Jervis Tetch (Gotham)

"Look into my eyes, not around them, not above them, but deep into their center..."

- Tetch starts his hypnosis.

"Those who hurt you will feel my pain, when my sweet and terrible vengeance upon them rains..."

- Tetch vows revenge Jervis Tetch is a major antagonist in the third season of Gotham. He is the series' adaptation of the DC villain Mad Hatter.

Tetch comes to Gotham to find his sister, Alice, who was one of the people Hugo Strange experimented on. Tetch employs bounty hunter James Gordon to find Alice but, after Gordon suspects that Tetch is a criminal, attempts to kill him. As he is prevented to do so by Alice, he is forced to flee.

He is portrayed by Benedict Samuel, who also portrayed Owen.

Search for Alice
After arriving at Gotham, Tetch is employed by Barbara Kean to do his show in her nightclub, the Sirens. There, Tetch calls some of the audience on the stage and hypnotizes them into believing they are animals. After the people have made animal-like sounds for a few moments, much to the amusement of the crowd, Tetch reverts the hypnosis. He then walks through the crowd, searching for another volunteer and choses a man whose wife has an expensive necklace. After hypnotizing the man into feeling completely relaxed and weightless, Tetch tells the man to stand on the back of a chair. Although everybody is shocked, afraid that the chair will topple over and that the man will fall, the man is able to keep his balance, even after Tetch tells him to use only one leg. Tetch then orders the man to come down from his chair. Before he lifts the hypnosis, he whispers the man into the ear.

After his show is over, Tetch talks to Barbara and co-club owner Tabitha Galavan. Barbara asks him whether, with his hypnosis, Tetch can order people to do anything. Tetch admits that he can only make people do what they secretly wish, but tells her that it is interesting what deep down, people might wish to do. Tabitha inquires whether Tetch, who has come to Gotham recently, has a place to stay, but Tetch, looking at the doctor who is secretly still under hypnosis, tells her that something always comes up. Indeed, the same night, Tetch calls his former volunteer and, using the trigger words he implanted on the man earlier, forces him to allow Tetch into his home. While inside, he is approached by the doctor's wife. Frightened, she runs off but is stopped by her own husband, who hits her over the head with a hard metallic object. Delighted, Jervis tells the man to wrap his dead wife in plastic and to bury her. He also tells the man to kill himself afterwards.

The next day, Tetch visits James Gordon at his house. He asks him to find his sister, Alice, who was sent to Indian Hill after she was poisoned. Tetch claims that he was not aware what Strange was doing there, and that his sister is now somewhere in Gotham City. Tetch offers Gordon 10.000 dollars and Gordon agrees. Tetch hands him a photo of Alice and his business card and then leaves Gordon to his job.

The next evening, Tetch once more performs in The Sirens, this time hypnotizing Barbara who has taken a liking to his show. After sending Barbara to sleep, Tetch asks the audience what they would like Barbara to do and, after listening to Tabitha, tells Barbara that when she wakes up, she will be madly in love with him. Indeed, Barbara wakes up and attempts to kiss him but Tetch, to the amusement of the crowd, tells her that he has another. The angry Barbara grabs a glass, smashes it and holds a sharp shard to Tetch's throat who saves himself by freeing her from the hypnosis. After the performance, Gordon visits Tetch at the bar of the Sirens. He tells Tetch that he found Alice but lost her again, that Alice shot a man and set fire to his corpse, that Alice claims to be infected and that she does not want to have anything to do with her brother. Gordon threatens Tetch, claiming that his next stop will be the GCPD should Tetch not tell him what is going on. Tetch invites Gordon onto the roof, claiming that he will explain everything there. Instead, he hypnotizes Gordon.

He orders the hypnotized Gordon to remove his gun. Once Gordon has thrown his gun to the ground, Tetch orders him to climb the edge of the roof and to jump. However, as he counts down for Gordon to jump, he is stopped by a woman. Turning around, he sees Alice aiming her gun at him. Tetch is delighted to see his sister, but Alice does not lower her gun, instead ordering Tetch to free Gordon from the hypnosis. Tetch tries to talk to his sister but, claiming that he is evil, Alice shoots at him instead. As she is not used to firing a gun, she misses with every shot and Jervis is able to flee from the roof.

