Directed by Dermott Downs
Written by John Stephens
A billionaire Ponzi scheme operator is going to get off scott free for his crimes due to the corruption of Gotham City's court system. A man wearing a pig mask proceeds to use a weather balloon to execute him, sending him flying away into the air. This is but the first in a series of murders by the mysterious Balloon Man, a vigilante who is attempting to clean up Gotham City in a most unusual way.
Tropes:
- Affably Evil:
- Jim Gordon has the displeasure of meeting Lieutenant Cranston, who shows off his commerce trophy "O'Brian" which he uses to clobber suspects. While Cranston is clearly a vicious and corrupt police officer, he is genuinely friendly to Jim, compared to the rest of the precinct (including Bullock at this point) who openly dislike him.
- The Balloonman is actually a personable individual when he isn't committing vigilante murder. Even when confronted by Gordon and Bullock, he comes off as a well intentioned and genuine indidvidual.
- Amazonian Beauty: Smucker's girlfriend is a muscular dominatrix.
- Artistic License – Physics: A real-life weather balloon like that wouldn't remotely be able to carry off an adult man like that, let alone two as happens later.
- Asshole Victim: Gotham City's police have no sympathy whatsoever for the first victim, who led a Ponzi scheme, although Jim Gordon still wants to catch the perpetrator. Their laissez faire mentality is challenged when the second victim is a Dirty Cop.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The Balloonman, a vigilante who kills corrupt public figures using weather balloons, turns out to be Davis Lamond, a social worker who is known for being mild mannered and considerate. He spent his career trying to help juvenile delinquents, and when he was frustrated by the level of corruption in Gotham, he turned vigilante.
- By "No", I Mean "Yes": Jim explains why he's handcuffing Selina to a fire escape before searching the sewers:Jim: It's not that I don't trust you not to run away, but...well, I don't.
- Car Cushion: Jim and the Balloonman land on top of the van in the alley. Plot Armor kicks in, the Balloonman is put into a neck brace and is on a back board, Jim walks away with just a scratch.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Lamond shows up to have Jim sign some paperwork in the first act, before turning out to be The Balloonman.
- Cop Killer: The Balloonman has no qualms about carrying out the vigilante murder of Lt. Cranston, a corrupt police officer, an act which puts the entire Gotham City Police Department on edge. He also attempts to shoot Detective Gordon when the latter refuses to back down from trying to arrest him.
- Damned by Faint Praise: The best thing Bullock can say about the Dirty Cop victim is that he wasn't that bad. Which is, ironically, probably as good as it gets in Gotham City.
- Dirty Cop: Lt. Cranston of the Gotham Police beats suspects with trophies, and assaults a drug dealer for giving him insufficient funds.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The Balloonman’s true identity? The social worker who hands Selina over to Gordon in the beginning.
- Do Wrong, Right: Maroni objects to the Balloon Man killing a priest... in public.
- Expy: While only bearing a superficial similarity, the Balloon Man has several visual and in-story homages to The Shadow. The Shadow is, of course, a main inspiration for the character of Batman.
- Hannibal Lecture: When confronted by Gordon over his vigilantism, Lamond asks Gordon to contemplate if he really is fighting for the innocent as he claims.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Bullock attempts to do this to Lamond a.k.a. The Balloon Man by tying him up to a weather balloon and even quotes the trope. However, Gordon grabs onto Lamond, forcing Bullock to shoot the balloon down.
- I Call It "Vera": Lieutenant Cranston's trust trophy, which he uses to interrogate suspects, is called "O'Brian".
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Taken to the eleven this episode as we hear the sounds of suspects being tortured as a part of Jim Gordon's day.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Everything the Balloon Man says about Gotham City being irredeemable without outside-the-law intervention is true.
- Literal Metaphor: Cranston uses his award for service to the city to beat suspects. Which is, really, what he's being rewarded for.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: The Balloonman wants to eliminate corruption, and carries out the murders of corrupt public figures in a unique and brutal way using weather balloons.
- Pedophile Priest: The third person to be killed is a man called Cardinal Quinn who is also known on the street as the "Diddling Priest" because of multiple accusations of sexual abuse.
- Refuge in Audacity: The Balloon Man uses a weather balloon to murder his victims which, as someone lampshades, is a strange way to kill people. This makes perfect sense when you realize he's attempting to make a statement to the citizens of Gotham in a very public way.
- Title Drop: The Balloon Man is named as much by the newspapers.
- Would Hit a Girl: After Jim stops the amazon from beating up Bullock, Bullock takes some revenge.
- Vigilante Man: The Balloonman targets corrupt public figures and kills them using weather balloons.
- Villain with Good Publicity: The Balloon Man gets applauded for his deeds even after they get an old lady killed.
