The big wedding day is quickly approaching, while Alice’s virus claims another victim on Gotham season 3, episode 10, “Time Bomb.”
‘Gotham’ season 3, episode 10 recap:
Gordon:
It’s just a few days before Mario and Lee’s wedding and there’s still lots to be done. One thing is down as they choose the location for the wedding rehearsal dinner thanks to Falcone’s connections. But their joy over having picked the perfect place for the dinner is short lived when it becomes clear that someone is trying to cause them harm. Before the valet can pull Falcone’s car around, it explodes.
The GCPD are quick to arrive, and Falcone doesn’t hold back telling Gordon that he believes someone is trying to get revenge on him. Even though Gordon promises to get to the bottom of it, Falcone only agrees to give him one day before starting his own investigation.
Bullock is back to being acting captain while Barnes is out, and it’s stressing him out. The last thing they need is the gangs to start up a war again, but luckily Bullock has a lead on who made the car bomb. Unluckily, when they go to question the suspect he’s already been killed. Whoever hired him probably killed him so that no one could trace the crime back to them. They do find a file on the hit that tells them the target isn’t Falcone, but Mario.
With the failure of the car bomb, more assassins are after Mario and this time they’re bold enough to do it during daylight at the hospital. Not knowing he’s the target, Mario is nearly killed before Gordon arrives and is able to save him. Until they know who’s after him, Gordon wants Mario to lay low for a while. Since the wedding is quickly approaching though, Mario refuses and suggests that Gordon just wants him to call off the wedding.
Believing that there’s something going on behind the scenes, Gordon goes to see Falcone alone. He questions whether or not Mario might be involved in something that neither Falcone nor Gordon know about. Of course, Falcone denies that his son is up to no good. Then, Bullock calls Gordon to inform him that Mario left the GCPD without protection stating he was going to take care of things himself.
Knowing that Mario is due to pick up the wedding bands, Gordon finds him at the jewelers. He’s jumpy knowing that someone is after him, but denies knowing who could be targeting him. Before Gordon can get him to safety, the jewelers is filled with more assassins. Suddenly, Mario is filled with a great strength he didn’t have before and is able to take out down one of them himself. He even nearly kills the man who tells Mario that he knows why he’s the target.
They’re able to arrest one of the assassins and bring him down to the GCPD. Worried about her safety, Gordon also calls Lee and tells Mario that if he doesn’t tell her then Gordon will. Meanwhile, Falcone goes to question the assassin alone and cuts out one of the man’s teeth which reveals he works for the Court of Owls. But when Gordon questions Falcone about it, he tells him to let it go.
Thinking that the hit on Mario must be a mistake, Falcone meets with Catherine. It’s revealed that they’ve been working together for some time, and Falcone even gave the Court of Owls Indian Hill. Their relationship seems to be pretty one sided though, as Catherine won’t say why they put the hit on Mario. She does agree to put on a hold on it, but hints that Mario is still in danger.
Instead of going straight to the rehearsal dinner, Lee heads to Gordon’s. She knows that he has something to say to her before her wedding. All Gordon has to say is that he wants her to have the life that she deserves. This has Lee wondering why they’re always saying goodbye to each other, and if they just haven’t done it properly yet. She ends the meeting with a kiss, but as she walks out Mario watches on. Then the voices fill his head telling him that Lee still loves Gordon. Alice’s blood has somehow infected Mario, and he has the same virus as Barnes. Only Mario’s version has him obsessed with Lee’s lingering feelings for Gordon.
Bruce:
Despite the luxury of Wayne manor, Selina is complaining about being cooped up. She’s used to taking care of herself and being able to do as she pleases. Bruce, meanwhile, can’t get over that Selina denied they’re in a relationship.
When Selina decides to clean the key, they get in another little argument. Only to discover that Selina was right and something was inscribed on the key. An Owl lets Bruce know that it belongs to the Court of Owls and now he’s worried that he’s accidentally gone against their agreement.
Ivy is also tired of being kept inside, but uses her perfume trick to get Alfred to let her out. It isn’t long before she’s caught by the group that attacked them at Selina’s place, and they call the manor demanding an exchange.
One they meet with the group, Bruce learns that they’re not aligned with the Court of Owls after all but are actually after them. They’re known as the Whisper Gang and they were betrayed by the Owls in the past, and ever since then they’ve been trying to bring them down. The Whisper Gang wants the key to open a safe in the Owls building that is rumored to hold something that will destroy them.
After hearing that the Court of Owls aren’t known to keep their word, Bruce wants to help the Whisper Gang. However, the Owls learn that the gang is after the key and deploy their own assassins to take care of them.
Nygma:
After having his meeting crashed by Barbara, Penguin calls Nygma looking for an update. Now that Barbara has noticed her friends have gone missing, Penguin is worried about it coming back to him. But Nygma says that he’s working through his grief and by that he means he’s taking his time torturing Tabitha and Butch.
Barbara is able to get into Penguin’s mansion when everyone else is gone and has a chat with his maid Olga. Since she grew up in wealth herself, Barbara knows that the help always has the best gossip. With a little persuasion in the form of an expensive ring, Olga reveals that not only does Penguin have romantic feelings for Nygma but that they got a special delivery to an undisclosed location.
With the help of a receipt, Barbara traces the delivery back to a store where torture devices are sold. After playing a whipping game with the shop keeper, Barbara gets the rest of the information she needs.
Meanwhile, Nygma reveals to Butch that he plans to cut off Tabitha’s hand to break Butch’s heart. Even though Butch denies knowing who Isabella is, Nygma doesn’t believe him. The device that Nygma sets up to cut off Tabitha’s hand can be stopped if she pushes a button that will kill Butch. When Butch admits to killing Isabella to get on Nygma’s nerves, he says that Isabella was shot which makes Nygma realize that he really doesn’t know who she was. It’s too late though because Tabitha’s hand gets sliced off by the device.
Barbara walked in just in time to witness it. She’s in shock and allows Nygma to just walk away while they have to get Tabitha to the hospital. Once Butch fills Barbara in on everything that happened it doesn’t take her long to put the pieces together that it was actually Penguin who killed Isabella. And she wants to use the information to start a war.
If Barbara does go ahead and let Penguin’s secret be known, it could have serious consequences. First, Nygma would seek his revenge on Penguin and he’s more than capable of causing great damage with his complex plans. Second, it could also mean that Penguin loses his title of Mayor if the knowledge becomes public. Third, a major gang war would cause even more problems in Gotham as the heads fight for power.