While Gotham has certainly featured no shortage of some of the most iconic Batman villains around over the course of its first three seasons, it goes without saying that some have risen above others. Of the principal cast, Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin and Cory Michael Smith’s Riddler immediately come to mind, but it could be argued that the performance of one man eclipses them all. That, of course, being Cameron Monaghan as Jerome Valeska, the proto-Joker.
What makes this situation even more noteworthy is that Monaghan isn’t even a series regular and, to date, has appeared in only a handful of episodes. Sure, some could make a case for him being around as a more permanent fixture, but Drew Powell, a regular himself, is of the opposing opinion:
“I feel like Jerome is a solo artist. He’s not one to team up with anyone. Early on he had his Maniax, but I think the evolution of that character is he’s a unique psychopath/sociopath, both. So I don’t see any teaming up with Jerome.
And that’s part of the deal with him which was interesting; how they kind of had a Jerome section in the middle of our season. And part of that is the actor has another job, and the other part is that character is intense. 22 episodes is a lot of TV… So those characters that are super intense… you can’t use them all the time or it stresses people out. So yeah, I think when Jerome comes, it’s all about Jerome.”
Well, Powell certainly does have a point there. Quite frankly, whenever Jerome does come around, it very much feels like an event. That said, he could continue being used as the show’s secret weapon, if you will. Plus, you don’t want to fall into the trapping of overusing someone like the Joker, something various animated series were guilty of. Hey, I love The Batman to this day, but you have to admit they relied a bit too heavily on both him and Penguin.
As for Powell himself, the next year should prove to be interesting for his character given that Butch Gilzean’s birth name is, in fact, Cyrus Gold. Thus, we should expect some Solomon Grundy action not long after Gotham returns for its fourth season on Thursday, September 28 on Fox.
