I think it goes without saying that everyone is eagerly awaiting the return of FOX's latest hit series Gotham , whose Season 2 premiere is now only a few hours away. But before we send up the bat signal and dive headfirst once more into Gotham City's seedy underbelly, there are a few juicy teasers you might want to be made aware of before this show's sophomore debut. Bustle recently had the chance to chat with Cory Michael Smith, who plays Edward Nygma aka The Riddler, and learned a ton of Gotham Season 2 spoilers, including his character's continued transformation into the green-clad villain we all know and love.
"Looking back, we can kind of identify the end of Season 1 as the moment that Edward cracks," Smith states, referring to when Nygma viciously stabbed and killed Officer Tom Dougherty with a look of surprised glee in his eyes. And while the sweet Ed we've come to know and love isn't completely gone, he'll be facing off a new part of himself that he didn't know existed up until now. "His ego and his id will literally manifest themselves into two identities and will be competing," Smith explains. "What we'll see with Ed is that he has this war between these two identities."
Think of it almost like a tug of war for his soul, except we already know which side of him will inevitably win out. And according to Smith, Tom's death is just a drop in the bucket compared to what's to come for his story arc. "This is truly just the beginning. There's still quite a ways for Ed to go, because even as he accepts this other part of himself, he still hasn't had the idea yet of riddles, which is certainly apart of this season. His relationship with riddles will develop."
Speaking of riddles, I asked Smith to channel his inner-Riddler and come up with a few Season 2 spoilers using only emojis — a challenge that he was more than happy to accept. Here are the clues that he presented me with and the predictions I interpreted from them. So without further adieu, riddle me this…
Syringe, Bomb, Flushed Face, School Bus, Hospital
I know this is a lot of things to group together, but I can't help but think they're all connected. After all, drugging someone and leading them to their death (via a bomb, let's say) is kind of a typical occurrence on a show like Gotham. Perhaps a bomb gets put on a school bus, which obviously means there's a hospital trip in someone's future. And as far as the flushed face goes, that could either be in reference to us, sitting on the edge of our seats feeling nervous, or it could be indicating Nygma's thoughts about all this. He's going to go through a pretty big internal struggle this season. Maybe he's unsure what side of this traumatic event he wants to be on.
Teary Face, Hysterical Laughing Face
Again, I think this has to do with Nygma's psyche. On the one hand, he's still the same sweet guy who doesn't take pleasure in seeing others suffer. But on the other hand, there's a villain growing inside of him who revels in the violence that comes with gaining power. Basically, this guy's about to embark on quite the emotional roller coaster. Get ready to experience personality whiplash.
Penguin, Cat, Question Mark
Obviously, these are meant to represent The Penguin, Catwoman, and The Riddler. Smith shared that Nygma will eventually interact with a few of the other villains. "Eventually, he's just too curious to not reach out… There will be teaming up. I don't know exactly with who yet, but I do know that The Penguin and The Riddler will encounter each other once more." Perhaps this is meant to represent a future evil alliance and if that's the case, then color me green with envy. #squadgoals
Gotham Season 2 premieres Monday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. (EST) on FOX.
Images: Jessica Miglio/FOX; mylittle-penguin/Tumblr; Giphy (3)
