| “ | Petulance and naïveté are a bad combination. Know when you’re beaten. | „ |
| ~ Gillian Loeb to Jim Gordon. |
Gillian Loeb is a supporting antagonist in the TV Show Gotham. He is the corrupt commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and the nemesis of Detective Jim Gordon.
He was portrayed by the late Peter Scolari, who also portrayed Dennis Barklay in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Biography[]
Season 1[]
Following serial killer Jack Buchinsky's escape from Arkham Asylum, Loeb orders GCPD Detective Jim Gordon to find him within 24 hours, or he will fire him and his partner, Harvey Bullock. Gordon and Bullock arrest Buchinsky within the deadline, and Loeb publicly congratulates them, while privately promising Gordon that he will get him eventually; Gordon replies that he will eventually expose Loeb's corruption.
Loeb pulls strings to have corrupt Narcotics Detective Arnold Flass cleared of all charges against him and reinstated, and also supports him as president of the Policeman's union. Infuriated, Gordon confronts him, and finds out that Loeb got Bullock to retract his statement. Meeting with Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent, Gordon discovers that Loeb is blackmailing practically everyone in Gotham City, from major politicians to officials, as well as nearly every cop in the GCPD. He is also in mob boss Carmine Falcone's pocket, which is why he has managed to be in power for so long.
Gordon reluctantly goes to criminal mastermind Oswald Cobblepot for help, and finds out that Loeb has a secret property, which is probably where he hides all his information. Likewise it might hold some evidence linking Loeb to the suspicious death of his wife 10 years earlier. At the property, they meet Loeb's mentally ill daughter Miriam, and discover that she, not Loeb, killed her mother; Loeb keeps Miriam at the property to keep her from being arrested and institutionalized in Arkham.
Gordon confronts Loeb with the truth about his daughter, and Loeb offers to resign to protect Miriam. Gordon turns him down, however, reasoning that he would just be replaced with someone equally corrupt. Gordon then threatens to out Miriam as a murderer unless Loeb to have Flass arrested and publicly support Gordon for union president. Left with no choice, Loeb agrees to Gordon's demands.
Loeb later forces another officer to trick Gordon into taking a case about the Ogre, a serial killer who threatens to murder the family of any officer who investigates him. Realising that Loeb set him up, Gordon drops all pretenses and outright tells Loeb he will get his revenge after he stops the Ogre.
Following the mob war between Falcone and Salvatore Maroni, Loeb orders two corrupt officers to kill Falcone, hoping to curry Maroni's favor. Gordon saves Falcone's life, however, provoking Loeb to order a hit on him, which is also unsuccessful.
Season 2[]
In Season 2 he demotes Gordon and later fires him from the police force. Gordon turns to Cobblepot for help, and Cobblepot and Victor Zsasz go to Loeb's home and threaten to kill him unless he reinstates Gordon and resigns as commissioner.
Much later, Loeb helps Theo Galavan frame Gordon for murder, and sees to it that Gordon is incarcerated in Blackgate Prison. The warden, a good friend of Loeb's, moves Gordon to a prison wing that holds many of the criminals Gordon arrested. Soon, Gordon is approached by the brother of a member of the Red Hood Gang whom Gordon shot, who then leads the other inmates in beating Gordon up.
It is unknown what happens to Loeb after this, as he neither appears nor is mentioned for the rest of the series.
Episode Appearances[]
Season 1[]
- "What The Little Bird Told Him"
- "Everyone Has a Cobblepot"
- "Beasts of Prey"
- "All Happy Families Are Alike"
Season 2[]
- "Rise of the Villains: Damned If You Do"
