Could We See Ian Hargrove Again on 'Gotham'?

In a twist on Gotham's usual villain-of-the-week formula, last week's episode "Harvey Dent" introduced a bad guy who was actually more misunderstood than bad. But will we ever see Ian Hargrove on Gotham again? While he isn't overtly based on any comic book characters, many of Gotham City's villains become so after a long stint staying in Arkham Asylum. And as we saw, what Hargrove really needs is rehabilitation, not exposure to dangerous criminals, like the kind who forced him to carry out their plans in "Harvey Dent." So much time kept in a cell alongside a violent person could drive Ian to go from a man who needs therapy and just wanted to stop bad business practices to a hateful killer who wants to destroy people's lives.

Arkham is filled with not just fellow crooks who could threaten or pressure Hargrove into becoming evil, but it's also notoriously easy to escape from. The last thing you need in Arkham Asylum is a man who's an expert with explosives. Within a week, every single inmate will be running free, wrecking havoc on the Gotham City streets. Several criminals, from Joker to Bane, have used explosives to either escape or destroy the Asylum.

The actor who plays Hargrove, Leslie Odom, Jr., hasn't given any clues about whether or not he'll be back, but add him to the loooong list of people who might be returning either after the winter hiatus or in Season 2. And maybe it's just my leftover appreciation from Smash talking, but I'd rather see his character come back than many of the others. I mean, the story is finished on people like the Goat, or at least I hope it is, but it would be interesting to see how Hargrove reacts to being trapped alongside the villains of Arkham Asylum.

If he pops up later, disfigured, angry, and a newly minted supervillian, it will show how the mayor's strategy failed to provide a suitable environment for the city's mentally ill population and instead made them prey for poor treatment and bad conditions in an old, barely renovated shell of a facility that two crime bosses have been squabbling over.

But what might happen to Hargrove while he's enjoying a stay at Arkham? Well, there are are few Batman villains who have an appreciation for bombs. There's Adam Bomb, a minor villain who treated his entire body as an explosive device, and a minor animated character, Nitro, who acted as a pyrotechnic and bomb expert. So no one particularly notable or famous. Even if Hargrove isn't destined to become an A-list Batman villain, it might be interesting to see him back to show the effects of the wildly ineffective Arkham Asylum.

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