Valerie Gordon

Valerie Gordon
Affiliation	NYPD Detective, Homicide Division (formerly) NYPD Detective, Vice Division (formerly)
Born	1949
Status	Resigned from NYPD, 1989
Episodes Appeared In	"Rites of Passage" "The Home Invaders" (mentioned that she and Tubbs got together) "The Prodigal Son" "Too Much, Too Late"
Played By	Pam Grier

Detective Valerie Gordon (born 1949) is an officer with the City of New York Police Department, working in the Homicide Division out of Brooklyn, working in that capacity since 1980. She got to know NYPD Armed Robbery Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs (Bronx Division) and had a relationship that ended on bad terms.

Diane Gordon/Traynor

Valerie became caretaker of her younger sister Diane around 1972 (presumably after one or both of their parents either left or passed on), continuing to care for her as of 1984 when Diane left New York with her friends for a road trip, several weeks later her friends returned to New York without her. According to the girls, Diane left her friends for a walk and never came back. She turned up in Miami, lured into the Traynor call girl organization. Valerie, having traced Diane's trail to Miami after six months looking for her, reunited with Tubbs (now in Metro-Dade Vice) finds Diane on a tape made by Switek and Zito after infiltrating his party. Crockett and Tubbs get into Traynor's party and Tubbs bodily removes Diane and take her to rehab. Valerie plans to take Diane back to New York, but Diane foolishly makes a call to Traynor and he sent his lieutenant, Lile, to the rehab center and kills Diane with an overdose of cocaine. After Traynor is released without being charged, Valerie takes Diane's body back to New York where she was meeting her friend Billie at the airport. However Billie calls Tubbs and lets him know Valerie did not arrive in New York, instead she went to Traynor's place, kills Traynor while wounding Lile (Crockett and Tubbs shot him down before he could kill Valerie). Valerie was originally arrested for the killing, but Crockett pulled some strings and got her off, and she returned to New York, where Tubbs and her got together while Crockett worked on the home invader case.

Revilla Case

Valerie was transferred to Vice, and later in 1985 began working on an ongoing investigation with drug dealer Frank Sacco, which brought her undercover (and under the sheets) with Sacco. Tubbs returned to his home turf with Crockett in pursuit of the Revilla cartel, who killed DEA agents (and badly injured Gina) in Miami before fleeing to the Big Apple. Tubbs tried numerous times to reach Valerie without luck, finally trailing her to Sacco's apartment, where they had a disagreement on just how close she had gotten to Sacco, and then after Tubbs killed Sacco in self-defense, wondered why no one had taken him down after three years worth of evidence. Valerie directed him to "Crockett's friend Margaret". After the Revillas met Crockett & Tubbs, Valerie arrived as well and helped shoot down all the Revillas but one (which Crockett got later). After Sacco's and the Revilla's demises, Tubbs and Valerie sought refuge between the sheets before Tubbs returned to Miami, and would not see Valerie for four years.

Yvonne and Lynette

Valerie in 1989

In 1989 Valerie's goddaughter Lynette called her up because her mother Yvonne was badly addicted to drugs and also was beaten by Billy Swain, the man who supplied Yvonne with her fixes. Valerie (after calling Tubbs for his help) returned to Miami and found Yvonne ungrateful for Tubbs saving her and seemed more interested in getting money from Valerie for her drugs than Lynette's well being. Later Swain demanded he have sex with the 14 year old in exchange for Yvonne getting another fix, and when Yvonne allowed it, Lynette killed her mother for selling her body for drugs. Valerie covered up the truth about the killing, instead trying to frame Swain for it. Meanwhile Tubbs asked for the marriage hand of his long time love, but Valerie rejected his proposal causing Tubbs much emotional pain (and very possibly causing him to take on the dangerous Bourbon mission in the series finale).  Soon, Tubbs found out about Lynette's role in Yvonne's death, and how Valerie covered it up. Valerie headed back to New York, intent on resigning from the force, admitting she was burned out.