‘Shiptober: Should the Penguin, Edward Nygma on ‘Gotham’ season 3 turn romantic?

Mrs. Carter: Here’s a ‘Shiptober pairing we certainly didn’t see coming.

Through much of “Gotham” season 2, we did certainly appreciate what these two characters in the title brought to the table in terms of their bond. They were fun together, and were villains who came from very different backgrounds and had entirely different ways of doing things. Yet, together they somehow made sense. It wasn’t romantic, but you could still argue that in some ways, opposites did continue to attract.

Now, we get to where things start to get interesting. On Monday’s new episode “Mad City: Anything For You” (read our full review here) it certainly appeared at times that the two characters were going to kiss near the end of the episode. Nygma saved Oswald from Butch’s attack, and while this was largely a constructed manipulation, Oswald was not aware of the finer details and considers Ed to be his White Knight. He’s never had someone care for him other than his late mother, and Nygma knows this. Therefore, it’s hard to quite ascertain whether there is love or even like in his eyes towards Oswald beyond just a way of getting ahead in the world. That’s why he is the Riddler; he’s so hard to figure out.

Regardless of motive, we’re not going to deny that the chemistry between Robin Lord Taylor and Cory Michael Smith was magnetic, and we have ourselves feeling right now like this is a romantic couple we’d get behind.

One of the reasons why it could work is because the evolution of it never felt forced. There’s something about romantic relationships that start off that way on shows that can be unappealing. For a prime example of that, look at Jim and Barbara circa season 1. Nobody wants to be told which characters should be together; they want to see the story play out, and Oswald’s story has led him towards Nygma as a source of comfort and appreciation.

In making these two romantic, you do make some changes to the source material, but whoever said that “Gotham” was a strict Batman origin story? You could also argue that the relationship may have existed at some point in past comic permutations, but was simply never mentioned. We often like to see shows go with a story, and as of late, we have certainly gravitated in this direction.

Do you want to see Oswald and Nygma together romantically this season? Share below! (Photo: Fox.)

This column is written by Jessica Carter and you can follow her on Twitter here or Facebook here.