'Gotham' -- We Want to Eat This Jim / Leslie Pairing with a Spoon

Seriously. Look at them. They're adorable.

When "Gotham" first appeared on TV, I lamented two things about the show's lead. One was the fact that the show wasn't making full use of actor Ben McKenzie's good-guy aura and warmth, and two, that Jim Gordon's girlfriend Barbara (Erin Richards) wasn't worthy. As the season has progressed, the series has better found its tone and given us a likable hero--and an awesome new girlfriend.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins (Morena Baccarin) had some lovely flirtations back in Arkham, but we couldn't quite enjoy it because we weren't sure if she was a psychopath or not. (Just a minor issue.) Now that those suspicions are hopefully out of the way, we get an interesting, feisty partner for Jim to contend with. And now that she's the chief medical examiner, they get to flirt every day at work, too.

 

It's tough not to love the interactions between these two. They are practically beaming at one another, wonderfully conveying that giddy feeling you have when you begin a relationship with someone and you can't believe how well it's going. Jim keeps trying to be all gruff and manly and stoic, but Leslie continues to surprise him in all sorts of ways. This turns him into a grinning, "aw shucks" pile of adorableness that is delightful to watch.

In "The Blind Fortune Teller," Leslie invites Jim on a date to the circus. He thinks it's a weird idea, but he dives in and ends up totally enjoying himself.

 

Of course no date in Gotham can be normal. A fight breaks out between the dueling families of the circus, out of which we'll eventually get Batman's boy wonder Robin. But for now, there's an altercation...and what turns out is also a murder...to solve.

(Check out: Why FOX's 'Gotham' Deserves A Season 2)

Leslie turns out to be very helpful to the cause, since the performers are more willing to open up to doctors than cops. She convinces Jim that she can do even more, and he keeps her involved throughout all the steps of the case. Even when she decides to follow up a lead from the circus psychic.

This is the only part that worries me. The fact that Leslie is interested in Jim's work, in solving crimes, is a good thing. She can be an integral part of his life. That's what Barbara claimed she wanted but then totally balked at. But Leslie seems a little crazily invested, to the point of only letting Jim have two bites of her home-cooked dinner before dragging him into the woods to follow a hunch.

I'm not sure if "Gotham" is just making her quirky, or if they're setting this couple up to fail so Barbara can work her way back in. Please no. So far that doesn't seem to be the case, as drug-addled Babs can't even rise to the level of street kids--who advise her to dress classy for her "accidental" meeting with Jim. "Like you've just gone sailing," Cat and Ivy suggest.

Maybe Barbara's been sailing in a cocktail dress and stiletto heels, who knows. But she gets an eyeful of Jim/Leslie canoodling that quickly squashes any idea to woo him back, no matter what she's wearing.

And we get an eyeful as well, and it's good stuff. Jim and Leslie make for a very affectionate, playful, and sexy couple. Please please please let us have more of this in "Gotham."