One of Gotham's most ardent defenders of the law, Captain Nathaniel Barnes, is about to go through something big. Bigger, apparently, than being almost stabbed to death by an evil reanimated mayor. And Michael Chiklis, the actor who plays Barnes, seems to think that the character is about to change in a major way.
Something really terrible is going to happen to him, and it's going to change him inexorably. So there's some really cool stuff coming up for my guy. It's actually the reason I took the job. . . . This is a guy who is a zealot for law and order. He's horrified. It's driving him a little crazy. He's really strident, unyielding, and unbendable, and something's going to break.
Damn. This sounds like Nathaniel Barnes' undoing will be deep in a typical crazy ass Gotham way. Michael Chiklis spoke with Comicbook.com at San Diego Comic Con, and revealed that Season 3 of Gotham will be quite the rollercoaster for his character, even more so than the boat load of looney that greeted Barnes when he took over the GCPD last season. This is Gotham we're talking about, y'all. The show (and the fictional city, for that matter) are no joke. Any number of "terrible" things that you can think of, and scores of terrible things that would never even occur to you, could befall Barnes in the upcoming season. Let's not forget, a big ol' bus o' monsters got released at the very end of Season 2, and if any of those nuts manages to get a hold of the good captain, well, he'd certainly be in for a world of hurt.
Barnes took over right after Jerome and The Maniax wreaked havoc on the precinct, killing nine cops and Commissioner Essen. He immediately made it known that he wouldn't be taking any shit from criminals or cops with loose morals, and relieved several officers of their badges. Michael Chiklis is right about Barnes, throughout the season he stood by law and order above all else and at great personal peril. He tried to fight off the undead Theo Galavan/Azrael all by himself and got stabbed for it, remember? So, it sounds like whatever happens will break Barnes' seemingly unshakable faith in the law, which will certainly be something to see. And, it sounds like Chiklis knew at least some of this twist was coming when he signed up for Gotham. He also had this to say:
I knew that I could be a particular kind of man, knowing that I didn't have to worry about it becoming too one note or flat, because I was going to go somewhere.
Yeah, this absolutely sounds like Barnes is going to be shaken to his core after the events of Season 3. Michael Chiklis saying that he went into the part knowing that the character wasn't going to become "too one note" does make it seem like we can expect Barnes to have quite a turn around this year. Unfortunately, it probably won't be for the better. We can all tune in for the crazy when Gotham returns to FOX on September 19.
