'Gotham' season 3 news: Did Barbara really kill her parents? Erin Richards on character's evolution

"Gotham" actress Erin Richards was present during the "Gotham" panel at the New York Comic Con this weekend. Richards talked about her character Barbara Kean's evolution and questioned whether or not the villain actually murdered her own parents in the show's first season.

The psychopathic Barbara was introduced in the show's freshman run as the wealthy fiancee of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie). Later, she began overusing drugs and alcohol, which eventually led to a psychotic meltdown.

After she was kidnapped by The Ogre, Barbara became even more unstable and killed her own parents. She also tried to kill Dr. Lee Thompkins (Morena Baccarin), Jim's new girlfriend. After this, she was sent to the Arkham Asylum.

In season 2, Barbara teamed up with Theo Galavan (James Frain) and his sister Tabitha (Jessica Lucas), helping them carry out their evil plans. In "Gotham" season 3, Barbara has re-emerged as a nightclub owner and is presenting a saner side of herself.

But what does she really want?

"She has such high hopes for her and Tabitha," Richards said at the NYCC panel.

"She has this new found power with Sirens and Penguin in the underworld. So she is seeing the rise within herself. So it is fun to me to play this character. When is she going to be serious Barabara. Or flirty Barbara... all of those things, I just let them happen," she added.

The actress also addressed the popular "Gotham" fan theory that Barbara didn't actually kill her mom and dad. As the theory goes, Barbara had gone off the rails at that moment and ordered The Ogre to do it instead.

"We never saw that [the deaths] on scene," Richards said. "If we are happening to hope for a rekindling between Jim and Barbara then maybe that is an interesting twist," she continued.

"Maybe that killing was something else," she added.

"Gotham" season 3 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.