Red Queen (Episode)

"You get a girl shot and you don't even bring her booze, you got alot of nerve."

- Valerie Vale to James Gordon

"Red Queen" is the seventh episode of Season Three of Fox's Gotham. It was written by Megan Mostyn-Brown and directed by Scott White. It is the fifty-first episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 31, 2016.

Synopsis
After coming in contact with a substance by the hand of Mad Hatter, Jim Gordon gets led on a psychedelic trip and must confront his past, present and future. Meanwhile, Penguin struggles with Nygma's new relationship.

Recap
Valerie Vale wakes up in the hospital feeling like she’s been shot. She knows that Gordon meant to save Lee because it made sense that the Mad Hatter would do the opposite of whatever he said. She knows that Gordon still loves Lee, and that means they are done as a couple. The Mad Hatter was right, she says. Gordon was nothing but trouble.

Jervis Tetch consults with a man who gives him an accelerant for making Alice’s blood more potent. Tetch spots a bottle marked “Red Queen,” and the man says it’s a highly potent psychedelic drug. Tetch unleashes the drug upon the man who made it and says that he will have his revenge on Gotham.

The next morning, Nygma laughs with Isabella, who can answer every riddle he poses to her. They share a kiss and make dinner plans.

Penguin is on the phone with the police trying to file a police report, thinking Nygma is missing. Nygma shows up and says that he met someone and thinks he’s in love. Penguin looks devastated.

The Mad Hatter walks down the corridor at the morgue with his goons. They march right in, undeterred by the orderlies, and collect Alice’s dead body. Jervis Tetch plans to exact his revenge from the entire city of Gotham.

Bruce is in the kitchen cooking when Alfred comes in and offers to help. He’s getting ready for a date with Selina, and he hopes that Alfred will give them some space.

Barnes and Bullock search the morgue for clues. Gordon comes in and says he thinks the guard let Tetch inside. Barnes tells Gordon to rejoin the force or he won’t let him on the crime scene. Gordon leaves and Bullock chases after him, telling him not to be afraid of the badge. If Gordon doesn’t want to wear the badge, then he should go be with Vale.

Penguin gets ready for the dinner that has been held for over 200 years. Nygma helps him dress, choosing a purple tie. Penguin hopes that Nygma isn’t infatuated with this girl, echoing the same warning Nygma gave him about having someone you care about being your undoing. Nygma is only half listening. He asks if he can leave early to get ready for his date.

Lucius meets with Barnes to discuss the results of the tests on Alice’s blood. After one week they exhibited great strength, but by week two they started losing their minds. Barnes asks about a cure, knowing that Tetch might unleash a virus on the city. A cure would be years away.

Tetch hangs his dead sister upside down to extract as much blood from her as possible. With heaters and gravity he manages to reclaim a bottle of her potent blood.

Lee and Mario talk about what happened, and Mario wonders why Gordon would spare his fianceé’s life. He says Gordon is the reason she was in danger in the first place, and he wants Gordon gone from their lives. Gordon shows up, and Mario makes it clear that he doesn’t like him. Gordon tells Lee what happened with Bullock, and she agrees that he’s afraid.

Penguin shows up at the library and meets Isabella. He wants to learn about the history of Gotham. She tells Penguin how much she enjoys Nygma, and he says he hasn’t seen Nygma this happy since he got out of Arkham. Isabella doesn’t know about Nygma’s time there, but Penguin has done enough to plant the seed.

Gordon checks in on Vale, but he spots Jervis Tetch in the corridor and chases him. Tetch blows some of the powder into Gordon’s face, and Gordon goes on a nice ride to crazy town.

Penguin arrives at the Founder’s Dinner and bumps into Jervis Tetch, who apologizes for spilling Penguin’s drink.

Gordon wakes up in his hallucination. Barbara is his guide on this little trip. She’s the elevator operator, and she is the one who guides him along the way. He steps off the elevator and sees Bruce, who tells him that they don’t have much time. Then he finds himself on the battlefield, and Penguin is there to tell him never leave your unit behind. He finds Bruce, who shows him a brutal scene of dead bodies in the middle of GCPD headquarters. Bruce shoots him and then pulls pearls out of the wound. Bruce pushes Gordon, and he falls into the darkness.

Barnes and Bullock interrogate the guard, who can’t prove that he was at work. Barnes loses control and demands to know what the guard knows. He says a guy in a delivery truck asked for the badge. Barnes realizes that the catering delivery truck could have been going to the Founder’s Dinner. Indeed, we see Tetch spiking the drinks ahead of the guests’ arrivals.

