Interesting things are going to be happening when Gotham returns for the second half of its third season January 16th, 2017 on Fox. A synopsis was shared recently for the midseason premiere episode, titled “Ghosts”, and it drops the news that the long-absent Jerome character will be making a reappearance (something that was also hinted at in an Instagram post by actor Cameron Monaghan). It also said that Penguin “spirals out of control before the biggest television interview of his Mayoral career.”
The return of Jerome is big enough news, considering the fact that he died quite awhile ago, but put on top of that a spiraling Penguin and you have the makings of a gripping return episode. And what exactly could cause Penguin to spiral out of control? How about a late night visit from a relative?
In a clip from the Gotham midseason premiere, Penguin gets a very special and creepy visitor in the middle of the night. It’s his father Elijah Van Dahl, played once again by Paul Reubens (looking quite a bit less dapper than he did in season 2). Penguin’s ghostly dad doesn’t just drop in to say hi either, but has a very special and potentially important message for his son.
When last we left Gotham, Nygma had found out that a jealous Penguin was responsible for killing his girlfriend Isabella. So naturally now Nygma is going to want to some revenge. In other words, Penguin has plenty of reason to be experiencing crazy paranoid middle-of-the-night warnings from his ghostly father. Penguin would probably do well to heed his father’s words about being careful who he trusts.
It’s not too surprising that this episode is called “Ghosts” considering the fact that both returning characters are supposed to be dead. It appears Jerome gets a full-on resurrection, but Penguin’s dad alas looks like he is only returning in ghostly or delirious-dream-figure form. Paul Reubens was reportedly pretty disappointed when Gotham killed off his character after a two episode run in season 2, and though the character is sort-of back, it doesn’t look like Reubens will get a chance to completely return him to life.
Then again, if things go off the rails badly enough for Penguin, Reubens could find himself returning quite a bit to drop in on his son and try to help him as he navigates the difficulties of being mayor of Gotham. And then there’s the whole situation with Nygma which promises to get uglier and uglier as things wear on. Penguin’s ghostly father might be just about the only friend the guy has in the world right now.
Gotham returns with ‘Ghosts’ January 16th on FOX.
Source: FOX
