Get To Know 'Gotham' Detective Arnold Flass

Jim Gordon probably thinks that the hardest challenge he's going to face this year will be getting rehired as a detective after being demoted to an Arkham Asylum security. But comic book fans will look at the introduction of Detective Arnold Flass to Gotham and think about things a little differently. While the next few episodes seem devoted to breaking down Jack Gruber, the Electrocutioner, after Jim and Harvey are successful at capturing him and bringing him in, it looks there will be a new conflict for the heroes to combat, and it will hit much closer to home.

It's time that the show picked back up the police corruption storyline it teased way back in the fall episodes. We haven't even seen Renee Montoya outside of Barbara Kean's bedroom in months, and she started out as this take-no-prisoners professional who was working with Penguin to find and destroy crooked cops. She even went after Gordon, world's biggest straightedge, because of his involvement with Penguin's faux-assassination.

Anyway, the name Arnold Flass isn't just a random choice, it's the well-known name of a longtime Batman character. We still don't know too much about Gotham's interpretation of Flass, since this week's trailers have been explicitly focused on Gruber and how Gordon's going to capture him. But as always, we should let Batman comics be the guide, because the Gotham writers certainly seem to be mining a lot of their new characters from them. So here are the top facts about Flass that they could be adapting for upcoming Gotham episodes.

Flass Is One Of Gordon's Partners

Detective Flass is usually Gordon's first partner (obviously on this show it's Harvey Bullock, who's usually portrayed as a corrupt beat cop when Batman is prowling the streets). Flass is Gordon's complete opposite, and they clash often. Now that Bullock and Gordon get along and are basically the best of friends, the commissioner, Loeb, could split them up in order to slow them down, sticking Gordon with Flass.

He's A Corrupt Cop Working For Falcone

Flass is also usually portrayed as a corrupt cop in the pocket of the mob, who worked for Carmine Falcone. That would clearly fit right in with the ongoing organized crime storyline, exacerbating the conflicts between Falcone and Gordon. Don't forget that Falcone sent assassin Victor Zsasz after Gordon in order to kill him. He'd totally want to keep an eye on Gordon by sending one of his goons to follow him. That was the whole point of The Departed, right?

He Gets Totally Humiliated By Gordon, So No Need To Worry

In one of the stranger comic book moments I've ever seen in my life, Gordon puts Flass into his place after dealing with his corruption and his constant harassment, including an assault in the middle of a dark parking lot. So, one evening, Gordon finds Flass, beats the crap out of him, and handcuffs him naked in the middle of nowhere. He doesn't seriously hurt the guy, only humiliate him, but that's enough to put Flass into his place. There's no reason for Gotham fans to fear — Gordon should be more than capable of dealing with Arnold Flass.

Images: Giphy (3)