When Gotham‘s fifth season picks up eight months after the events witnessed in “A Dark Knight: No Man’s Land,” it’s expected that we see a much different landscape. By then, we imagine that the likes of the Penguin, Firefly, Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow will have well established their own little territories now that the city has been left to its own devices.
Well, apparently, one Jeremiah Valeska was up to a heck of a lot during that gap in time, because not only did he manage to acquire some stylish new threads, but it seems the maniac has also gotten himself a lady. Granted, this detail was hinted at not long ago, though it’s actor Cameron Monaghan himself who’s now confirming it.
While speaking with ComicBook.com, Monaghan spilled the beans when it comes to how Jeremiah’s been spending his free time:
“It was interesting in the last season. His plan succeeded. He destroyed Gotham. He marooned it. He created his maze and his image and all this stuff, which is rare for any villain to succeed. So I think that he’s enjoying that he’s king of the roost and he’s sort of working within the shadows with a lot of respect and he’s sort of the big boogeyman in the city right now. I think he’s enjoying that and it’s giving him a sense of ego and hubris. He has got a girlfriend now and he’s more successful than he’s ever been. I think that that level of success is also causing him to lose his sense of equilibrium a little bit. He’s a bit more manic and unstable than what we’ve ever seen him before. I think that what’s driving him right now and what his plan and what he’s building is, he’s always working or building something, is Bruce.”
Whether or not it’s Echo being discussed remains to be seen. If you’ll recall, the character whom we’d normally think of as being a Riddler henchgirl debuted in season 4, yet was a bit more Harley Quinn-esque. But considering how the real Harley may very well pop up next year, we can’t be too sure of what’s going on.
Getting back to Jeremiah’s fixation on Bruce Wayne, Monaghan’s next statement forces us to think the producers are teasing the “two sides of the same coin” type of dynamic often shared by Batman and the Joker:
“Bruce is his special project. It’s the one thing that’s bothering him and nagging him because it’s the one thing he didn’t succeed at. That’s what we see with him now is he’s happyish but he’s still unsatisfied because he needs to show Bruce how much he loves him, or his twisted version of love.”
All will be revealed when Gotham returns for its fifth season sometime in early 2019 on Fox.