Hunt for Alice
After his escape from the roof, Tetch heads to an abandoned amusement park, hypnotizing the owner. He tells the owner that soon, he will be reunited with his sister Alice. After telling the man that, he forces him to lie down and smashes the man's head with a high striker hammer.

Meanwhile, Gordon is revealed to still be under Tetch's influence. As Tetch ordered him to kill himself earlier, Gordon, when overcome by the hypnosis, walks onto the street and is almost hit by a truck. From Alice, Gordon learns that everything resembling Tetch's watch will bring out the hypnosis in Gordon.

Tetch heads to a boxing ring, where he meets the "Terrible Tweeds" Deever and Dumfrey. He reveals to them that his sister is in the hands of the GCPD and that he wants to employ the Tweeds to break her out. The Tweeds are perplexed but when Tetch senses that they will refuse him, he hypnotizes them into assisting him. The Tweeds and their group later walk into the GCPD, attacking policemen with their bare hands. While the Tweeds deal with the policemen, Tetch steps into the department to get his sister from the holding cell. Gordon, who was with Alice previously, aims his gun at Tetch's head but Tetch claims that the two of them both know that Gordon cannot kill him, not until Tetch has removed the hypnosis from Gordon. Tetch draws his clock, causing Jim to stiffen. While two of the Tweeds grab Alice and leave together with Tetch, Gordon aims his gun at his own head but is knocked out by Captain Barnes.

Alice's Suicide
""I will never go with you!" "Why do you say such things?! We belong together. I love you!""

- Alice and Jervis

They return to the amusement park where Tetch has prepared a tea table and dresses his sister in a dress like Alice in "Alice in Wonderland" wore. Tetch tells his sister that he forgives her for leaving her but also warns her that this cannot happen again. He then produces a syringe and starts taking Alice's blood. Panicking, Alice asks what he plans to do with this blood and Tetch reveals that he might put it into a public drinking fountain should Alice try to escape him again. The room is suddenly stormed by Gordon and Bullock and Tetch dives into cover behind his own sister. Gordon orders Tetch to release Alice, Tetch in turn promises Gordon that he will remove the impulse from Gordon should Gordon let him escape with his sister. When Gordon refuses, one of the Tweeds starts a metronone, causing Jim to be under influence again. While the Tweeds drive off Bullock, Jim is once more ordered to kill himself. However, remembering his ex-girlfriend Leslie, Jim shoots the metronome instead.

While the Tweeds attack Gordon, Tetch attempts to escape over the walkways with sister where he confessed for incestuous feelings for her. However, claiming that she will never be with him, Alice wrenches free but, while stumbling back, falls over the edge of the walkway and is impaled and killed by a metal pipe. Distraught, Jervis falls to the ground and is dragged away by the Tweeds screaming, loudly blaming Gordon for his sister's death.

After Alice's death, Tetch is shown to have kidnapped a young woman who he places at a long table. The woman, who is wearing his sister's clothes now, is afraid of Tetch but cannot escape. Tetch talks to her as if she were his real sister, lamenting her death. The woman tries to tell him that she is still alive but Tetch claims that he wishes that were true and slices her throat with a knife. He then uses her blood to write an invitation card for James Gordon, vowing revenge to those who had a hand in his sisters' demise.

Tormenting James Gordon
Tetch kidnaps a newly-wed couple, disguising himself as their driver. Before he drives off with them, he tells them that their fate entirely depends on James Gordon, then revealing that he also kidnapped a little boy. Tetch then gets Gordon's attention by hypnotizing a civilian and have him approach Gordon. The civilian, now all clad in white, gives Gordon a riddle and brings him to a phone booth where Tetch calls. Tetch reveals to Gordon that he used his time to find out about Gordon what he can in order to be able to manipulate him. Tetch then tells Gordon to look up. Gordon does so and finds the married couple Tetch kidnapped earlier standing on an overpass. Tetch tells him that the couple will jump to their deaths in thirty seconds. By taking the stairs, Gordon would be able to save them but then, he cannot save the boy who is standing on the road nearby, about to be killed by a truck. Tetch tells Gordon that he cannot save both and has to choose. Gordon decides to save the boy but the couple falls to their deaths.

