Vision Quest.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Most of the time, I feel like TV "vision/dream sequence" episodes are kind of a self-indulgent waste. There are rare cases when it works, but mostly it just feels like padding - the chance to fill "x amount" of minutes with nonsense until the time comes to finally land on a point.
That's what happened here in "Red Queen" as Gordon got blasted with a powerful hallucinogen that took him into the dark recesses of his mind. Mad Hatter basically Scarecrow'd Jim here, with perhaps a bit of Joker at work too since Jervis' ultimate plan was to drive Gotham mad using his sister's tainted blood.
Now, I did like the introduction of Jim's dad, and the end of his vision, where Jim got to sit with his dad for a bit before the "fatal" car crash, worked well. Plus, the final reveal of his father possibly being the head of the Court was a nice twist. But getting to that end point was a bit of a drag. We had Bruce wearing a creepy Jim Gordon mask and then Jim tumbling into hell. Then Jim imagined a happy family life with Lee (set in the 30s or 40s?). All the while, Barbara (sometimes scantily clad in nurse attire) taunted him as they traveled to different levels of his subconscious on an elevator. It just felt like a rehash of all the torturous things we knew about Gordon already. Until his father showed up, of course.
One thing this drug trip did though was remind me, yet again, of what a messed up guy Jim is. I even wrote in a previous review that Gordon, at this point in the game, is waaaay more maladjusted than Bruce - the kid who's supposed to grow up and become a costumed vigilante. In "Red Queen," Jim faced down an avalanche of torment and trauma while Bruce seemed to have, well, a very nice night with Selina and some homemade cake. All this just makes me realize even more that it's best not to watch this show with any inclination that Batman is somehow going to be a thing a decade from now - foreshadowing and Easter Eggs aside. Gruff, dark-souled Jim Gordon is the "Batman" of this show.
Yes, it was just a matter of time before Gordon became a cop again. He'd need good reason though. I liked him wallowing in misery, but I suppose an eye-opening trip through one's psyche is as good a reason as any to rejoin the force. I'll allow it. The introduction of Papa Gordon (Michael Park) also helped provide adequate reasons for Gordon to snap out of his boozehound pity-party phase. Still, it felt off for Gordon to be lying in a stupor the entire time while Barnes and Harvey nabbed Jervis. I get that it gave us more of Barnes and his new superpowers, but it still felt like Hatter's plan never quite got off the ground.
The Penguin/Riddler stuff felt overly dopey. I applauded the show for having Oswald be in love with Edward, but the Isabella wrinkle just seems like the usual soapy TV hogwash. Maybe it's because she doesn't feel like a real character, just a plot device who's designed to love Edward no matter what. And who knows? Maybe she's not a real person. Maybe she does have an agenda, or some type of programming. Either way, she's just a cliched "obstacle" right now in the "Will They?/Won't They?" dance.
The Verdict
Gotham gave us a nice twist in the form of Gordon's dad possibly being an evil Owl boss, and figured out a way to get Gordon back on the job in an "adequate" manner using hallucinations, but for the most part "Red Queen" felt like middling nonsense designed to fill time bell-to-bell.
Editors' Choice
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