Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Sickbed DVD-bingeing on #Gotham: the villain arcs are fab! Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) and the Riddler (Cory Michael Smith) are fantastic. Every line, delivery, and gesture, every costume and makeup choice (love the Riddler's suit and glasses!), all blend into dastardly villains I'm rooting for.
1/
The things they want are universal (except for slashing their enemies). The things they grieve show how they're as human as the best of us. We know how & why the Riddler became a villain, and we can guess at circumstances that turned Penguin into one, too.
Fascinated by how appealing they are.
2/2
PS: To be fair, some of the other villains and characters are a bit more comic-book-like - a little exaggerated and one-dimensional, although they too change in fun ways. But it all works within the speculative, hyperreal world of Gotham.
PPS: omg poor Nygma! S-4 in process.