was going on and that he had to make it so that Penguin’s shock at seeing Butch in the hood was genuine. Penguin’s once again the city’s hero and he can’t believe Ed almost died putting this all together. They hug after Ed tells Penguin he can always count on him.
Butch is in the back of an ambulance and Tabitha heads out to save him. Donning leather and arming herself, she hijacks the ambulance to save Butch.
At GCPD, Captain Barnes is told of the hijacking and in anger gets up without realizing he’s walking without his cane. When he does realize it, the veins in his face enlarge as he embraces his new strength.
Tetsh has kidnapped a young woman and dressed her up as his sister, Alice. He slices her throat and uses her blood to write a place card with ‘James Gordon’ on it. He leaves her dead at the head of the table, saying he will have vengeance.
