Gotham pulled off its biggest shocker back in Season 2 when it killed off Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) the character most heavily favored to become the famed Joker of the Batman mythology. Gotham seemed to put Jerome in red herring territory when he met his shocking death, but the existence of Hugo Strange's resurrection lab in Indian Hill has made Jerome a candidate for the alter ego of The Clown Prince Of Crime yet again. If you were listening carefully during the Season 2 finale, you might have heard Jerome's maniacal laugh ring out as Strange's experiments escaped — that evocative sound confirmed what some fans had already guessed when they spotted a body resembling Jerome's in one of Indian Hill's stasis chambers. The return of the character has already been confirmed by a few parties involved with the show. But when will Jerome come back to Gotham ?
In August, Gotham executive producer John Stephens told Screener in no uncertain terms that Gotham City hadn't seen the last of the former Arkham inmate. "It is 100% our intention to bring Jerome back," Stephens said. He continued, “We’re going to be playing it again this year and basically extending the idea of the cult of Jerome. We’re building the architecture for him to come back.” Screener also notes that Stephens talked up the Jerome revival at the show's TCA presentation, promising that Gotham would explore the "cult" that Jerome's life and death inspired.
These comments didn't give Gotham fans a date for their calendar. But in September, the actor who seemed like a solid choice to embody an iconic villainous role shared a big hint on his Instagram. Monaghan posted a short clip — just audio over a white background. "Hello Gotham," he intones, before breaking out into that spine-chilling laugh.
The next day, Entertainment Weekly posted confirmation that Monaghan and Jerome would be back for the current season of Gotham. Thanks to another post from one of the show's stars, it's beginning to look a lot like he'll show his face on the show again soon. David Mazouz posted a picture of himself in his Bruce Wayne finery, posing in front of some Joker-inspired graffiti with the caption, "A #gotham favorite villain may be coming back to @gothamonfox sooner than you think."
Maybe as soon as the Oct. 17 episode. The promo for the fifth episode of this season includes the return of the Red Hood Gang, a group of bank-robbing criminals who first appeared during Season 1. There are Joker-ish connotations to anything Red Hood, since the Joker actually donned the mask to carry out his schemes in some vintage Batman comics and killed several members of the gang in a more recent arc. The Red Hood Gang hasn't been seen on Gotham since all active members seemed to have been killed off. If Jerome is back in action, then that would be a good reason for the gang to hire some new recruits.
I think Jerome will be showing his face at some point in the next few episodes, because there's a need for conflict. With Penguin running both the city and its underworld, he's basically unstoppable. And what fun is Gotham City if the bad guys aren't trying to undermine and outdo each other at every turn? Penguin is on top of the world; what better time for Jerome to return and make a new name for himself?
Images: Nicole Rivelli/FOX