Barbara waked Gordon up with CPR. She’s in a nurse’s uniform, and she says that his mind created it. He puts her in a nun’s uniform, and then he goes on his next adventure. He comes into an apartment where he’s greeted by two kids and his wife, Lee. He has the perfect life, but it’s not for him. The vision starts to flicker and he loses his kids, and then Lee. Barbara offers him a drink and says that the life he saw in that last vision was never meant for him.

Bruce has dinner ready when Alfred comes in and says that Selina was a no show. Alfred starts to clear the dishes, but then Selina shows up. She teases him about bringing his butler on dates. He’s angry that she was late, but she says that their relationship is weird for him. He feels the same. With that in the open, they eat cake.

Penguin talks to Kathryn, who we know as the leader of the Court of Owls. She tells him that they’ve had their eye on him for some time, and that they’ll reach out when the time is right. She walks away, and Penguin tries to find out more about her from the Archbishop. They get interrupted when Jervis Tetch bursts in and hijacks the dinner. He sets wine in front of everyone and tells them to drink. Fortunately, Bullock and Barnes burst in and stop everyone. Barnes takes down Tetch, and Tetch sees traces of his sister in Barnes. Tetch laughs and laughs.

Barbara says they’ve arrived at the last stop. She offers him a key and says he can choose if he wants to use it. He sees his father getting into a car, but all that’s in his pocket is red sand. Gordon has the key, and Gordon’s father wants him to get in the car. Outside the hallucination, a nurse brings Dr. Mario to Gordon’s prone body. They find the bottle of Red Queen. Gordon ignores the voice calling his name and gets into the car with his father.

As they drive along, Gordon’s dad asks if something’s wrong. Gordon opens up to his dad about growing up hearing that his father was a hero. For Gordon it wasn’t that he was a great DA, it was that he was a great dad. Gordon wanted to be just like him, but he’s the opposite. He destroys everything around him. Gordon’s father can tell Gordon is afraid, and he says that a hero is someone who will ask for help when he needs it. He says you need to follow the code, the Gordon code. The answer is in the Gordon ring. It’s time for Gordon’s father to go.

Dr. Mario is glad to see that Gordon made it through. The two men don’t like each other, but they do respect each other.

Nygma explains that he did kill Miss Kringle, but it wasn’t out of malice. However, Isabella has read every article about him and she still came on the date anyway. She says that no man she has ever dated has ever lived up to her books, but Nygma is the first to measure up. He asks if she’s afraid of him, and she says she is. They share a kiss. Penguin walks in and sees them kissing, and then he excuses himself from the room.

Gordon finds his dad’s ring and realizes that his place is with the GCPD. He goes to see Barnes, who says that Tetch is locked away at Arkham. Gordon wants to join up again, and Barnes is relieved.

Kathryn discusses the dinner with a mysterious figure who says she left in the nick of time. He says big changes are coming. He’s also sporting Gordon’s father’s ring.

Starring

 * Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon
 * Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock
 * David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
 * Morena Baccarin as Dr. Lee Thompkins
 * Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Robin Lord Taylor as Mayor Oswald Cobblepot
 * Erin Richards as Barbara Kean
 * Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle
 * Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma
 * Jessica Lucas (credit only)
 * Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox
 * Drew Powell (credit only)
 * Maggie Geha (credit only)
 * Benedict Samuel as Jervis Tetch
 * Michael Chiklis as Captain Nathaniel Barnes

Guest Starring

 * James Carpinello as Dr. Mario Falcone
 * Leslie Hendrix as Kathryn
 * Chelsea Spack as Isabella
 * Happy Anderson as Deever Tweed
 * Naian Gonzalez Norvind as Alice Tetch
 * Michael Park as Peter Gordon
 * Jamie Chung as Valerie Vale

Co-Starring

 * Adam Petchel as Dumfree Tweed
 * Julian Gavilanes as Craig Sullivan
 * Alejandro Hernandez as Herbalist
 * Lawton Denis as Frankie
 * Juliana Pinho as Julie
 * Zuleyma Guevara as Nurse
 * Mohammed J. Ali as Lab Technician
 * Donnie Kehr as Man

Production Notes

 * The Latin phrase inscribed on Gordon's father's ring, "Dum Spiramus Tuebimur" (While we breathe, we shall defend) is also the motto of the United States Army National Guard's 133rd Field Artillery Regiment.