Perhaps one twist fans of Fox's "Gotham" didn't see coming was Jim Gordon's former girlfriend, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards), losing her mind and turning into a killer herself. Of course, after being abducted and brainwashed by the sadistic serial killer known as The Ogre, we can see how her descent into crazy town was a bit more understandable.
After trying to murder Leslie Thompkins (Morena Baccarin), Jim's current girlfriend, Barbara is locked up in Arkham Asylum. Speaking at Comic-Con International in San Diego recently, Richards teased some potentially interesting developments for her character in season two.
"What can you tease about her time with the Joker? We know that they are in Arkham Asylum together."
Richards: "Or, is he the Joker? We'll call him Jerome.
"She starts Season Two with being taken into Arkham Asylum. She kind of swans in there with this fun little dress on, like she's going to the spa. She has no concept of what's happening - no, she does. She goes into Arkham and she meets all these characters, one of which is Jerome. These characters are going to shape her a little bit. They all shape the way Barbara develops into this series.
"But, she's kind of at the reins. She's so free and in touch with her real stuff now. Her skill is she knows everyone's weakness. So when she meets someone, she's just like, 'Oh, yeah. I got you. I got you.' Then she can use that weakness, but she might not let that character know she knows that weakness. She will just play along with each individual person until she gets what she wants. She's going to be really powerful, which is exciting."
"Gotham" has already taken Richards' character into far different territory than the comics, where she spends the majority of her time on the sidelines. Barbara's development has been one of the more original and interesting storylines on "Gotham," and the show may continue to push her further from her source material's roots.
"How aware are you that viewers have speculated that Barbara could become Harley Quinn?"
Richards: "I have read that. I thought that would be really fun. She could be anything right now. She has so many options available to her. She could be her own villain. It would be fun, but I'd like to see how Margot Robbie is going to come out with that one. She'll be great."
Robbie ("The Wolf of Wall Street") will be portraying the first live-action version of Harley Quinn in next year's "Suicide Squad." But Warner Bros. and DC have maintained that their television and film universes are separate entities, leaving the possibility of a small screen Harley Quinn open.
"Gotham" will return to Fox on Sept. 21.
