Directed by John Behring
Written by John Stephens
Fish Mooney reveals a secret of Oswald Cobblepot's, prompting Maroni to take him on a trip to test his loyalty. Meanwhile, Gordon and Bullock hunt down a killer who targets victims with severe phobias and Bruce Wayne confronts Gordon for failing to make progress on his parents' murder case.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Oswald yet again begs for his life, this time from Maroni.
- Arcadia: Maroni brings up the peacefulness of the countryside to Oswald. Too bad he was there to beat him up.
- Blatant Lies: Maroni tricks Oswald into coming up to a secluded cabin with him in order to get the truth under the guise of "having a thing with a guy." The more time they spend together, the more it becomes obvious that there is no guy with a thing. Oswald also thinks Maroni is doing this when he says the gun is loaded with blanks, but it turns out he was telling the truth.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The ship taking Fish away from Gotham is attacked by Ruthless Modern Pirates. One of them finds her. Rather than hide, she charges at him.
- Bound and Gagged: All three of the victims.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Doctor Crane does this for his victims as he kills each of them, knowing the victims are specifically terrified of the ways he kills them. Even among Gotham villains, this is horrifying.
- Also see Descending Ceiling below for what Maroni has in store for Oswald.
- Damsel in Distress: One victim, who is completely tied up and thrown into a swimming pool.
- Descending Ceiling: Maroni locks Oswald inside a car about to be crushed.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The reason Maroni wants to make Penguin's death so painful is to avenge the death of his friend, Frankie Carbone.
- "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: When Oswald whips out the gun he stole from Maroni and demands a secret, Maroni says that the gun is loaded with blanks. Oswald calls him a liar, shoots, only to show that Maroni was telling the truth.
- Frame-Up: The coroner gets Nygma suspended for poking around the corpses in the autopsy room for clues. Nygma responds by framing him for stealing body parts.
- Framing the Guilty Party: The future Riddler framed the coroner for stealing body parts from the morgue. This would be a Kick the Dog moment if not for the fact the coroner was as corrupt as they came.
- Freudian Excuse: Doctor Crane has one of these for his obsession with fear. His wife burned to death because he couldn't overcome his pyrophobia long enough to pull her out of a burning building. This, of course, is something he's passed down onto his son.
- Generation Xerox: Doctor Crane is basically identical to his son, ten or so years earlier. Played with as Doctor Crane wants to stop fear while his son rejoices in causing fear.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Jim Gordon hates the coroner so much for the events of the previous episode (where he covered up a hit by Detective Flass), he prefers to trust forensic expert Edward Nygma as an "honest" cop.
- Interface Spoiler: Dr. Crane is never actually identified as such during the episode, and it's only even implied with the work with fear hormones and his son named Jonathan. The episode title outright gives it away.
- Non-Answer: When Maroni forces Oswald to reveal his secrets, he claims he didn't like the oatmeal or the coffee he was served by Maroni.
- Not What It Looks Like: The coroner is found with a large number of body parts in his locker, planted there by Nygma.
- Oblivious Janitor Cut: A cleaning lady listens to music, totally oblivious to a hanging corpse outside the window.
- Predecessor Villain: Doctor Crane is this to his son, working on a serum which Jonathan Crane will weaponize into a fear-gas in season four.
- Xanatos Gambit: Maroni's entire test of the Penguin is this.
