Gotham Promotes Morena Baccarin to Series Regular in Season 2 

has formally upgraded Morena Baccarin to a series regular ahead of the show’s upcoming second season, TVLine has learned exclusively.

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alumna joined Fox’s Batman origin story in January in the the role of Dr. Leslie Thompkins, a love interest for Ben McKenzie’s James Gordon. The recurring gig included a Season 2 series-regular option, which the show has now decided to exercise.

Well-deserved, but I have to wonder if certain other characters (Montoya, Allen) will still be billed as regulars next year when they were barely used. (Chaos in the aftermath of the finale seems to be the perfect time for them to actually be utilized though). Ditto with Falcone who they’ve “written off” for the time being.

I’ve been wondering the same thing, especially since some of the original regulars weren’t really seen in the last couple episodes. Love that Morena got promoted! Hopefully Nicholas D’Agosto will be too as I remember the same thing was reported with Harvey Dent as well becoming a regular in season 2.

Oh yeah, what ever happened to Montoya and Allen? Forgot all about them lol!

Couldn’t disagree with you more. I love them together!

Yes now kill off Barbara please. She’s utterly worthless

You only assume she’s useless because you think they meant her to be a good guy. From the very beginning they’ve been building her to become another of Gotham’s insane villains. And she may still give birth to Batgirl…but via a different father

She never gives birth to batgirl in reality she is Gordon’s niece that he adopts as an infant when her parents die

The niece thing was not the original version of her origin nor is it the current version in the comic books.

That was a retcon from Crisis On Infinite Earths. The New 52 reboot of all DC titles made him Bab’s father again.

She’s useless, because not only is the character not fully-formed, but the “actress” portraying her is awful. Is that a sufficient reason to hope her character is removed from the show post-haste?

Interesting because in the DC canon, Barbara Gordon (who became Batgirl) was the daughter of Jim and Barbara Gordon. And I don’t believe she would have been more than 15 years younger than Bruce Wayne. My point is “Gotham” is running out of time to get Jim and Barbara married and have their daughter born if they want to be somewhat faithful to lore.

Perhaps they are using the adopted by Jim storyline (2011) instead?

I think only a few DC fans would genuinely be upset if Barbara Senior turns out to not be the mom of Barbara/Batgirl. Batgirl shouldn’t have such a lame mom! That said, Leslie being Batgirl’s mother and naming her after the first Barbara would be a big leap. At this point, I would be okay with Jim finding a baby on his doorstep with a note saying her name is Barbara,

Only way that seems to possibly make sense would be if Barbara senior died, probably killed, and Jim felt guilty about it and wanted to memorialize her by naming his child after her and Leslie agreeing because she loves him.

How do we know Batgirl is even Jim’s daughter? She could be Barbara Kean’s, but not Jim’s.

That boat has sailed unless Jim wants the mother of his children to be a woman who killed her own parents, is a substance abuser, and attempted to murder (shining style) his girlfriend…

Barbara would be interesting as some sort of original Arkham villain. Otherwise slowly write her off…

We don’t know yet whether the crazy Barbara Kean is the Barbara who becomes Mrs. Barbara Gordon and mother of the future Batgirl. She’s crazy enough though to be the mother of psycho James Jr. Still there is no reason the writers need to stick strictly to the comic book canon and the show is not designed to reach a point in time where we ever see Batman much less Robin or Batgirl.

I think the actress in the picture with Ben Mackenzie is actually the one who plays Barbara Gordon when they saw the Flying Graysons.

Except Jim didn’t go to the circus with Barbara lol. I trust TVline to know whose who.

Great News … will be a valuable asset to the ensemble.

Excellent! I watch the show for Ben McKenzie first and foremost, but also like Donal Logue for what he adds, however much both were hampered by the writing and lack of real character and story focus and development 90% of the time. Adding Morena Baccarin initially was one step in the right direction. Having her as part of the main cast for the coming year is definitely a another bigger one. If the Barbara character were either drastically minimized or eliminated, that would be a trifecta! (Keeping the Falcone character involved would be a must, too.) Now, for more streamlining and prioritizing in the writers’ room too.

Awesome news. Better than the wooden actress that Barbara is…

Although I should add that the writers need to make the show less cheesy and the background music needs a complete overhaul. Other than that, the atmosphere and world building gets top points because unlike many other shows I feel like I’m actually looking at city instead of a made up one…

I disagree on the music pointers. The score is one of the finest crafted this Season on TV.

It’s way too weird as in the crescendos and the musical cues feel too mismatched to the mood and ambiance the show creates.

I worry about the future of this show, since Maroni has been killed off and Falcone is gone (for now). If they do not follow the DC comics canon very well the show could turn into complete and utter nonsensical chaos. Rather than a Batman prequel series it might turn into something completely different. However I am glad that Fish Mooney is gone, as her character made the least sense and seemed to interfere the most with the canon.

It was never about it being just a Batman prequel series though. It was more about telling the story of Gotham City. The origin stories to so many other iconic and memorable characters, both heroes and villains alike, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. They’ve been telling those stories the entire season.

I’m pleased that Gotham realized what a gem they had in Morena Baccarin. She’s a very good actress and I like the character of Leslie a lot. I’m hoping for the best with her and Jim, but I’m worried that some crazed villain (maybe Penguin?) will use Leslie as a way to send a message to Jim.

I also like what they did with Barbara in the final episode, turning her crazy. Kudos to Erin Richards for playing that beat very well. A lot of bashing has gone to her character, but I think the main issue is that they didn’t have anything for her to do until she was prey for the Ogre. Hopefully they utilize her way better next season.

I also hope to either see more of Montoya and Allen, or just have their roles trimmed off and write them out. Personally, I don’t see much use for their characters.Can we also get more of Nicholas D’Agosto as Harvey Dent? I think he’s great for the role and I definitely want to see more of his character.

Gotham has been simmering for most of the season but the last 3-4 episodes have turned the corner. Having Maroni & Fish removed was obvious & required to let the comic book villains take center stage. Not sure about Falcone as a ‘gentleman’ mob boss might be interesting as a foil to Penguin et al if he comes back.

Hoping that there’s still a weekly or short arc crime story as well as the over-arching Penguin, Riddler, Joker etc.

Gotham’s been struggling to find something for Morena to do in recent episodes but her sexual attractiveness is certainly something to look forward to as it was in Homeland.

I must be the only one who doesn’t like her. I find her meh and boring. I do like the crazy Barbara though!

Glad I’m not the only one who can’t stand her, and her lack of personality. I thought I was crazy there for a sec.

So happy to hear this. I kept thinking they were going to kill her character in the last few episodes. I’m glad she’s going to be a regular. She has great chemistry with Ben.

Love this news! Lee is a great character; not sure how much (if any) of the comic book Leslie Thompkins’ story may be used, at this point it is quite different, but that’s okay, as it’s working for the show. I *hated* Barbara, and only tolerated her presence as she is supposed to become Batgirl’s mother. I’m assuming she is now in Arkham. They could get around this by having her be pregnant – not sure how long she and Jim were supposed to have been apart, but some women take a long time to show – and Jim being given custody of the baby when she is born. Anyway, by the time of the season finale, the show seems to have found it’s footing, so the hubby & I are looking forward to S2. :-)

Morena was slated to become a regular from the time she joined the show as recurring (as was stated in the initial reports when she joined the show). I don’t think an actress like her coming off an Emmy-nominated performance on Homeland which just do a recurring role on a show like this.

Great news!! Leslie is one of my favorite characters and I think she is great pairing with Jim.

So…I’m the only one who really REALLY disliked her and wished she’d be removed, or die? I can’t be the only one…

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