Galavan Needs Penguin For His New 'Gotham' Plan

Each week's new episode of Gotham Season 2 develops Theo Galavan's plans even further, and he just keeps getting more nefarious. Now that Galavan is blackmailing the Penguin into working for him, using his mother as collateral, Oswald Cobblepot is helpless to Galavan's demands, even though he has no desire to help the billionaire. In fact, when Galavan proposed his plans to Penguin, Oswald was disgusted by the idea of forcing Gothamites out of their homes in order to make room for Galavan's real estate project. Still, he's going to do Theo's bidding, which just shows how much power the new villain is already gaining.

What's unclear at this point is how the real estate project ties into Galavan's familial grudge against Gotham City, but once again, he's targeting a member of what's traditionally a rich family in DC Comics (though on Gotham, the Cobblepots aren't as aristocratic as in other depictions). This comes after Galavan went through the trouble of convincing Bruce Wayne that he's a hero, and getting Barbara Kean on his team, who was the heir to wealthy parents before she, you know, stabbed them to death.

The other new piece of Galavan's plan? Running for mayor, and that means dispatching Penguin to kill the other candidates. In a handy evil monologue, Galavan explained why he's looking to go into politics — because it will be easier for him to get his construction project passed. The ultimate villain of Gotham Season 2: bureaucracy.

It looks like with this storyline, Gotham is showing that there is, in fact, some honor among thieves, as Butch and Penguin swear they're going to search for Gertrude rather than continue to help Galavan with his evil plans. And with Paul Reubens due to guest star as Oswald Cobblepot's father, perhaps Penguin's family history will come into play throughout the rest of Gotham Season 2. But even with his help, Penguin, Gordon, and even Bruce Wayne will all have to team up if they ever want to take Galavan down.

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