Tabitha Galavan, Gotham

Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas)

On the second season of DC Comics crime series Gotham, Tabitha Galavan was introduced as a part of her brothers’ criminal group that broke inmates out from Arkham Asylum. Tabitha shows numerous traits of a sadist, as well as those of a sociopath, and is shown to be flirtatious with anyone she finds attractive.

During the break out, Tabitha met wealthy gallery owner-turned-criminal Barbara Kean and the two started a relationship. When Barbara fell into a coma after a fight with her ex-fiance in which she fell out a window, Tabitha formed an alliance with criminal Butch and the two also started a relationship.

When Barbara woke up from her coma, she moved in with Tabitha and Butch, but was later thrown out by Butch who said she was still unstable. By the end of Season 2, Tabitha was left unconscious in the hospital, while Butch tried to confess his feelings for her.

Season 3

In season 3, Barbara and Tabitha opened a new nightclub called The Sirens but for the most part, they were relegated to sidekick status, to the benefit of male characters, with Tabitha babysitting a fugitive Butch, and Barbara trading information (and insults) with Gordon, or appearing as part of his dream sequence (3×07).

In episode 3×10 Barbara interrupted Penguin’s meeting demanding to know where Butch and Tabitha were. Tabitha was with Butch helping him hide (which led to a revival of their relationship), but missed her nightly check-in with Barbara. Butch and Tabitha were prisoners, strapped to a torture mechanism and Tabitha was given a device: push a button and have Butch electrocuted to death or let the timer run out and lose her hand that was strapped to a guillotine.

Tabitha told Butch she wasn’t in a “love place” with him, and Butch seemed resigned: “Tabby, baby, the last few weeks have been the best of my life, and it’s okay you don’t love me ’cause I love you. And for a guy like me, that’s enough.” Tabitha then dropped the device and lost her hand. Barbara arrived just in time to see the bloody stump and Tabitha pass out, and she and Butch rushed her to a hospital. The following episode, Butch and Barbara were at the club cheering her on as she tried to grasp a knife with her reattached hand.

In the later part of the season, Barbara and Tabitha started taking charge of the Gotham underworld and picking off the male leaders of organized crime one by one (3×13), with Barbara holding court over Gotham’s underbelly and calling herself Barbara Queen (3×16). However, Barbara had little screen-time compared to other regular characters, while Tabitha also faded into the background.

In the season finale, Butch tried to convince Tabitha to betray Barbara, who “treated her like dirt”. Tabitha finally agreed, but Barbara killed Butch with a bullet to his head. When Barbara afterwards confronted Tabitha, the two fought, and kissed mid-fight, and Tabitha finally electrocuted Barbara, presumably killing her.

Despite speculation that Harley Quinn would appear in the season finale – and speculation it would be Barbara, TVLine confirmed Barbara was not Harley Quinn – leaving her status as “dead” until further notice. In May 2017, Fox renewed the series for a fourth season.

Appearances:

• Regular S2 (missing from 2x13, 2x14, 2x16, 2x17, 2x21, 2x22). Regular S3 (missing from 3x02, 3x04, 3x07, 3x08, 3x09, 3x15, 3x19)

Female love interests:

• Barbara Kean 💀 (Erin Richards, main cast)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Butch Gilzean 💀 (Drew Powell, regular)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Regular), Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? Yes

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.