In the episode, detectives Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Bullock (Donal Logue) track down a vigilante who is killing corrupt Gotham citizens by attaching them to weather balloons.
Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) returns to Gotham and gets a new job close to an influential figure in the underworld.
Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) is questioned by Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) and Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones) about Cobblepot's whereabouts.
While practicing fencing with Alfred (Sean Pertwee), Bruce (David Mazouz) decides to lead his own investigation of the murder of his parents.
"[3] Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.2 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "'The Balloonman' was okay, but the more and more Gotham is shown as a cesspool from every perceivable angle, the harder it is to care about anything or anyone.
Club's Oliver Sava gave the episode a "C−" grade and wrote, "Remember last week's cliffhanger with Selina Kyle telling Gordon that she knew who really killed the Waynes?
Tonight's episode starts to follow-up on that dangling thread before literally taking a detour through shit, and then Selina disappears for the rest of the story.
Gordon takes Selina back to Crime Alley, then immediately starts wondering why he should believe her instead of getting information he could use to track down the Waynes' killer.
The Wayne murder investigation is the driving force of this show's narrative, but the baby steps taken in this episode make that essential aspect of the story feel like an afterthought.