Falcone May Not Be the Only Villain Liza Is After

One of the standout characters on Fox's new show Gotham is Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin. That is either a great thing, or represents the failures of the writing staff in developing the right characters, depending on who you ask. In an upcoming episode, which will also introduce Harvey Dent, Penguin crosses paths with Fish Mooney's"secret weapon" Liza, as he continues his descent into Gotham's criminal underbelly. Details on how and why these two cross paths hasn't been released, but considering the internal logic of the show (or lack thereof) it is easy to figure out the ways in which this storyline could develop. And it all comes back to Fish Mooney.

Mooney is the only major Gotham character who is not from DC comics. Instead, she is a wholly new creation for the show. Her fate is tied to Penguin's. Does the show want to keep her character for a long time or is she meant to be a first season roadblock on Cobblepot's path to becoming the villain we know as The Penguin? Mooney definitely stands out, and with her killer fashion sense and Smith's scenery chewing, she harkens to the more campy aspects of Batman's mythos. I really hope the show holds onto her and gains a bit more levity. After all, she provides some great comeback GIFs. But I have a feeling about how this battle of wills between Mooney and Penguin is going to play out and it doesn't look good for her — especially if Penguin is going to meet Liza.

The two will most likely bump into each other as Liza is getting closer to Falcone on behalf of Mooney's bizarre plan. Unfortunately, Mooney is probably going to discover that taking Liza under her wing was a bad idea. If we've learned anything from Gotham, it's that criminals are always out for themselves. We're going to see Mooney's plan backfire if Penguin catches on and uses the intel to gain more power. However that would also allow Mooney to have a compelling second season story arc about reestablishing herself and becoming an even bigger criminal threat.

Robin Lord Taylor, who plays Cobblepot, told Redeye about the dynamic between the characters, "Oswald has learned everything he knows about the underworld of Gotham City from her. And because she has marked him and because they have this history they're always going to be connected. I think she tries to take his power away and I think he's going to get it back. At some point, in some fashion that's his goal."

The show isn't dumb enough to kill off Mooney this early into its run, especially since that would mean losing a star like Jada Pinkett Smith. But Gotham isn't subtle either. So naming a character Fish Mooney and giving her a traitorous lackey who becomes known as The Penguin supports a theory I really hope doesn't happen — or at least not for a while — that Penguin will kill Mooney to further gain power in Gotham's criminal underworld. It'd be best for Gotham to keep Fish around for a long time and continue to develop new characters beyond the Batman mythos.

Images: Jessica Miglio/FOX; Giphy (2)