Tetch then calls the phone booth again, giving Gordon an adress and telling him to be there in five minutes. When Gordon arrives at the building and heads inside, he finds that Tetch once more is not present. Again, a phone rings and Tetch tells Gordon to look through the lens of a telescope. When Gordon does so, he sees Tetch standing on the street below. Gordon then hangs up on him, doing so once more when a furious Tetch calls him again. When Tetch calls again, Gordon tells him that Tetch is at fault for Alice's death and that, should he want revenge, he should kill himself. Before Gordon can hang up again, Tetch hints that he has Jim's girlfriend Valerie Vale. When Jim looks behind Tetch, Valerie is indeed being kidnapped by the Tweed brothers. When Jim later calls Lee Thompkins to make sure he is alright, Tetch takes the call and reveals that he kidnapped Lee as well. Tetch tells Gordon to meet him at a water plant outside of town.

When Gordon arrives at the plant, he is greeted by monitors broadcasting Tetch. Jim demands to know where Lee and Valery are but Tetch gives him two other people first, a doctor and an anchorman. Tetch tells Jim to take a gun from the nearby table and to shoot one of the men, elsewise both will be electrocuted to death. Jim, however, refuses to play Tetch's game. The GCPD arrives in time to see the two men being fried alive by Tetch's machine before Tetch leaves, saying that he'll need an "old friend to get to the end".

The Tea Party
""Lies, Deceit! The story you tell is incomplete. She loved me!" "She loved you? She killed herself rather than be with you." "She didn't... no." "She impaled herself on a spike and died in agony because even that was better than having you touch her." "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" "I saw her when she was dying. Her face... when she knew she was finally safe from you, she was smiling. Because despite the pain, she was happy." Liar! She was the only thing I ever loved and you, YOU SENT HER SOUL TO HEAVEN ABOVE!!!"

- Jervis Tetch and James Gordon

Eventually, Gordon solves Tetch's riddle and finds out that Lee and Valerie are held at Lee's house. Meanwhile, Tetch brings the two to the dining room, knowing that Gordon will arive soon. When Jim arrives, he finds Tetch sitting at a table with the two women. Tetch casually greets Jim and invites him to sit down. With the Tweeds holding Valerie and Lee at gunpoint, Jim is forced to submit himself to Tetch. Once Jim has sat down, Tetch tells the story of himself and Alice as if it were a fairytale. After he has come to a conclusion, Tetch tells Jim that the woman he loves will die.

Tetch wants to find out which of the two this woman is. While he is summarizing Jim's history with both women, Lee's fiance Mario is silently entering the house, having teamed up with Gordon. With a trick, Gordon gets both Tweeds to drop their guns, taking the immediate threat to Lee and Valerie away. Mario then reveals himself and aims his gun at Tetch. However, Tetch reveals that he earlier switched the magazine of Mario's gun. The gun is indeed empty and Tetch orders one of the Tweeds to bring Mario outside.

Again, Tetch demands to know whom Jim loves but Jim starts talking about Tetch's love for his sister, claiming that she prefered to die in agony than to be with him. Tetch gets furious and Jim attempt to use his confusion to make Tetch shoot Jim instead of Lee and Valerie. However, Tetch realizes that. He claims that he wants Jim to stay alive to live with the consequences of his actions. He then changes the question, telling Gordon to name not whom he loves but whom he wants Tetch to kill. Gordon names Lee but Tetch, thinking that he named Lee because he loves Valerie, shoots Valerie in the stomach.

After claiming that Jim was a villain all along while telling himself and the world that he was a hero, Tetch leaves the building with the Tweeds.

Trivia

 * The Mad Hatter's arrival in Gotham was foreshadowed in season 2, in which Strange read "Alice in Wonderland" and Miss Peabody commented "Mad as a hatter" when she first saw the resurrected Theo Galavan. Despite this, Tetch has not been created in Indian Hill and has no direct connection to either Strange or Peabody, but his sister Alice does.
 * It is implied by Alice in New Day Rising that her brother place incestuous sexual thoughts into her. This sexual interest in an "Alice" could have been taken in the comics, where Tetch is sometimes describe as a pedophile.