Directed by Eagle Egilsson
Written by Seth Boston & Megan Mostyn Brown
As Gordon, Bullock and Barnes continue the search for Victor Fries, they are forced to use his wife, Nora, as bait to lure him out. Meanwhile, Penguin continues to be the subject of Hugo Strange's peculiar brand of therapy.
Tropes in this episode:
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, Matches Malone was a small-time criminal before he died (after which Batman assumed his identity occasionally as part of his crime-investigating cover), notable in that in spite of his crimes, he was non-violent and often helped defuse criminal conflicts. Here, instead, Matches has committed his first murder by age 15.
- Apologetic Attacker: The truck driver with his hands frozen to the wheel reports that Fries only said that he was sorry.
- Badass Boast: Subverted. Penguin utters an angry threat as he is strapped in for a treatment session, but is utterly unable to follow through on it.Penguin: Nobody yet has failed to regret vexing the Penguin. And you are vexing me!
- Bungled Suicide: Victor tries to use his formula to kill himself after Nora dies, but his previous exposure to the previous versions of it means that he is transformed into An Ice Person instead.
- Cassandra Truth: When Jim leave Penguin to Dr. Strange's "treatment," he starts shouting that Gordon killed Galavan. However, since he is a known felon and "insane," it just looks like another lunatic ranting.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Of the mental variety, as Penguin is put through apparently excruciating audio/visual bombardments, which are affecting his personality.
- Death by Adaptation: Nora Fries is successfully put in cryogenic stasis by her husband in the comics and all previous adaptations, but in this case she sabotages the process herself so that she doesn't have to wake up to a world where Victor is dead or in jail.
- Driven to Suicide: Nora's death leads Victor to take his own life. It doesn't take.
- Face Death with Dignity: Both Nora and (attempted) Victor. For each of them, being apart was the ultimate pain, and both chose suicide rather than be parted. Though it didn't take for Victor.
- An Ice Person: Victor has absorbed so much of his formula during his months of experimentation that upon exposing himself to a direct dose during a suicide attempt, it lowers his core temperature so much that he needs special conditions to remain alive.
- Idiot Ball: You think maybe Victor should have checked his freezing gun to see that the right vial was in there and that it wasn't sabotaged.
- Mythology Gag:
- It is confirmed that the "M" of "M Malone" stands for the nickname "Matches". (In the comics, "Matches Malone" is a petty-criminal false identity used by Batman to spy on the underworld.)
- Mr. Freeze's ice grenades look and function a great deal like the ones in Batman Arkham City. In both cases, Mr. Freeze uses an ice grenade to freeze part of Gotham Bay so he can successfully retrieve his wife.
- Lee visits Bruce to inquire on how he has been faring since previous events. This references the longtime relations between Bruce and Leslie Tompkins in the comics and The Animated Series.
- Not His Sled: Everybody familiar with the character of Mr. Freeze was expecting him to successfully put Nora in cryostasis, right until the moment she sabotaged the process herself.
- Stepford Smiler: Miss Peabody, Hugo Strange's assistant, always has a pleased smile on her face, whether she's delivering some good news to Strange or torturing a helpless prisoner.
- Tainted Veins: Fries gains blue veins on the side of his neck and jaw after his transformation.
- Trap Is the Only Option: Victor realizes right away that the police are setting a trap for him at Arkham, where Nora is being watched. He goes for it anyway, banking on his new ice grenades to give him an edge.
- Wham Shot: The episode ends with a shot of Theo Galavan's corpse in a tank, as Strange talks about death being just a new beginning.
- Also, one of the tanks behind Galavan's shows another corpse that looks suspiciously like Jerome (though it's from the back, so it's hard to say for certain), implying that his death isn't final either... which means he really could be the Joker after all.
- You Owe Me: Penguin shouts this to Gordon, as he's being dragged away for more of Strange's treatment and Gordon's reluctance to investigate his claims of tortures. Understandable, since Gordon continually sticking his neck out for Cobblepot has led to more trouble for Jim than benefits.
