"This Ball of Mud and Meanness" is the fourteenth episode of the second season, and 36th episode overall from the FOX series Gotham. The episode was written by Jordan Harper and directed by John Behring. It was first broadcast on March 14, 2016 in FOX. In the episode, Bruce sets out to find "Matches" Malone, the man who killed his parents. Meanwhile, Gordon investigates Kristen Kringle's disappearance, worrying Nygma.
The episode was watched by 4.01 million viewers and received critical acclaim with David Mazouz's performance receiving universal acclaim. Two days after the episode aired, FOX announced Gotham was renewed for a third season.
Plot
Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) continues to be disturbed by the torture sessions at Arkham Asylum where he imagines watching himself beat his mother (Carol Kane). On orders from Strange (B. D. Wong), he is served ice cream in the dining hall and is assaulted by an inmate for the ice cream, but shows no signs of violence. In an alley, Bruce (David Mazouz) receives a gun from Selina (Camren Bicondova), that he intends to use to kill Patrick "Matches" Malone. Lee (Morena Baccarin) shows Gordon (Benjamin McKenzie) the paychecks from Kristen Kringle that she never picked up. Gordon questions Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) about Kringle's disappearance, but he denies knowing anything.
Bruce and Alfred (Sean Pertwee) find out about Matches' partner, Cupcake (Jamar Green), who leads an underground fight club; Cupcake agrees to tell Bruce where Matches is if Alfred fights with him. Using his SAS experience, Alfred wins the fight. Cupcake tells them to look for Jeri (Lori Petty), the woman who knows Matches' whereabouts. Alfred is taken to the hospital and falls unconscious, after which Bruce leaves the hospital. Gordon and Bullock (Donal Logue) are then notified of his plans to kill Matches.
Bruce arrives at a club owned by Jeri (Lori Petty), the patrons of which are all influenced by Jerome Valeska's acts. After toying with him, she finally gives him Matches' address. Gordon arrives at the club and stops Bruce, but Gordon is restrained by Jeri's group, allowing Bruce to escape. Bruce finally reaches Matches' (Michael Bowen) apartment. Matches admits to killing Bruce's parents and states that he was contracted by someone to do it, but refuses to reveal their identity. Bruce refrains from killing Matches at the last moment, realizing Matches is suicidal. Gordon arrives at the apartment but is unable to stop Matches from taking his own life.
Alfred finds a note in Wayne Manor from Bruce, in which Bruce details his intention to live in the streets with Selina for a time, as a way to know more about fighting crime and be better prepared to save Gotham in the future. Cobblepot is released from Arkham Asylum after being declared sane, although Strange states to Ethel Peabody (Tonya Pinkins) that he still has plans for experiments on him. Nygma discovers Gordon investigating Kringle's disappearance and swears to outsmart him. In his apartment, Nygma reads about Gordon and draws a green question mark over his face.
Production
Development
The fourteenth episode of the season is titled "This Ball of Mud and Meanness", written by Jordan Harper, with John Behring as director.
Casting
Erin Richards, James Frain, Jessica Lucas, Chris Chalk, Drew Powell, Nicholas D'Agosto, and Michael Chiklis don't appear in the episode as their respective characters. The guest cast for the episode include B. D. Wong as Professor Hugo Strange, Tonya Pinkins as Ethel Peabody, Lori Petty as Jeri, Ian Quinlan as Carl Pinkney, Michael Bowen as Patrick "Matches" Malone, Stink Fisher as Aaron Helzinger, Jamar Green as Terrence "Cupcake" Shaw, and Carol Kane as Gertrude Kapelput.
Reception
Viewers
The episode was watched by 4.01 million viewers with a 1.3/4 share among adults aged 18 to 49. This was a decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.54 million viewers. With this ratings, Gotham was the most-watched program of the day in FOX, beating out Lucifer, the 27th in the 18-49 demographics, and the 67th most watched overall in the week.
With Live+7 DVR viewing factored in, the episode had an overall rating of 6.32 million viewers, and a 2.3 in the 18–49 demographic.