The third season of Gotham ended with a two-hour finale that was positively packed with all the murder, mayhem, and madness that any of us could have imagined. There were a number stories that went unresolved, not least of which were the identities of a couple of major villains. One plot that seemed to come to an end -- at least, for now -- is the Jim/Lee love story. Lee ultimately decided to leave Gotham behind after she was cured of the Tetch virus, but we have to hope that there's a lot more to her story with Jim. After all, Lee and Jim are the big couple of the series, and there's still a whole lot of DC Comics lore for Jim Gordon and his family that needs to be explored.
Gotham obviously takes an awful lot of liberties with the DC Comics source material, and there are even plenty of inconsistencies and retcons within comic canon, so we should never expect any plots on the show to follow comic plots exactly. Still, one major character in DC lore is none other than Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. the first Batgirl and eventual Oracle. Now that Babs Keane has gone off the deep end (and has been fried), Jim isn't likely to start a family with her. Lee is the logical mother of any child of Jim's, and Gotham even almost gave them a child together. The odds are good that the show will introduce Jim's daughter at some point.
The Season 3 finale actually opened to door to a possible baby Batgirl. While swept up in the Tetch virus, Jim and Lee started making out pretty hot-and-heavily. We can infer that they probably had sex, and they probably were too out of their minds to spare a thought for contraceptives. It's possible that Jim and Lee conceived a child in the finale, and the letter Lee left for Jim indicated that she hoped they would reunite some day. Maybe that day will come sooner than expected when she discovers that she has a bun in the oven.
I'm not sure why they would want to name their child Barbara after all that crazy Babs Kean has done to them, but who knows? Maybe Lee's sister is named Barbara and has always dreamed of having a niece named after her. Of course, given that any baby girl that was conceived in the Season 3 finale would have been born of a virus-fueled hookup, naming her after a crazy woman would be oddly fitting in a very Gotham way. Then again, if we do get a baby out of Jim and Lee's virus sex, it could very well be a child who would be altered by the virus. Jim and Lee's eventual cures may have come too late for any kid who was conceived while they were caught in their rages.
If that is the case, then maybe a baby wouldn't actually have to be the future Batgirl. While Barbara is the better known of Jim Gordon's kids in DC Comics lore, she's not the only one. Jim also had a baby boy named James Jr., and unlike Barbara, James Jr. was not one of the heroes. In fact, he turned out to be a serial killer who began showing his sadistic streak as a child. A baby boy conceived out of a virus-fueled hookup could give an explanation for a James Jr. who just isn't quite right in the head. Gotham could give us a Gordon kid without necessarily touching on the Batgirl origin story.
Granted, there are a lot of "ifs" involved in the idea of Jim and Lee making a baby in the Season 3 finale, but the timing would make a certain degree of sense. Bruce is already making his way toward the cape and the cowl, and it would track if the future Batgirl is born sometime in the not-too-distant future.
All of this said, Lee is obviously much more than a vessel for Barbara or James Jr. or any other child of Jim Gordon's. She has become a fabulously nuanced character over the past three seasons, and I'll take just about any story that brings her back into the fold. Morena Baccarin has proved that she can tackle just about anything Gotham throws at her; whether Gotham expands the Gordon family tree or not, my fingers are crossed that Lee won't be gone for too long.
We can only wait and see. Gotham will return to Fox for Season 4 this fall. Check out our breakdown of all the deaths, twists, and Batman references from the Season 3 finale, and don't forget to see our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. If streaming is more your style, our Netflix premiere schedule will help you out!
