Gotham: The Fear Reaper

"The Fear Reaper" is the second episode of season four of the superhero crime drama series Gotham, and the sixty-eighth episode of the series overall. It is the second chapter in the "A Dark Knight" storyline. The episode was directed by Louis Shaw Milito with a script written by Danny Cannon. It first aired on the FOX Network on Thursday, September 28th, 2017 at 9:00 pm.

Synopsis
Bruce Wayne is still learning the ropes of being a nocturnal vigilante, but a fall through a skylight lands him in jail. Alfred arrives to bail him out, but Gordon just lets him go. Lucius Fox warns Bruce to be more careful and suspects the truth about how the boy has been spending his nights.

The Penguin, accompanied by an entourage of reporters bursts into Gotham City Police Headquarters bragging about his new crime license initiatives. He chastises Jim Gordon over the ineffectiveness of the GCPD, and unfortunately for Jim, he does not receive a lot of support from his fellow cops. The general attitude is that their efforts to enforce the law in Gotham is pointless. The Penguin challenges Jim Gordon to capture the Scarecrow within twenty-four hours or else he should publicly admit that the GCPD is a failure. Gordon dismisses the challenge, but the Penguin regards it as a deal.

Jonathan Crane has fully embraced his new identity as the Scarecrow. Driven by a need for revenge, he breaks into the local mental asylum and doses the warden with his fear toxin. He then administers heavy dosages of the gas to many of the more violent patients as well.

Jim Gordon receives a call about the chaos taking place at the asylum. He tries to rally the troops, but no officer will assist him. Even Harvey Bullock turns away, citing that he needs to appease the other cops, or else they will abandon their positions entirely. Frustrated, Jim decides to go it alone.

Meanwhile, Selina Kyle and Tabitha Galavan receive strange invitations. They go to an isolated building where they are shocked to discover that Barbara Kean is still alive. Kean offers them a place in her new enterprise, which is as a weapons dealer. She believes that there is a lot of money to be made in selling guns to those with crime licenses. Tabitha hates Barbara, but considers the offer. Later, the Penguin and Victor Zsasz shows up at Barbara's place. Penguin warns her against engaging in anything that might threaten his own enterprise, and reminds her that she will owe a weapons tax to him for any guns that she sells. As they leave, Zsasz decides to take a gun for himself.

Gordon goes to the asylum alone to deal with the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow doses him with his fear toxin, which causes Jim to experience his worst nightmare. In his hallucination, he sees Leigh Thompson slitting her own wrist in a bathtub. Gordon fights past the hallucination and comes to his senses, which surprises the Scarecrow. He tells him that he has faced his fears.

Later, Lucius Fox comes to Wayne Manor with a gift for Bruce. He give him a special suit ideal for rock climbing or other such dangerous endeavors. The suit was developed by Wayne Enterprises. Bruce is grateful, and though no other words are spoken, he knows that he can rely upon Lucius as an ally.

Notes & Trivia

 * Gotham was created by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon based on concepts originally developed by comic writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.


 * This episode is rated TV-14.


 * This episode is production code number T40.10002.


 * This episode had a viewership of 2.866 million people upon its initial broadcast, which is down by 0.345 from the previous episode. It rated 0.9% in the 18-49 viewing demographic.


 * This episode includes a dedication to Lukas Drake, who was a digital compositor on the series. He passed away on July 30th, 2017 at the age forty-one.


 * With this episode, Erin Richards is added back into the main cast line-up.


 * This is the third episode of Gotham directed by Louis Shaw Milito. It is his first episode from season four. He previously directed "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" from the "Mad City" storyline.


 * Lee Thompkins appears as an hallucination in Jim Gordon's mind only in this episode. This is the character's first appearance this season.

Allusions

 * The relationship between Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne is reminiscent of the one the characters shared in the Dark Knight film trilogy by Christopher Nolan. In this episode, Bruce explains away his bruises as a result of rock climbing. Christian Bale did likewise to Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox in Batman Begins.


 * Barbara Kean is revealed to be alive. She was electrocuted, seemingly to death, in the season three finale, "Heavydirtysoul".

Quotes

 * Tabitha Galavan: I saw you die.
 * Barbara Kean: That so? This is Gotham. Check for a pulse next time.

....
 * Harvey Bullock: This place smells like death. Remind me -- there's a Thai joint not far away if you want to grab something to eat after.
 * Jim Gordon: Very funny.

Crew

 * Leland Sexton - Editor
 * Richard Berg - Production designer
 * Scott Kevan, ASC - Director of photography
 * Annabelle K. Frost - Co-producer
 * Tze Chun - Co-producer
 * Thomas J. Whelan - Producer; Unit production manager
 * Charlie Huston - Consulting producer
 * Kim Newton - Co-executive producer


 * Steven Lilien - Co-executive producer
 * Bryan Wynbrandt - Co-executive producer
 * Peter Blake - Co-executive producer
 * Scott White - Co-executive producer
 * John Stephens - Executive producer
 * Danny Cannon - Executive producer
 * Bruno Heller - Executive producer
 * Jason Ray King - Associate producer