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Gotham Season 2, Episode 13 Recap And Review: “A Dead Man Feels No Cold”

By Steve Lam

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“A Dead Man Feels No Cold” again shows Gotham‘s penchant in changing DC lore and character backstories. Gotham has once again destroyed a myth that was so well-established and respected in other incarnations.

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Spoilerific Recap: Jim and GCPD officers search Ace Chemicals for Victor Fries. All they find are other officers frozen dead from Victor’s rampage. They later discover that a janitor had been kidnapped and a canister missing. Victor also left a message on a large chunk of ice demanding the return of his wife.

Leslie visits Bruce at Wayne Manor. She’s there to give him some counseling for the events that happened with Theo Galavan. Bruce claims he doesn’t need any and is still adamant in finding his parents’ murderer. Leslie thinks that his obsession is unhealthy.

Barnes is angered at Victor’s audacity. Jim propose that Nora be transferred to Gotham General for more medical care. Barnes thinks the hospital is not secure enough. He proposes using Arkham due to it’s more fortified nature. Jim agrees. On top of that, Barnes proposes using Nora as bait to draw Victor out.

Jim notifies Leslie of Barnes’s idea. She’s not thrilled. However, she insists that if Nora has to go, then she’ll be going with her.

At Indian Hill, Strange has been unsuccessful at finding Victor’s cryo-formula via vivisection. Receiving word that GCPD wants to use Arkham to treat Nora, Strange deduces that Victor is doing this for his wife.

Victor, at an unknown location, tests out one of his latest weapons — a freeze grenade.

Back at Arkham, Penguin is dragged into an electro-convulsive therapy chamber where he’s strapped down. Penguin warns the doctor that if she goes through with it, she’ll regret it. She ignores him and proceeds to “treat” him. Sometime later, Penguin is in the common room acting compliant and somewhat insane, most likely due to his treatment.

Nora is successfully transferred to Arkham where she’s put in the same room as the comatose Barbara. Outside, in the courtyard, Penguin is being dragged into a van. He seems Jim and demands to speak to him. Penguin implores Jim to free him, but Jim claims that Penguin is insane. Penguin’s pleas turn into rants about Jim’s guilt. Unknown to both Jim and Penguin, Strange watches the interaction from his office security feed.

Bruce’s boxing training is interrupted by Alfred. An angry Bruce berates Alfred for taking him away from Gotham for a period of time. Alfred actually did some investigating of his own at the GCPD and found information on M. Malone, whose full name is “Matches Malone.” Alfred makes Bruce agree to certain terms before he helps him. That is, Alfred will be the one to kill Malone when they find him.

Nora awakens and tells Leslie that she should’ve stopped Victor. She saw him going down a dark path and didn’t do anything.

Outside, a van crashes through Arkham’s gates. They soon discover that it’s the janitor with his hands frozen to the steering wheel. The van was a distraction for Victor to enter Arkham at another location.  As Victor moves through Arkham, Strange uses his automated gates to lead Victor into the electro-convulsive therapy chamber. There, Strange makes a deal with Victor: he will help Victor and his wife get away if he gives him the cryo-forumula. Victor agrees.

As Leslie and Jim are about to move Nora, Victor appears. He locks Jim in the closet and takes his wife, with Leslie accompanying them due to her medical knowledge. Jim finally breaks out and chases after them, but Victor is able to get away with his wife and Leslie.

Questioning the janitor, Jim figures out that Victor will need to place Nora in a cryo-chamber after freezing her. The only place Victor can do that is at home.

In his basement lab, Victor tells Leslie that after he freezes Nora, he’ll give himself up. It’ll then be up to Leslie and Gotham to take care of Nora, as she is now a ward of the state. Nora requests her necklace. When Victor leaves to get it, she replaces one of the cartridges in his freeze gun with another one. When Victor returns, he says his final goodbye to his wife and freezes with his gun.

Selina sneaks into Wayne Manor and is quickly greeted by Bruce. He shows her the file on Malone and asks her to get a gun for him. Selina warns him that if kills someone, he’ll never be the same.

Jim finally arrives at Victor’s home where he quickly sets up a permiter.

In the basement, Victor inspects his wife. She suddenly starts to crack and crumble. Discovering that Nora purposely switched out the cartridge, Victor frees Leslie so that she can tell the police that he’ll comply. When she leaves, he commits suicide by freezing himself. Jim arrives and sees Victor next to Nora’s body.

At home, Jim tells Leslie that Victor couldn’t be revived at Arkham. Leslie then confronts Jim about using Nora as bait. The conversation quickly switches to Galavan’s murder. Leslie knows that Jim is hiding something and is angered by his dishonesty.

At Arkham, Penguin is give another round of treatments. Strange approaches a cell where Victor wakes up. Now transformed, Victor is unable to survive in any environment above freezing. Strange then tells Victor that he built him a special suit, allowing him to roam freely.

Next: Catch up on Gotham with a Recap of 'Mr. Freeze'

Best Moment: Anytime B.D. Wong got screen time as Hugo Strange. The man was made for this role.

Final Thoughts: Why, Gotham? Why!? Mr. Freeze already had a great backstory. All you needed to do was translate it to live-action. Look, I’m really loving this incarnation of Hugo Strange, but he did not have a hand in creating Mr. Freeze. By having Strange be responsible for Victor’s transformation and survival, you’ve taken out the genius of Mr. Freeze.

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