Gotham Season 2, Episode 15 Recap And Review: “Mad Grey Dawn”

“Mad Grey Dawn” has Ed moving into his villainy in full force. His prime target? Jim Gordon himself. At least Gotham was consistent with Ed using some form of riddle-based crime. This episode also saw a big jump in Bruce’s evolution in becoming the Dark Knight.

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Spoilerific Recap: Ed is at the Gotham Museum of Art where he sets off a fake bomb that only gives off smoke. It does what it’s supposed to do — clear the room. Ed then proceeds to steal a painting and spray paint a green question mark in its place.

Barnes shows Jim and Harvey the security footage from the museum. Ed cannot be identified due to him covering his face. As Harvey leaves, Barnes notifies Jim that Internal Affairs is reopening the case of Galavan’s murder, and Jim is the prime suspect.

Butch is surprised by the sudden visit of a very docile Penguin. Tigress wants to kill Penguin for what he’s done, but Butch feels sorry for his former boss. Though Butch opts to let Penguin go free, Tigress wants him to have at least some form of punishment.

At the museum, Jim reveals to Harvey that he’s under investigation, and asks Harvey to speak to his contacts at Internal Affairs. Meeting the curator, they discover that the stolen painting was titled “Mad Grey Dawn” and that it wasn’t the most valuable piece. Looking at what wasn’t stolen, Jim figures out that the clue translates to “Market Street.”

At the same time, Ed is actually at Market Street preparing a bomb.

Union Station is now being evacuated while Jim and Harvey arrive on the scene. They find a green question mark in one of the lockers. Ed watches them from a distance and activates the bomb. As Jim pries it open, he sees it counting down. He tosses it just in time to an area where the explosion is minimized.

Selina takes Bruce to Ivy’s, where they find that she’s looking after hallucinogenic mushrooms for a gang. Selina is there to rob the gang, who Ivy has prepped by slipping some of the mushrooms in their lunch. Wanting to make his own way in the world, Bruce is adamant in taking part in the robbery.

Barnes arrives at Union Station and commands every resource to be available in this investigation. Jim requests that Ed oversee forensics.

With the gang knocked out, Bruce and Selina start their robbery. Sonny, Butch’s nephew, suddenly returns home and catches them.

Penguin arrives at Ed’s apartment. After a short conversation, Ed realizes that Penguin is not the same man. Before Penguin leaves, Ed thanks him for revealing Jim’s murder of Galavan.

Harvey tells Jim that his Internal Affairs sources know of a witness who saw Jim kill Galavan. They’re now officially opening up the case.

Sonny starts to rough up Bruce and Selina. Attempting to draw Sonny’s attention away from Selina, Bruce taunts him. It works and Sonny severely beats Bruce. Bruce attempts to fight back, but is overpowered every time. When Sonny goes too far and speaks ill of Martha, Bruce fights back with ferocity. Selina and Bruce eventually overpower the gang and leave with their money.

Penguin visits his mother’s grave and runs into a man, Elijah Van Dahl. As the two converse, the man discovers that Penguin is actually his long lost son.

Over dinner, a disappointed Leslie finds out that Internal Affairs has reopened the case against Jim.

Ed arrives at a GCPD officer’s apartment. After telling the officer a riddle, Ed proceeds to murder him with a crowbar.

Penguin is invited to stay at Elijah’s home. There, Penguin takes a bath and eats a proper meal. Elijah then tells Penguin about why he left in the first place. Elijah’s parents never approved of Gertrud, who was the hired help, and paid her to leave him after she got pregnant. Penguin is elated to know that Elijah wants to be a father to him.

Jim gets a call from Harvey, who tells him that a call from the bomber was traced to a location. Jim investigates the call and ends up at the murdered officer’s apartment, where he finds Barnes who subsequently arrests him.

After Selina stitches up Bruce’s wounds, he reveals that when he was being beaten, all his emptiness vanished. He knew he couldn’t be broken and that everything was going to be okay.

At GCPD, Barnes presents all the evidence against Jim, which includes the crowbar with his fingerprints on it. Jim maintains his innocence and claims that he was framed. Jim tells Harvey that the bomb was used to trap him.

After four weeks in county, Jim is sentenced to forty years to be served at Blackgate Penitentiary.

At Arkham, Barbara suddenly awakens from her coma.

Leslie visits Jim, who tells her that she needs to move away and raise their child in a safe environment. He finally tells her to never contact him again and has the guard take him away.

Elijah has invited his family to his home to meet Penguin. After Elijah proposes a toast, Penguin tells everyone that he’s the happiest man on the planet. However, from their expressions, it look as if the family has ulterior motives.

As Jim enters Blackgate, Harvey reassures him that he’s going to find out who set him up.

Next: Catch up on Gotham with a Recap of 'The Ball Of Mud And Meanness'

Best Moment: Bruce taking a beating and then fighting back. You can almost see Batman start to appear.

Final Thoughts: I think I’m growing a little bit tired with the Jim-going-down-a-dark-path narrative. Now we have him going to jail? This is no different than the Season 1 gimmick of relegating him to security duty at Arkham Asylum. On the contrary, I’m actually enjoying what they’re doing with Bruce Wayne’s character in the latter half of this season.