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For once, I'm not talking about Once Upon A Time. It's not even Disney related. Today, I shall be talking about Fox's current Batman TV series Gotham, which will be returning for the second half of its second season on February 29th.
Gotham is a very... Interesting show. I admit, I consider it one of my favorite comic book shows due to my lifelong love of Batman. However, I still believe Gotham has its flaws. Gotham is essentially a Batman series about everything but Batman. Here, Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is merely a mature, erudite, and perspicacious twelve-year-old boy reeling over the recent demise of his parents.
Honestly, I'd think I'd prefer a show that was more about the early days of Batman in the same vein as Arrow and The Flash.
Still, I admit I do I enjoy seeing the origins of many of Batman's most infamous villains, especially Cameron Monaghan as Jerome Valeska, who was very likely a young Joker.
And there's also Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin.
The Penguin was always my favorite Batman villain. Robin Lord Taylor is quite excellent in the role.
Gotham also often takes many, many liberties with the established Batman mythos that you often don't know what to expect. Though this has the effect of leaving one very surprised when the unexpected happens.
There is no better case of this than that of Barbara Kean.
In the original Batman comics, Barbara Kean-Gordon is the (sometimes first) wife of Commissioner Jim Gordon and the mother of their children James Jr. and Barbara Gordon. Barbara Gordon grows up to become Batgirl and then Oracle after she is shot and paralyzed by The Joker in Alan Moore's seminal comic The Killing Joke. James Jr. grows up to become a psychopath.
Anyway, on Gotham, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) is introduced as the fiancé of lowly detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie). Beyond that, Barbara's story deviates significantly from the comics. Barbara is revealed to have been in a relationship with Renee Montoya, the Batman mythos' token lesbian police detective. Then halfway through Season 1 due to circumstances involving Jim's status as the only honest cop in Gotham, Barbara leaves Jim, and their relationship is terminated.
It is at this point that Jim begins a relationship with Dr. Leslie Thompkins (Morena Baccarin).
In the comics, Dr. Leslie Thompkins is a friend of Bruce Wayne's father Dr. Thomas Wayne and acts as a surrogate parent to Bruce in the wake of his parents' demise. On Gotham, any relationship Leslie Thompkins had with Bruce's father is seemingly nonexistent, and she currently has no relationship with Bruce. Instead, her relationship with Jim is the main focus.
Back to Barbara. As the first season came to an end, she ends up being seduced and kidnapped by a serial killer being investigated by Jim called The Ogre.
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| This guy makes Christian Grey look like an altar boy, and Barbara still sleeps with him! |
The experience ends up driving Barbara well over the brink of madness. We find her in Arkham Asylum in the beginning of Season 2. She is subsequently broken out by Theo Galavan as part of his plan to take over Gotham and becomes part of his villainous crew The Maniax. Barbara also takes another ride on the lesbian train as she engaged in a rather kinky affair with Galavan's sister Tabitha, who is apparently supposed to be the DC villain Tigress.
Technically, Tigress is actually a Zatara villain. What's she doing here? Well anyway, Barbara takes a tumble out a window in the episode "Tonight's The Night" after she tries to kill Jim and Leslie. This leaves her in a coma.
But that's not all! The mid-season finale "Worst Than A Crime" dropped a bombshell with the reveal that Leslie is pregnant with Jim Gordon's baby! Later on, Jim proposes to her, meaning that they should be marrying later this season. At least I hope so. I'd rather they not drag this out like Lois and Clark did back in the 90s.
As you can see, there have been many departures with the characters of Barbara and Leslie Thompkins as compared to the original characters in the comics. In fact, the departures are so many that it leads me to a radical conclusion.
I submit this Headcanon Theory. As far as Gotham is concerned, Leslie Thompkins is the real Barbara Kean-Gordon. That is to say that Leslie Thompkins is effectively Gotham's version of Barbara Kean-Gordon. I mean, if Leslie was named "Barbara Kean" and Barbara was named pretty much anything else, we would not be having this conversation.
But why would I say this though? Well, I believe the baby currently gestating within Leslie Thompkins is Barbara Gordon, the future Batgirl/Oracle.
Some of the news we've heard from behind the scenes seems to support this. Recently, Ben McKenzie admitted that they intend to address the birth of Batgirl on the show. With Leslie pregnant with Jim's baby, that seems the most likely way it will be handled. Leslie will simply be the one to give birth to Barbara Gordon.
This, however, leads to the question of why would Jim and Leslie have their daughter share the name of the woman who has made their lives miserable all this time. Well, their daughter might not necessarily be named Barbara, but still grow up to be Batgirl. It wouldn't be the first time Gotham did something along those lines. The episodes "Scarification" and "By Fire" depicted the Batman villain Firefly as a young girl named Bridgit Pike. In the comics, a man named Garfield Lynns is Firefly and is later replaced by another named Ted Carson. (From what I understand, the Garfield Lynns version of Firefly actually showed up on Arrow of all places not too long ago.) Plus, Barbara Gordon isn't the only one to be Batgirl. The role of Batgirl was also filled by Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. Therefore, if this baby does indeed grow up to be Batgirl, she need not be named Barbara Gordon at all.
