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That has been a subject of debate between not only myself and the friend who suggested the edit, but also on many of the forums. Gough is a good actor and brought a lot to the role and to the film in general.
Perhaps its the storyteller in me, but the points about that subplot that stuck in my craw were:
1) I for some reason really dislike convienent plot elements that are inherent in bad movies. Essentially the plot suggests that the only way Batman could have saved Alfred was the random encounter and timing with Freeze. Too many things relied on that randomness. There's nothing wrong with subplots that intersect, like say if either it had been established in the previous film that Alfred was ill or that at some point Bruce had to make a choice between saving a loved one and defeating a criminal. In the latter case depth would have been added to Bruce's character- instead IMHO it plays like "Der, its a good thing Freeze is such a good doctor and scientist because I'm duh Batman and I don't know nothing..."
Which leads me to my next point on it:
2) Due to SO many characters being introduced in the film Batman essentially becomes a bit player and ends up looking like a dork. Almost every 'discovery' or 'deduction' he makes in B & R was either blatantly obvious OR due to someone else randomly being on hand. Now I don't know about YOU but I like my Dark Knight to have some brains. In another forum I made the following observation:
"Having recently watched the film about 100 times in a row (god help me!) Bruce 'expertly' puts together the clues from about 3 scenes in the film. In fact you could if you want set his detective work in a song, to the tune of the classic kid's song 'Frère Jacques':
Where is Alfred,
Where is Alfred,
Cough, cough, cough
Cough, cough, cough
The old man must be dying,
The old man must be dying,
He has Aids
He has Aids.
OK, I'm being a bit cheeky but how did Barbara figure it out (and for that matter figure *anything* out) before Bruce? Of course that reminds me of one of the other wonderful detective moments in the film- Bruce 'deducing' where Barbara went to school.... by reading the patch on her jacket! What a wizard!
Batman was SUCH an afterthought to the film! He hardly does anything worthwhile... well, at least in the theatrical cut."
and finally...
3) Whereas Gough played his scenes as he had before in previous films, classy and slighty humourously in the manner Alfred should be, Clooney (who I still think had potential) played those same scenes- to my eyes- like his gay lover was dying. Now, no homophobia intended there but I think that was misdirection from the director instead of actors tapping into the heart of the character they portrayed.
