Another factor which might tear Barbara from Gordon and towards Montoya is a relationship that did appear in the comics, although in a different form. The dynamics of the GCPD are a little different from Batman: Year One, the graphic novel that Gotham quite heavily draws from, which also featured the early career of Jim Gordon, pre-commissioner. In that series, Barbara and Jim were already married and had kids, but the move to the crime-ridden city took its toll on their relationship. As did Jim hooking up with one of his colleagues, fellow detective Sarah Essen, which soon came out and ended the marriage in a swift divorce. After that he pursued a proper relationship with Essen and, although that had a pretty tragic ending too (this is Batman after all), it was still a major event in the character's biography. So could the same thing happen between the characters in Gotham? It's possible. The set-up is a little different in the TV show, as Essen isn't one of Gordon's peers she's his superior, the current commissioner in charge of shepherding the hopelessly corrupt city police department. She's not exactly in Gordon's good books, since she tends towards encouraging dodgy behaviour from her officers ("If you don't bend, you break" she advised Jim on playing ball), and there hasn't been a whole lot of flirtation in their exchanges so far. That's not to say things could change by the end of this sixteen episode first season, and if the Barbara/Renee ship sets sail again? That could easily push Gordon into the nearest woman's arms...
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
