Back in November, we learned that Jerome is set to make his return when Gotham comes back from its holiday hiatus. Now, with “Mad City: Ghosts” airing tomorrow, a couple new teasers have been released to help build anticipation.
First, let’s talk about the clip that happens to feature Jerome himself, since that’s probably the one that drew many of you here initially. In it, we see glimpses of various members of the principal cast, but it’s the chilling narration of Cameron Monaghan that serves as the icing on the cake. The cadence of his voice suggests that he’s risen to new levels of malevolence and insanity, something executive producer John Stephens recently admitted when speaking to TV Guide:
“It’s the same Jerome, but altered. He’s not as nice as he was before. Someone who has basically gone through death and come back to life has a very different point of view. He also has a grander point of view. It’s altered how he is. It’s odd to say he’s more psychotic than he was before.”
What Stephens said next causes great concern considering that many fans were close to rioting when Jerome was killed off in season 2, meaning he likely wasn’t the would be Joker. If he’s being brought back only to not be the Clown Prince of Crime, it would feel like all has been for naught. Read these words and judge for yourself though:
“[Bruce] really gets pulled into the Jerome story. We really see a big step that he takes. Another brick in that wall [of the Batman philosophy] gets built in episode 14, and it gets built via Jerome. Jerome being the stand-in for the person we know he probably is out there. it’s, for us, really significant that that guy ends up informing this part of Batman’s mythology.”
It kind of seems like something was lost in transcription, so let’s just tune in and hope for the best.
As for the second video, it sees the return of Penguin’s father, Elijah Van Dahl, and his signature nightcap. It’ll be interesting to see if this is a dream sequence, a hallucination, or if ghosts actually exist in this world. No matter which it may be, the ominous line, “He is not to be trusted,” is no doubt referring to Edward Nygma. Perhaps Oswald Cobblepot will begin to watch his back whenever his supposed best friend is around?
Gotham airs on Monday nights on Fox.
