Gotham Season 2 Stars Talk Heroism and Villainy

This past month, we had the chance to visit the Gotham set and chat with the cast about what we can expect from their characters in season 2. Here’s what we learned!

Barbara is a whole new character

At the end of season 1, Barbara (Erin Richards) underwent some pretty radical character development, killing her parents and attacking Leslie. She remains on the villainous path in season 2. “I’m sort of getting to show the birth of a new person,” Richards told us. “Coming into season 2, it’s like everything is new. She’s sort of been hatched out of a crazy, evil egg. And everything she’s experiencing, it’s like she’s experiencing it for the first time.”

As we know from one of the season premiere clips already released, Barbara and some of the other villains in Arkham Asylum will be broken out by new baddies Tabitha and Theo Galavan. Moving forward, Richards teased that she will be spending more time with the siblings as they “start shaping us” and become “a big factor in her development.”

Elsewhere, Barbara will continue to seek Jim out, though in a decidedly different manner than season 1. Richards said: “She’s very focused on Jim and because she’s kind of gone to her dark side now, she’s exploring her shadow self, I think she’s latched onto that side of Jim and she’s quite obsessed with trying to get him to come to the dark side with her because she sees that it’s there, but, in her eyes, he’s living this lie.”

Finally, Richards teased that she would be getting to work more with Robin Lord Taylor (aka Penguin) in season 2. Something to look forward to.

Selina is caught between “hero” and “villain”

When we last saw Selina (Camren Bicondova), she had joined up with Fish’s gang despite her allegiances to Bruce and Jim. Her struggle to define herself as “hero” or “villain” will continue in season 2. As Bicondova put it: “There are definitely going to be some ups and downs because, you know, Selina, within season 2, she’s going to be struggling to figure out where she fits in — whether its [with] the good guys or bad guys. She’ll be struggling because she knows the difference between right and wrong. It’s just a different perspective — especially a different perspective from Bruce.

So, within season 2, we’re going to be seeing the tug-of-war between not only her with good and evil, but between her and Bruce because he doesn’t agree with everything she does or believes … Opposites attract, but there’s some conflict that comes with that.”

Bicondova also teased that we would see a slightly less “guarded” version of Selina in season 2, elaborating: “Last season, she was more observant and she was more incognito … Now, we’re kind of breaking down that wall and I’m getting to feel some things I haven’t felt before, which is amazing.

Butch struggles with Zsasz’ conditioning

Drew Powell (aka Butch) has been made a series regular in season 2, which means we’ll get to spend more time with this character as he struggles to find his place in a Gotham without Fish. When we last saw the mobster minion, he was following Penguin’s orders after having been reconditioned by Zsasz. According to Powell, “Zsasz’s conditioning is still holding up. So, when we open the season, he’s still basically under the control of Penguin. And then things happen from there that will test that.”

But Butch’s interactions won’t be delegated to Penguin. Powell teased that he would be spending some time with the Galavan siblings, especially Tabitha, with whom Butch has “a tumultuous relationship.” Powell added that, to him, Tabitha is “the scariest person in season 2.”

New baddie Tabitha Galavan is a “woman of action”

Speaking of new baddie Tabitha, aka Tigress, we also got a chance to catch up with the actress behind the role, Jessica Lucas. According to Lucas, the Galvan siblings “have a long history with Gotham.” She added: “They come from a very wealthy family that has strong roots in Gotham. They feel like they were wrongly ousted from the city and so they’ve come back to get their revenge.”

While Theo is a “schemer,” Lucas described Tabitha as “a woman of action” and “a master of weaponry.” Elaborating on the “twisted” relationship between the brother and sister, she said: “It’s a typical sibling relationship. There’s a lot of loyalty there. They both have an agenda, but they have different ways of approaching it … I think maybe she feels like she is under his thumb a little bit and is frustrated by the way he chooses to carry things out. She would much rather just get it done. She’s very bored by his antics.”

Jessica also teased that Tabitha and Barbara would be spending a lot of time together in the first few episodes.

For more on Gotham, check out our set visit interview with David Mazouz (Bruce) or our season 2 spoiler roundup.