Gotham season 3, episode 7, “Red Queen,” sent Gordon on one hell of a trip that had him facing his inner demons.

‘Gotham’ season 3, episode 7 recap:

Valerie pulled through surgery and is in recovery when Gordon goes to visit her. He’s there to apologize for what happened at the Jervis’ tea party, but Valerie thinks she knows exactly what happened. Even though Gordon told Jervis to shoot Lee, Valerie thinks he knew that the opposite would happen. Which means that Gordon must still love Lee, leading Valerie to end things with him.

Jervis isn’t done causing trouble yet, though, and finds a way to spread Alice’s virus quicker with the use of a concoction to speed up the process. He also discovers the Red Queen which is a psychedelic with deadly consequences. Next, Jervis and the Tweeds break into the morgue and take Alice’s bloody to harvest the rest of her blood.

Bullock and Barnes arrive on the scene and want to track down Jervis before he can spread the blood. But when Gordon shows up offering to help Barnes has him kicked out and forbids him from interfering. Even Bullock refuses to help Gordon try to track down Jervis on his own. When Barnes gets back to the GCPD there’s more bad news, the lab rats with Alice’s blood are continuing to behave in manic and violent behavior.

At the hospital, Mario is furious that Gordon told Jervis to shoot Lee. Lee, however, is in the same frame of mind as Valerie and believes that he did it to actually save Lee. When Gordon arrives, Lee is surprised to se him. Despite being told not to go after Jervis, Lee says that never stopped Gordon before. He surprised her again by denying that he was trying to save Lee from being shot.

Gordon doesn’t have to go after Jervis, because he shows up at the hospital. When Gordon tries to follow Jervis, he’s rewarded by being drugged with the Red Queen. It immediately effects him and causes Gordon to become immobile. As the hallucinations kick in, Gordon finds that Barbara is to be his guide on the trip and they’re taking an elevator.

On the first stop, Gordon finds Bruce using a mask and tells him that they don’t have much time. But then he suddenly at war with Penguin by his side who’s warning him to never leave the unit behind. Bruce reappears only to show Gordon a bloodbath of soldiers and police offers all dead and says it’s all Gordon’s fault before shooting him.

Gordon wakes back up in the hallucination thanks to Barbara saving him before dropping him off at the next stop. This time its a happy scenario with the family he could have had with Lee. It’s too perfect, though, and the kids and Lee start to disappear right in front of him. He’s desperate to get them back and tries to threaten Barbara. Barbara throws it back in his face that if he wants the family with Lee he shouldn’t be living in his crappy apartment pretending to be a private investigator.

The last stop is with Gordon’s dad, and they go on a car ride together. Gordon admits that he can’t be the hero that everyone expects him to and they discuss the darkness within. His Dad tells him to follow the code that the Gordon family goes by and he’ll be who he wants to be. All Gordon has to do is find the ring that his father wore. Mario is able to save Gordon with an anti-psychotic just in time.

Gordon is able to find his fathers ring and is reminded of the family motto, “While we breathe, we shall defend.” His next step is to go see Barnes and asks to rejoin the force. Barnes agrees that the GCPD needs Gordon on their side.

Meanwhile, Penguin spent the morning worried sick about Nygma after he failed to show up for dinner. Instead, Nygma was with Isabella all night long learning about each other. When Nygma does arrive he brings the news that he’s fallen for Isabella. Of course, this isn’t good news for Penguin who was ready to confess his own love to Nygma.

Now Penguin has to get ready for the Founders Diner with the distraction of being heartbroken. Trying to fix things, Penguin goes to see Isabella at the library with the guise of wanting to read up on the founders. Instead, he drops the bomb that Nygma went to Arkham for murder.

At the Founders Dinner, Penguin spends the night obsessing about Nygma and even talks to Catherine from the Court of Owls about him. She seems to sympathize and even admits to Penguin that she comes from a powerful group that’s been keeping their eye on him.

But the night goes sour when Jervis and the Tweeds show up with guns and promising to shoot anyone that doesn’t drink their wine. The blood they took from Alice is in the wine, but before anyone drinks it the GCOD arrives in time to stop them. Barnes takes down Jervis, who is delighted to recognize the symptoms of Alice’s blood in him.

Penguin returns home only to find Isabella and Nygma embracing. Despite learning about his murderous past, Isabella is still falling for him. She says he’s the first one to stand up to the literary characters that she loves, including Romeo & Juliet and Desdemona & Othello.

The parts of the episode which most held my interest, by far, were Gordon’s hallucinations. Since Gordon is always denying things, it’s not always easy for the viewers to tell what he’s really feeling. This was truly a look into his mind and even gave a bit more backstory into why he’s so troubled.

It’s even more clear that Gordon has unresolved problems from when he was a soldier, and even farther back from his childhood. There’s a deep rooted need to fulfill the destiny his father seemed to have set for him. It’s no wonder Gordon is always so hard on himself, it’s as if he doesn’t think he deserves happiness.

I’m not sure where the writers are going with Isabella’s storyline yet, and while I’m curious enough it doesn’t really make up for the fact that Penguin’s heart is now broken. I won’t give up hope yet that Penguin will have his chance at love, but it seems like the writers were really heading in the direction of him being with Nygma only to disappoint.

Extras from ‘Gotham’ season 3, episode 7:

What did you think of ‘Gotham’ season 3, episode 7, ‘Red Queen’?