Gotham S3 Ep.7 Thoughts

"The Red Queen"

This week's very psychedelic and bizarre episode of Gotham was almost exactly what I requested once the news broke out that the Mad Hatter was going to be a part of this season. The Mad Hatter is a character that is popularly centered around characters undergoing hallucinogenic and psychologically challenging drug trips (similar to Scarecrow), so it was only a matter of time until we saw one of these trips down the rabbit hole take center stage. Not only was this episode visually entertaining by presenting different dream-like settings and characters, but this was also one of the best episodes to center around one character's story arc.

With Jim being the one to get drugged by Jervis with a dangerous concoction called "The Red Queen", we get to see and experience all of the damaged inner workings within his mind as he ventures through his own personal trip into madness towards an eventual epiphany about his role and position in this world. This was without a doubt my favorite Jim Gordon episode as this hallucinogenic adventure creatively reveals the many dreams, wishes, fears, and obstacles that has plagued his mind for quite some time now. This entire portion of the episode can be broken down scene by scene whenever Jim explores a new floor and is forced to confront a new obstacle inside of him. It's also interesting to point out that Barbara is presented as his elevator guide which opens up the question of how he perceives her in the real world.

As far as the dream sequences go, on one floor, we see Bruce Wayne wandering around the police precinct wearing a Gordon face mask pointing out all of his most tragic mistakes. On another floor, we see Jim's dream of being happy with Lee and settling down with a family only to watch it all fade away right before his eyes. But aside from a couple of other scenarios that spotlights Gordon's mentality, we get the most powerful and final stage of the journey where he reunites with his father and confronts the idea that he could never be the perfect hero that his father once was. Not only was this a nice emotional scene seeing Jim finally being able to speak to arguably the most significant and symbolic individual in his life, but through his father's enlightened words, we see Gordon finally understanding his place as Gotham's defender via his family's ring inscription (which surrounds the idea of being the people's defender at all costs).

What makes this episode such a powerful character driven adventure is the way in which it tackles every major conflict introduced up to now and gives enlightenment in a visually and conceptually creative way. As an audience member, the moment where we see Jim taking it upon himself to join the GCPD right after being revived from his temporary comatose state felt impactful due to his mind bending experience and the soul searching lessons that he took from it all. As I've been stating recently with previous episodes revolving around The Mad Hatter, I strongly feel that this was the best use of a villain's "power" yet as it lead to us coming to a full circle of storytelling with Jim all the way from Season 1. Now we can fully move on to a new phase with the Gordon character given that his most crucial flaw has been given some form of clarity.

Overall, aside from a couple of filler moments revolving around questionable love triangles, this was by far one of the most entertaining episodes of the new season. The creativity and stylistic choices of the dream sequences as well as some of the teases for future conflicts implimented throughout {via The Court of Owls' brief appearances) makes this episode one that should definitely not be skipped over. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this season as I'm getting the feeling that we're about to enter a new phase of villainous crimes now that the Mad Hatter is finally behind bars.

Bonus Content

1. Ed & Isabella's Dangerous Relationship

This is one of those minor feeling plot points that are easily forgotten due to everything else taking place around it but can have severe results down the line. Now that it's revealed that the Penguin actually has "more than partners" feelings for Nygma, this relationship between Ed and Isabella can only lead to tragedy down the line. Perhaps this is how Ed eventually decides to fly solo becoming his own villainous force yet again only this time with an official monicker: "The Riddler".

2. The Hatter's Hold On Barnes

It's interesting to see that, despite Jervis being placed into Arkham, we still have an ongoing story regarding his presence to look out for. With Barnes still being infected with Alice's blood, and a cure being far beyond reach, I'm curious to see whether or not Gotham is finally  gearing up to introduce the "Commissioner Gordon" title. Note that we do see Barnes finalizing his will before Jim walks in to announce his desire to reinstate.

3. The Red Queen

As always, what would a Mad Hatter episode be without some sort of callback to the classic Alice in Wonderland universe. Here we have "The Red Queen" being the name of the drug that puts Gordon in his comatose state. The Red Queen is of course titled after the central villain from the classic story.

4. Gordon's Connection To The Court

One of the more surprising story twists in the entire series is found during the ending of this week's episode as we see Gordon's family ring being worn by a mysterious Court of Owls member. Is this Jim's father being that the episode took the time to introduce and focus on him during the most significant of Gordon's psychedelic journey?

5. The Court Has Plans For Oswald

In an easily forgotten offhand comment, we get a quick tease that the Court of Owls are cooking up something for the Penguin in the future. Whether this is some form of partnership or complete takeover is beyond me, but I did find it interesting that the writers made sure to introduce them to each other in the same episode where we possibly witnessed the ending of the Mad Hatter's arc.

6. Falcone Saves Gordon Yet Again

7. Bruce Wayne: Ladies Man

It's refreshing to see a different side to Bruce Wayne now as someone attempting to charm over Selena with his cooking skills. Sure, it's not the most essential part of the episode, but it was a nice moment to take a break for something a bit lighthearted and dare I say...adorable. I'm also a fan of Alfred on the show, so any moment played out for laughs with his character is a big win for me.

8. The Hatter's Hallucinogenic Imagery

Gordon's Dream Imagery

9. The Different Forms of Barbara Gordon

The idea of Barbara being Jim's elevator guide into his subconscious was rather intriguing considering their relationship as well as the way that she's presented at times during his venture. 

10. Dream Floor #1: Regret

Not only was it visually compelling to see Jim dreaming about his time as a soldier in the war (something that is rarely ever mentioned on the show), but the fact that Oswald shows up telling him that he should never leave his unit behind was pretty interesting as it opens up the idea of Jim having regretful mistakes in his past as a war hero and as a cop.

11. Dream Floor #2: An Unreachable Dream

Visually, this was pretty self explanatory going along the current story of Jim and Lee's unfortunate separation, but I loved the stylistic choice of having cob web forming over Lee's hands before she disappears. There's something pretty haunting about that image which shows just how much the idea of leaving Lee still haunts Jim to this day.

12. Dream Floor #3: Tragic Failure

Not only was it visually creepy to see Bruce Wayne wearing a face mask of Jim, but it was conceptually brilliant to have him be the one to point Gordon to his tragic mistakes being that Bruce Wayne's family murder case was considered to be one of his first major failures on the force. 

Bruce Wayne's Family's Murder Imagery

Note that when Bruce shoots Gordon, we see him pulling beads out of his body which calls back to the iconic shot of Martha Wayne's beaded necklace during her murder.

13. Dream Floor #4: Epiphany

This was by far the most powerful stage of Jim's journey in this episode as it not only introduced his father (which will be spotlighted in the future with the Court of Owls story line), but also his father's heroic legacy. This was the most profound transformation that I've ever seen being taken with the Gordon character as he ultimately rediscovers his position as a hero by looking upon his family's legacy.

Favorite Shots

Episode Rating: 9/10