| Season 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 "Pilot" | 09 "Harvey Dent" | 17 "Red Hood" | ||
| 02 "Selina Kyle" | 10 "Lovecraft" | 18 "Everyone Has a Cobblepot" | ||
| 03 "The Balloonman" | 11 "Rogues' Gallery" | 19 "Beasts of Prey" | ||
| 04 "Arkham" | 12 "What The Little Bird Told Him" | 20 "Under the Knife" | ||
| 05 "Viper" | 13 "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" | 21 "The Anvil or the Hammer" | ||
| 06 "Spirit of the Goat" | 14 "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" | 22 "All Happy Families Are Alike" | ||
| 07 "Penguin's Umbrella" | 15 "The Scarecrow" | |||
| 08 "The Mask" | 16 "The Blind Fortune Teller" | |||
| Episode | Cast | Crew |
"The Balloonman" is the third episode of the first season of Gotham. Dermott Downs directed the episode, and it was written by John Stephens. It aired on October 6th, 2014.
Synopsis
Detectives Gordon and Bullock track down a vigilante who is killing corrupt Gotham citizens by attaching them to weather balloons. Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot returns to Gotham and gets a new job close to an influential figure in the underworld.[1]
Plot
Detectives Gordon and Bullock track a vigilante targeting corrupt citizens and strapping them to weather balloons with his latest victim being Ronald Danzer, a politician who was involved in a ponzi scheme. Detectives Montoya and Allen question Gordon about what really happened to Cobblepot, who returns to town in order to get revenge on Fish Mooney. He gets a job at mafia don Sal Maroni's restaurant, being befriended by Maroni himself. "Balloonman" strikes again by targeting corrupt GCPD member Lt. Bill Cranston. Bullock and Gordon later trace the remaining missing balloons to Carl Smickers' apartment, making him a suspect. Mooney arranges for Falcone's comare Natalia to be in an accident. Bullock interrogates Smickers, who mentions never seeing the face to whom he gave the remaining balloons. After Cardinal Quinn's death and finding a set of keys in the body of Lt. Bill Cranston, Gordon has an idea on who Balloonman is. Upon arriving at the old juvenile facility, Gordon and Bullock find another balloon, but get ambushed by Davis Lamond, who holds Bullock at gunpoint and mentions the crimes of Danzer, Cranston, and Cardinal Quinn. He further reveals it is corruption like Mayor James' plan to relocate non-adoptable street kids to a prison that ultimately drove him to become the Balloonman. Bullock gets free and manages to attach the final weather balloon to Lamond with the intention of releasing the balloon, but Gordon grabs onto it and orders Bullock to shoot the balloon. After a short debate with Gordon, Bullock shoots the balloon. Before Lamond enters an ambulance, he warns Gordon that more vigilantes will follow in his path. At his apartment later, a bruised Gordon comes in. Barbara is relieved he's okay. She asks what's wrong and that he can tell her anything. He says the city is sick in a way that he didn't realize. When he asked balloon man who his final target was he said it didn't matter since everyone is on the take. Barbara says it's not true. Gordon says it doesn't matter it's the perception and if people take the law into their own hands there is no law and they will be lost. He says there are cops who do it. She says he never would right? He asks if she thinks he could. She says no, she knows him and she loves him. There is a knock at the door and Gordon receives a surprise visit from Cobblepot.
Media
Trivia
- The Balloonman's first disguise is a reference to Professor Pyg.