Spoilers below for tonight’s Gotham.
While Gotham has delivered an unusually large number of villains to viewers already, few of them have actually come together to bring a tag team of mayhem to Gotham City and its easily murdered police department. But that might be changing soon, as the end of “Tonight’s the Night” finally brought together two of Batman’s most iconic enemies: The Penguin and The Riddler. Yes, while Edward Nygma may not be the most confident or sure-footed villain yet, he is definitely spending more time with his more murderous side. Bring on the question marks!
When we last saw the now motherless Oswald Cobblepot, he was escaping an ambush on Theo Galavan’s public gathering and was speeding away with a bullet lodged in his shoulder. Apparently he’s been hiding out and trying to stay alive, although it seems like he would know a few under-the-table medical professionals who could have helped him out. In any case, he is found by Nygma, and it’s the perfect possible time for it to happen.
For one, normal Nygma might not have been able to handle crossing paths with one of his city’s most dangerous monsters, especially since he works for the police department. But then, there might not be a “normal” Nygma anymore. His main goal in this episode was burying Miss Kringle, a deed that was interrupted by a random hunter, and rather than trying to lie his way out of being discovered, Nygma konks the guy on the head with a shovel and adds him to the burial pile. It’s pretty obvious that Nygma has hit that “point of no return” that means no one will be safe in his presence anymore.
So it looks like Nygma will be able to help Penguin out in some way, possibly to relieve his injury, and you know nobody gets to help Penguin out without the villain offering up something in return, so I can’t wait to see what Nygma wants for his assistance. Will he be interested in joining the criminal underworld and working both the criminal and the GCPD angle? Or will he simply want Penguin to do a specific task? Nygma’s entire plotline is basically gone now that he’s no longer infatuated by Miss Kringle, so this is the chance for Gotham to turn him into a truly essential element. And pitting him alongside the show’s most vibrant character is a good way to do it.
Although we probably won’t get to see a solid Joker on the show for a while, we’ve got Mr. Freeze and Hugo Strange coming to Gotham this season. Will the show bring those two into the fold with Riddler and Penguin, or will they do their own thing?
Gotham airs Monday nights on Fox. Last question, though: was everybody else overwhelmingly disappointed whenever it was revealed that Barbara Kean was still alive after taking that plunge? Terrible move, Gotham.
