Gerald Crane

"We‘re all afraid. Every man and woman on the planet. We’re all standing at the edge of the abyss, paralysed by fear!"

- Crane to his son Jonathan Gerald Crane is a biology teacher in Gotham and an antagonist of the 2015 series "Gotham". Targetting a fear support group, he commits murders based on the paranoia of the victim in order to cure himself from fear which he sees as the reason for all crimes. Gerald is the father of Jonathan Crane, who later becomes „The Scarecrow“.

He appears in the episodes "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" and "The Scarecrow".

The fearsome Dr. Crane
Ath the beginning of the episode, Crane hangs a man with fear of heights from a high building, not before having him take a long look down. While the man realises his situation Crane measures his heart rate. After his victim dies, Crane winches him back and removes the adrenal gland for his studies.

He later kiidnaps a man who is afraid of pigs by driving him into the arms of a henchman with a taser. He later binds him on a chair and releases 3 grown pigs around him and has the henchman tasked to murder him wearing a pig-mask.

When the detectives find out that every victim was a member of the same fear support group, Bullock visits the group. Crane, under the alias "Todd" is present and listens to Bullock and the therapist Scottie Mullins while they talk about fear, hearing that Mullins' greatest fear is drowning in a pool. He approaches Bullock and asks if he is new to the group, stating that he himself is a regular. During a grup meeting he states that he is afraid of failure and thinks that he is passing this onto his son. Visibly shaken, he leaves the room crying. When Mullins follows him, he abducts her and loads her into his truck. Bullock, who follows, can only see the car driving away.

Gordon finds out that "Todd“ has come for the last two months and that he used a name although the group protocoll states that the members stay anonymous. From Bullocks conversation with Mullins, Gordon deduces that Crane will drown her in a pool. Bullock, who meanwhile has called Mullins' Mother, has found out that she had almost drowned as  a child. Gordon and Bullock rush to the place where that happened.

At the pool, Crane psychologically tortures Mullins by making her realise that she will shortly drown. His son Jonathan arrives and seems to be shocked by what he sees, although he is aware of his father’s plans. Crane tells his son that this is for the greater good and for humanity, then sends him outside. He then throws Mullins into the pool. In this moment, Bullock and Gordon arrive. While Bullock jumps into the water to save Mullins, Gordon pursues Crane, who escapes through the maintenance area.

Scarecrow
After escaping the GCPD, Crane attacks another victim in his house and steals his adrenal gland afterwards. He mixes the gland up with some substances and injects it himself, afterwards hallucinating vividly about his deceased wife, taunting him about not helping her. He breaks down, visibly afraid.

When they visit a co-worker at Gerald’s workplace, Gordon and Bullock find out about Crane’s past: Crane is described as focused, a good father and protective about his son Jonathan. His wife died seven years ago in a car accident. Gerald wrote an academic paper about fear, stating that fear was an evolutionary flaw in humans and that rape, murder etc. are commited because of fear. From this they deduce that Crane now uses the adrenal glands to cure himself and a so called "Subject B“ from fear, harvesting the hormones that cause fear from his victims.

While testing his substance again, his son arrives. Crane states that his cure is working and that it is soon Jonathan’s time to be cured. Later, he injects his son with his cure. Although Jonathan seems to be sceptical, he lets his father continue.

At the GCPD Bullock and Gordon find out that Crane’s wife died in a housefire, not a car accident and that Crane lied to his co-workers about that. They find out that Crane’s fear is the reason that his wife died. They find out the adress of the house where the fire broke out and head there.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Crane runs away from his father, stating that he cannot endure more of the "cure“. Gerald tells his son that stopping the procedure now would be harmful for Jonathan. Crane tries to talk reason into his son by telling him that life without fear is best for mankind and brings him back to the house. While continuing to "cure“ Crane, Gordon and Bullock arrive. While Jonathan tells Gerald that they have to leave, Gerald is determined to continue the protocoll, bringing his son outside. Under a scarecrow at a field outside of the house, Gerald prepares to inject his son another dose although Jonathan states that the injection is too heavily dosed. He injects it nontheless but Jonathan screams in agony, looking at the scarecrow above while slowly going mad. Jonathan’s screams alert the detectives, who approach Crane. Not afraid of their weapons, he walks towards them without cover and starts shooting at them. Gordon and Bullock return the fire, killing Crane.

Trivia

 * The overdose of his cure send Gerald's son Jonathan on his way to become the villain "Scarecrow".