When Morena Baccarin’s Dr. Leslie “Lee” Thompkins first appeared as an Arkham Asylum employee in season one of Gotham, she immediately began taking the role of “plot device to interact with James Gordon” away from Erin Richards’ Barbara Kean. Given that Barbara Kean eventually becomes Barbara Gordon, it was assumed Baccarin’s recurring role wouldn’t last long, as people who come between characters fated to end up together rarely have a long shelf life. But it seems the show wants her to hang around for a little longer, at least—TVLine reports Gotham is not only bringing Baccarin back, but upping her to a series regular for season two. So, nice try, Barbara, if that is your real name.
Also, Leslie Thompkins now works for the GCPD, meaning that Ben McKenzie’s detective and her medical examiner get to be together at work and in their private lives, too, a situation that always leads to stability and contentment on network television shows. And since season one ended with Barbara trying to kill Lee with a knife, anything that happens to them from here on out can’t be much more ridiculous than what came before. Perhaps they can both be saved in some future episode by the prepubescent Batman.