Yet, there is one way little baby Barbara Gordon could end up being named Barbara. Erin Richards has already teased that Barbara is going to be significantly different when she wakes up from her coma. Different how? We still have to wait and see. My best guess though is that Barbara will be much less insane when she comes out of her coma, feel remorse for the evil she's done, and seek to atone for it. There has already been some hint that Barbara feels bad for what she's done. In the episode "Knock, Knock", Barbara calls off one of her Maniax cohorts from continuing to beat down Jim Gordon after looking a bit concerned for his well being. The episode "Tonight's the Night" opens with a trippy dream sequence that seems to indicate that Barbara is not feeling very good about much of the choices she's made. My theory at the moment is that Barbara will sacrifice her life to protect Jim and Leslie from certain doom, thereby redeeming herself in the process. In honor of that sacrifice, Jim and Leslie name their baby daughter Barbara.
Or it could still be possible Barbara and Jim will end up together again as per the established Batman Mythos. Something unfortunate could happen to Leslie or her baby or the baby grows up to be someone else entirely rather than either of Jim's children from the comics. In "The Last Laugh", Barbara seems very confident that she and Jim will end up together again. "Tonight's the Night" also seems to indicate that Jim may still have some feelings for Barbara. If Barbara wakes up from her coma no longer as insane and ready to repent as I suspect, than this is still a possibility Barbara and Jim will renew their relationship. Then, Gotham will just follow the established Batman Mythos. At least this time.
What do you all think of the possibility that Leslie Thompkins is supposed to be Gotham's version of Barbara Kean? Is there something to it, or am I just as insane as Barbara is?
God bless you all. And God bless America.
But why would I say this though? Well, I believe the baby currently gestating within Leslie Thompkins is Barbara Gordon, the future Batgirl/Oracle.
Some of the news we've heard from behind the scenes seems to support this. Recently, Ben McKenzie admitted that they intend to address the birth of Batgirl on the show. With Leslie pregnant with Jim's baby, that seems the most likely way it will be handled. Leslie will simply be the one to give birth to Barbara Gordon.
This, however, leads to the question of why would Jim and Leslie have their daughter share the name of the woman who has made their lives miserable all this time. Well, their daughter might not necessarily be named Barbara, but still grow up to be Batgirl. It wouldn't be the first time Gotham did something along those lines. The episodes "Scarification" and "By Fire" depicted the Batman villain Firefly as a young girl named Bridgit Pike. In the comics, a man named Garfield Lynns is Firefly and is later replaced by another named Ted Carson. (From what I understand, the Garfield Lynns version of Firefly actually showed up on Arrow of all places not too long ago.) Plus, Barbara Gordon isn't the only one to be Batgirl. The role of Batgirl was also filled by Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. Therefore, if this baby does indeed grow up to be Batgirl, she need not be named Barbara Gordon at all.
Yet, there is one way little baby Barbara Gordon could end up being named Barbara. Erin Richards has already teased that Barbara is going to be significantly different when she wakes up from her coma. Different how? We still have to wait and see. My best guess though is that Barbara will be much less insane when she comes out of her coma, feel remorse for the evil she's done, and seek to atone for it. There has already been some hint that Barbara feels bad for what she's done. In the episode "Knock, Knock", Barbara calls off one of her Maniax cohorts from continuing to beat down Jim Gordon after looking a bit concerned for his well being. The episode "Tonight's the Night" opens with a trippy dream sequence that seems to indicate that Barbara is not feeling very good about much of the choices she's made. My theory at the moment is that Barbara will sacrifice her life to protect Jim and Leslie from certain doom, thereby redeeming herself in the process. In honor of that sacrifice, Jim and Leslie name their baby daughter Barbara.
Or it could still be possible Barbara and Jim will end up together again as per the established Batman Mythos. Something unfortunate could happen to Leslie or her baby or the baby grows up to be someone else entirely rather than either of Jim's children from the comics. In "The Last Laugh", Barbara seems very confident that she and Jim will end up together again. "Tonight's the Night" also seems to indicate that Jim may still have some feelings for Barbara. If Barbara wakes up from her coma no longer as insane and ready to repent as I suspect, than this is still a possibility Barbara and Jim will renew their relationship. Then, Gotham will just follow the established Batman Mythos. At least this time.
What do you all think of the possibility that Leslie Thompkins is supposed to be Gotham's version of Barbara Kean? Is there something to it, or am I just as insane as Barbara is?
God bless you all. And God bless America.
