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Gotham Season 3, Episode 13 Recap: “Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It”

By Steve Lam

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This week on Gotham, Jerome is resurrected and Barbara and Ed move onto the next stage of their plan to take down Penguin.

Tonight’s Gotham was a pleasant surprise. Yes, there was the usual wackiness, but the writers made efforts in circumventing expectations. And one Gotham player gave a great emotional performance.

Spoilerific Recap

Dwight and his followers break into a facility guarded by two security guards. We soon discover that one of the guards is in on it. Why the break in? It’s the location housing Jerome’s frozen body.

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The GCPD is on the scene inspecting the now empty cryogenic capsule with symbolic graffiti. The warehouse is actually a Wayne Enterprises facility that contains leftover assets from Indian Hill. Jim finds an injured leftover follower and takes him into custody. At an unknown location, Dwight has started the process of resurrecting Jerome.

Cole visits Wayne Manor and gives his price to keep quiet. He’s got some dirt on Maria, and will give it to the cops if he’s not paid.

Barbara warns Penguin that his little breakdown during his on-air television interview is causing the mob families to doubt him. She suggests that he handle that problem immediately.

Bruce prepares the payoff money, but Selina doesn’t like the idea one bit. She thinks they should turn him into the police and use a more legit path. Now that’s definitely some character growth.

Jim and Harvey pore through various pictures, inspecting them for the same graffiti art. Jim hypothesizes that it’s a means of communication. Fox surmises that a location with an electrical spike is where they’ll find Dwight and Jerome. A dirty cop overhears this and calls his cronies to warn them.

Dwight doesn’t quite get the result he wanted—meaning Jerome is still dead. He kills his agitated assistant and proceeds to cut off Jerome’s face. When Jim and Harvey arrive, there’s no sign of Dwight, but Jerome’s grotesque faceless body is still present.

Wearing Jerome’s face as a mask, Dwight meets his followers. They don’t accept him at first, but are reinvigorated when Dwight assures them that Jerome’s spirit lives in all of them.

Jerome’s body is brought back to GCPD and it seems that Dwight’s procedure worked, albeit with a slight delay.

Fox finds a phone which points to the GCPD having a mole. Though the last call doesn’t lead to the suspect, Jim pretends to make a call back to the source in front of the whole department. The mole, Officer Dove, makes a run for it—giving himself away.

Penguin meets with Barbara and reveals that he knows she’s been manipulating him. A call from Tommy Bones threatening Ed’s life makes Penguin eat his words. However, it’s another ruse, and Penguin buys it. When they’re finished, Tabitha promptly executes Tommy.

Frustrated, Jim and Harvey take turns punching an uncooperative Dove. Lee quickly enters and injects Dove with sodium pentothol (truth serum). Jim catches Lee as she exits and implores her to not lose her integrity on the account of his actions. His concern is met with a cold response.

Dwight and his group break into the news station and quickly take hostages.

Lee enters her lab and is taken hostage by a newly revived Jerome—sans his face. Trying to get a review of the year he’s lost, he asks her taunting questions.

Maria, with the money, meets Cole, and the two are revealed to be working a con together. Selina confronts her mother and angrily shuts her out of her life.

Jim contacts Dwight and uses the opportunity to insult him, purposely causing him to become unhinged. Meanwhile, Harvey discovers another way into the station—through the ventilation system.

The mob families meet at Barbara’s where Tabitha kills them. The two plot to kill Ed once his plan is successfully executed.

Jerome watches Dwight’s live broadcast. As Jerome speeds to the news station, the GCPD make their move. Dwight is quickly taken into custody.

Selina confronts Bruce, asking him if he knew about Maria’s plans. Bruce knew that Maria was lying, but thought that he was helping by giving her the money. Furious and hurt, Selina tries to attack Bruce, who dodges every blow. Maria only returned because of Selina’s relationship with Bruce.

Jim discovers that Dwight has escaped with Jerome’s help. At their hideout, Jerome staples his face back on and plans their next move.

Penguin receives news from his men that Ed is still missing. Ed soon calls with a story that he’s being held at Kane Chemicals.

Dwight’s brief appearance on television has already put the city into chaos. Jerome makes his own broadcast from his power plant hideout. He executes Dwight via dynamite, throwing the city into a blackout.

Next: Catch up with a recap of 'Mad City: Ghosts'

Best Moment(s)

Barbara telling Penguin to clean himself up and “do that vampire disco thing with your hair.”

When they can’t trace the call back to the mole, Harvey hilariously asks, “Someone can’t make some kind of gadget to figure it out?”

Camren Bicondova’s emotional portrayal of Selina.

Final Thoughts

The real standout for tonight’s episode wasn’t the return of Jerome, it was Camren Bicondova’s performance as Selina. The story also acted as a great psychological foundation for the character—showing Catwoman’s ultimate role as an antihero.

The relationship with her mother revealed that Selina has the propensity for good. Her hard edge and criminal mischief are not part of her nature. They’re tools that are essential for her survival. If she was raised in another environment, she could’ve been on a path to heroism. Maria … well … that’s a completely different animal.

And therein lies the tragedy of Selina’s life. Her true potential was robbed by her mother’s first abandonment. This second betrayal only solidified her stance in trusting no one, even if the well-meaning, yet misguided Bruce, was trying to help her.

Don’t forget to visit the Gotham After Show where our friends at theStream.tv will give fans a play-by-play of the latest episode. And the fun continues with Welcome to the Batcave, also on theStream.tv.

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