Robin Lord Taylor Talks Nygmobblepot Scenes from ‘How the Riddler got his Name’

Nygma spent the entire episode trying to prove to himself that he doesn’t need Oswald to be the Riddler. He may have discovered who is but he still doesn’t really know what that means.

SPOILERS… Do not continue if you haven’t seen Monday’s episode of Gotham.

At a recent Q & A with the cast, Cory Michael Smith said Nygma is someone who is constantly struggling with his identity. He pointed out how we saw that literally when he was seeing two of himself. He may have got his outfit and his name but the journey still isn’t over yet.

“It begins a whole new journey of a new identity to him. I feel like it’s just kind of a new beginning,” Smith said. 

There have been many fans that have loved the Nygma and Oswald bromance. There were many questions about what Nygma shooting his best friend would mean for this relationship, not to mention if the Penguin was alive. This episode brought a whole new level to that relationship.

Robin Lord Taylor said he wasn’t playing Oswald in this episode, he was playing Nygma’s idea of who the Penguin is. At moments Oswald and Nygma were mirroring each other.

“Nygma is on pills and going through all of this stuff and they start doing it at the same time, so I’m like an exact reflection of who he is,” Taylor said.

Taylor pointed out that even though Nygma was non-emotional through this episode, he shows the connection these two had in these scenes. It may not have been a romantic connection but there was definitely a friendship there.

In case you missed it in the episode, Taylor noted that they introduced not only the top hat but he’s also wearing the traditional Penguin outfit.

“I keep coming to the Riddler and telling him I define you even in this episode too,” Taylor said. “I made you who you are and then weirdly in his fantasy he made the Penguin who he is and it was this really beautiful meld of their two psyches and their connection that they had which was my favorite thing that we brought out.”

Fun fact about that Amy Winehouse song that Taylor sang, the production crew randomly rented out the exact booth that she recorded the song in.

“This is a really sad tribute to her because I was sick and I can’t sing,” Taylor added.

At the end of the episode, we see that Oswald is alive and he wants revenge. What can this mean for their relationship now? Is this friendship truly over? Are we okay with the death of Nygmobblepot?