Medusa

Medusa is the sixth episode of the third season of NBC's The Batman. It first aired on January 24, 2011. It is the thirty-second episode overall.

Synopsis
1 month after the double attacks on the city by the Joker and than all villains of Gotham, Agent Ryder has stuck around in Gotham to keep it on track while Batman still protects the city. The supervillains were captured and returned to Arkham, except the Joker, Riddler, and Penguin, who were not found. Gordon and Sarah try to resume their relationship, but James Jr. disapproves. Leslie is working at Arkham but after a joint attack by Ivy and Croc in her lab with chemicals, she becomes a supervillain.

Plot
Maggie, Basil, and Ryder patrol the city. The riots have dialed down but the wreckage from the previous attacks have remained. The city is remotely back to normal. At night, Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl also patrol. Barbara mourns her friend's death, still as her and Dick prepare to return to school after their winter break.

At school, Dick and Barbara are introduced to new principal, who is strict and has no idea about the two being superheroes. The previous principal was killed in the bombing along with many teacher and students. Bruce misses Vicki, who has moved to National City. Bruce, however, is dating Silver St. Cloud. Silver knows about Vicki moving away and begins to think Bruce only started dating her to forget about Vicki. He denies this, though.

Ryder and Officer Sawyer are revealed to be having sex after shifts. Ryder talks about staying a little longer than his original idea of two months. Sawyer agrees with him as they watch the news, finding out about the manhunt of the Joker, Riddler, and Penguin being reintroduced by Sarah, who was elected as mayor after Bruce dropped out. Ryder and Sawyer find out they are on the manhunt team, but instead decide to keep having sex.

Gordon visits Sarah's new office in the Gotham Government Office. He asks about his reinstatement and she gives his badge and assignment. Gordon learns he is a traffic cop. Sarah apologizes but says it was the most she could do. Gordon is upset but Sarah tells him that they could go out for the night. He agrees, and leaves.

Leslie is at Arkham working to find a cure to many of the supervillains "conditions". She is buzzed to get food for Poison Ivy, who has ordered the Arkham personnel to only feed her non-plant products. Leslie is annoyed by this but is told to keep this up to keep their prisoners alive for no scandals. Leslie gets the food and arrives at Floor 11 where the supervillains reside. Ivy tries to grab Leslie when her food is given but Leslie backs away.

However, Leslie backs into Killer Croc's isolated chamber, where she is grabbed by Croc to. Ivy's cell's food slot is still open, allowing Ivy to torture Leslie. The guards realize Leslie has been gone too long and go to check on her. However, they look into Ivy's cell where Ivy's is knocked out. They search for Leslie and hear her voice. However, Leslie crawls out of a corner, visibly cold and stares into their eyes. They instantly drop dead as Leslie quietly laughs.

The Joker, Penguin, and the Riddler are in a new base. An abandoned apartment building scorched in the bombing. Due to the bombing, it is available underground. The Joker is working to get Harley back. Penguin wants to kill Jim Gordon, while Riddler wants to kill Two-Face, due to the Joker telling him to. Penguin tells Riddler, without Joker hearing, that he needs to stand up for himself and do his own thing. The Riddler wonders about this.

At Arkham, Leslie walks through the halls, slowly and kills anyone who stumbles upon her. Eventually, a hunt is ordered after the guards learn what she has become. Leslie hopes for the best and jumps out of a window, 4 stories above the ground. She survives the fall, due to her newfound powers. She then stares at the tree, which rots and dies. Leslie runs off.

Barbara arrives home and finds her brother watching TV. She asks where their dad is and he tells her he is out with Sarah. Barbara admits she is a little angry that their dad is together with another woman when they are still grieving over their mother. James tells her he wants to kill her. Barbara asks if he means the Joker. James says he means Sarah. Barbara changes the topic and brings out Monopoly.

Maroni visits Falcone is prison. Falcone wants out but Maroni tells him that he must give up the bail from his mafia. Falcone asks what the bail is. Maroni tells him $340,000. Falcone tells Maroni to get his mafia to pay up by telling them the code 43R6W7. Maroni tells him he wants one man out of his mafia for each thousand dollar. Falcone tells Maroni to ask for 340 men by the same code. Maroni smiles and leaves.

Bruce takes Silver out to dinner at a special restaurant. Silver is excited. The two get to the restaurant where their reservation is waiting. They are eating when Bruce notices a strange woman approaching the place. It is Leslie, who enters the restaurant wanting to wreak havoc. She kills multiple people but Bruce gets Silver to safety. Bruce gets into his costume and fights her off. Bruce does not look at her to protect himself. He nicknames her Medusa. Batman is eventually helped by Nightwing and Batgirl.

At Arkham, Medusa earlier opened all cells on Floor 11. The supervillains: Poison Ivy, Bane, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Mad Hatter, Killer Moth, and Scarecrow. The eight villains attack the prison, killing many guards. The villains then leave the prison to wreak more havoc on Gotham.

Allen wakes up in the forest. He finds a man who tells him it is January 2011. Allen tells him it is 2010. The man disagrees and helps him out. At a train station, a train stops and Vicki exits, having returned to Gotham.

Starring

 * Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Alexander Gould as Dick Grayson/Robin
 * Sarah Hyland as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl
 * Zen Gesner as James Gordon
 * Diana Muldaur as Leslie Thompkins/Medusa
 * Nathan Gamble as James Gordon Jr.
 * Jared Leto as the Joker
 * Brian McManamon as Basil Karlo/Clayface
 * Tom Hardy as Victor Payne/Bane
 * Maggie Geha as Pamela Isely/Poison Ivy
 * Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin
 * Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/Riddler
 * Zabryna Guevera as Sarah Essen
 * Floriana Lima as Maggie Sawyer
 * Andrew Stewart-Jones as Chris Allen
 * Benedict Samuel as Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter
 * Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc
 * John Doman as Carmine Falcone
 * Nicholas D'Agosto as Harvey Dent/Two-Face
 * Jamie Chung as Vicki Vale
 * David Zayas as Sal Maroni
 * Thomas Haden Church as Cameron van Cleer/Killer Moth
 * Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Guest Starring

 * Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Jonathan Keltz as Andrew Ryder
 * Katie Holmes as Silver St. Cloud

Trivia

 * This episode achieved 12.88 million U.S. live viewers.
 * All main characters appear in this episode.
 * This episode received critical acclaim reviews. It scored a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 92 out of 100 on Metacritic.
 * Guest stars in this episode include Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Keltz, and Katie Holmes as Alfred Pennyworth, Andrew Ryder, and Silver St. Cloud, respectively.
 * This episode is rated TV-14 for D-S-V.
 * This is the last episode to feature Diana Muldaur as Leslie Thompkins, starring. However, she does appear in future episodes, though listed as guest starring.